The last Canada and Alaska ride
I had a decent night’s sleep in the tent, particularly when I added a second comforter. It had rained all night and was pretty cold. I packed up and loaded Kymani in the rain. I checked the weather and it didn’t look like it was going to let up all day. But, the ride to Skagway was supposed to be magnificent, so I was looking forward to it. Besides, I would ride today, stay a couple of nights in Skagway, then catch the ferry to head home, so there wasn’t too much more rain to ride it.
I rode back down the hiking trail that passed for a road and hit the road east. I’d be covering more of the ground that I had been on when I was arriving for a while, then shortly after Whitehorse, I’d head south to Skagway. When I turned south on Highway 2, the road was gravel. At this point in my journey, it didn’t even stress me out. I just kept wiping the rain from my visor and rode on.
This road has it all
The road to Skagway started in the woods, then climbed mountains, passed lakes, and finally dropped to the sea. Of all the roads I’d ridden so far, this was probably my favorite or at least very close to it. I don’t have many photos because of the weather, but it’s definitely somewhere I want to come back to. The final drop from the mountain to the ocean was a little scary for this girl that is no fan of heights, but it was amazing.
The road to Skagway is stunning
Skagway was a bit of a surprise. I had no idea (shows you how much research I did!) that it is a town for the cruise ships. It was pretty much one street of shops, mostly jewelry shops, with insane prices and more people than I’d seen on my entire trip so far. It was still pouring and I really wanted to get somewhere dry, but the streets were full of people and I couldn’t even ride. At one point, a woman actually stepped out in front of me to take a photo of me! This was bananas!
Skagway
The time change, and not stopping for photos or anything, had put me into Skagway a couple of hours before check in time. I covered Kymani in the parking lot (which was really just a bunch of dirt without a building on it) and sat on the bench outside the hotel until they could check me in. I couldn’t wait for that hot shower! I finally got to the room, unloaded Kymani and took a very long, very hot shower. I tried to go out and see the town a bit, but the rain was coming too hard, so I made dinner in my room and called it a night.
The next day it was still raining, but I did make my way around to check stuff out. I found a great quilt shop, awesome Mexican food cart, the ferry station, and went into several of the shops. It’s not so bad being in the rain if you know you only have to do it for a short while, or you’re not going 60mph. I got to check out the Red Onion which is a former brothel, the popcorn emporium, several statues and such around town, and even some of the jewelry shops. I also got to talk to the family and that always raises my spirits.
More of the town
The Red Onion. I’m not sure what was up with the bedpans, but it was interesting.
Painted high up the cliff. A train snowplow. A gold rush display in town
The next day was the day I was to catch the ferry. I get very seasick, so I was curious as to how it would go for me on the boat. We were supposed to get onboard around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, so I took my time getting ready and getting Kymani loaded. I had to move things around on her because I couldn’t get a cabin for the ride and would be sleeping on the deck of the boat while Kymani slept in the hold. I’d need to take everything I’d need for the boat up to the deck with me, as you can’t get to the hold often. So, I rearranged my packing and rode her down to the dock.
The ferry terminal
The ramp to get on the boat, That was steep!
Kymani waiting for her ship to come in
I went inside and got my ticket. I was ready.