Skagway

Skagway is very touristy, but has an appeal nonetheless. For an interesting story, explore the changes in the spelling of the town name. I stop at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park for a stamp and head to the ferry office. Getting to Gustavus and Glacier Bay National Park is proving problematic. The ferry from Skagway doesn't go there and the ferry from Juneau doesn't run at convenient times. I elect to head to Juneau and check my options. In the meantime I explore the town and spend more time at the National Park headquarters before I leave.

I highly recommend taking one of these flights. The pilots are extremely competent and bring you to within feet of the mountains and glacial faces. You are transported to another world. We see snow white mountain goats clinging to the sides of the mountains, tidal basins and a series of glaciers. The effects on the landscape, by these world formers are very pronounced. At the lower elevations, the mountains have been rounded by the crushing pressure of the ice. Jagged peaks higher up haven't been effected by the glaciers and maintain their jaunty nature. Some valleys appear as if a bulldozer has pushed gravel up their sides, again from the action of the glaciers.

			The white spots are mountain goats just below the snow line.
Chilikat Pass
Glaciers are formed when snowfall compacts. 100 feet of unmelted, compacted snow will eventually make 1 foot of glacial ice. The snow has compacted so much that it forces all the oxygen out and causes the blue color. Walking around on top of one of these is breathtaking. I find that I'm using that word a lot in Alaska. Deep holes cut by the melting snow and crevasses dot the landscape. A person could get in a whole lot of trouble up here. Most of the other passengers are standing in one place. I walk all over the glacier exploring and, much too soon, we are heading back to Skagway.