Skagway

Skagway is now famous as a docking point for many of the large Alaska cruise ships. When I arrived it was empty - no ships equals no people. I decided to stay here for two nights so I could see Skagway with as well as without people and then take the ferry to Haines 15 miles away which leaves each day at 7.00AM. From there I would continue north back into Canada and again into Alaska. The next morning Skagway was host to 3 large cruise ships - about 5000 people arriving overnight! Quite a transformation. Suddenly the town was heaving with people from various parts of the world. The shops and restaurants were all full and it was now possible to see why and how the town was kept so pristine. By around 7pm it was back the way I found it. Of course, it looks better this way but wouldn’t have its wealth without the ships. Evidently Haines locals passed on the opportunity to host cruise ships and Skagway was the alternate choice. It will be interesting to see if Haines has suffered as a result….