We were not as lucky this time around to be the only two on this excursion. Oh well, we still had a great time. Took the railway up to White Pass, entering Canada but not getting off the train. Sort of a loop.
This small graveyard holds the bodies of many gold seekers and a few of those that died making the railway. The small rectangles at the top are some of the windows on the other side of the railcar we were traveling in. Yours truly is not tech savvy enough to get rid of them.
As we traveled up the mountain there were lots of rivers, and waterfalls. Here are just a few of them.
Guess I didn't get a very good picture of Bridal Veil Falls, but the train seemed to be moving very quickly on the way back to Skagway.
This is a replica of the Northwest Mounted Police station. Here is where they would make sure that the gold seekers had the necessary supplies for the journey to the gold fields. There were so many deaths from starvation that our Northwest Mounted told the gold seekers they needed 1 ton of supplies in order to continue to the gold fields. That necessitated many trips up the pass as those looking for riches could not carry all that in one go.
This is the only portion of the original path that is left.
I didn't get a picture of Dead Horse Gulch. Since most gold seekers were city people, they did not know how to treat their livestock (horses, donkeys) and many died of starvation, or overwork when they reached one area of the pass.
Look closely at this photo. I didn't really get the black cross that marks the place where two workers on the railroad lost their lives, but that large flat rock is what came down after blasting and killed them.
By the time we got back to Skagway, the rain was coming down in buckets, so we headed back to the ship.
Everybody have a wonderful evening.
God bless.
Oh, Canada! 🤗🤍
ReplyDeleteI think you did good with your photos while on a moving train. My favorite is the river - looks cold. That is amazing about the road and those rickety bridges.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! It sounds like a very hard life the gold seekers had to endure.
ReplyDeleteSome sad stories there, but what a beautiful landscape.
ReplyDeleteLovely. Thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Whitepass railway. I stood out between the cars for most of the ride. The scenery is incredible, and the history is so very interesting. Glad you had the chance to experience it.
ReplyDeleteI'm due for a train ride, somewhere, but it's one of those things that may never happen! So, I'll enjoy yours!
ReplyDeleteI suppose if it was going to rain, being on a train was a good thing. I've always dreamed of taking the train out west but it's way beyond our budget.
ReplyDeleteAbout twenty years ago we hiked up the Chilkoot trail into BC it was just beautiful. We had an extra days food as there is no public transport, but you could get on the train back to Skagway. We stood on the road hitchhiking and were very lucky as after only thirty minutes a lovely American couple stopped and took us to Whitehorse. Wile hiking we passed the Mounties cabin on the border and they had marked a safe trail through the snow to our next camp.Enjoy your trip to a wonderful part of the world. Regards Moira
ReplyDeleteTrain trips are our favourite thing to do and this one is both famous and historical.
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