Alaska - Skagway/Yukon

A defining moment of the interior regions of Alaska and Yukon off Skagway is the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 19th century.

It's still a bit of a mystery how people got the idea that there would be gold somewhere in these "larger than life" regions. I guess it was a lot of try, try, try. The area is huge and inhospitable, yet majestic. Beautiful lakes, immense forests, even a small desert. A relative surprise is that in these isolated places, we did not get to see any animals.

At one stage, gold explorers were flocking here, so much so that the Canadians authorities were worried that they would not have enough resources to survive. They imposed that each pioneer entering Canada took with him a heavy load - almost a ton! - of supplies, including salt, flour, rice, soap, etc. This measure limited the number of deaths but, at the same time, made the fortune of shop owners - there was a captive market for their goods. It also had another grimmer consequence: the death of around 3000 pack horses which carried these loads up the mountains.

In light of the high production of gold and the number of prospectors, a railway line was built through the White pass in 1898-1900. It's quite an amazing achievement. The line was abandoned in 1982. It has now been revived - in the summer season - for tourists to get an idea of the gold rush. Well, the pass is steep and narrow, and there are a few scary bridges. Definitely not for the fainthearted.

They have kept some of the vintage cars and locomotives, including the ones used to blow away the snow that had accumulated on the tracks.

The town of Skagway is now much smaller than at the peak of its glory, with a few well preserved historical buildings. Of course, a lot of them have been taken over to cater for the cruisers.

All in all, a very comfortable and instructive journey to and back from the Klondike - a testimony of the progress made in one century.