Skagway – Another Soggy City in Alaska!

Posted on August 18, 2024 by

16 Comments

It was almost a year ago that we took our second cruise to Alaska, an easy trip to make when you live in Seattle. Perhaps it was the heavy rain this weekend that reminded me of our soggy stop in Skagway!

It was late in the season and rain was to be expected – Southeast Alaska’s rainiest months are September and October. Though Juneau’s average precipitation is 66 inches and Ketchikan’s a whopping 153, Skagway only receives an average 27″ per year. Unfortunately, some of those inches fell on our watch, go figure.

We arrived in the morning under heavy rain, but ready for our excursion.

We boarded a comfortable motor coach and our knowledgeable guide drove us through the historic town.

In case you don’t know, Skagway was born in the 1890’s during the Klondike Gold Rush. Prospectors hoping to strike it rich could board a ship in Seattle and land here in southeast Alaska, before making the dangerous climb to the Klondike area of Canada’s Yukon Territory via the Chilkoot or White Pass. More of that history can be found here

Then we headed up to White Pass, where the scenery was phenomenal if not for the rain! 😦

Our destination was the Yukon Suspension Bridge, this side of the Yukon Territory.

We enjoyed our stop, and the gorgeous fall colors, and were happy we’d remembered to bring our umbrellas.

Afterwards, we made our way back down the highway, entering once again into the U.S. of A.,

for our final stop in Liarsville (yes, autocorrect, I said, ‘LIARSVILLE.’)

“Walk the fine line between folklore and gold fever. The Liarsville Camp, near Skagway, was originally named after journalists who came here during the Klondike Gold Rush and cooked up all manner of tall tales. Today, you can enjoy a fun history lesson, a feast and the chance to find some gold—which, for the record, was here all along.”

There we enjoyed a delicious meal of grilled salmon, with all the sides and history you’d expect, while the rain never stopped.

Then it was back to the ship and out through Lynn Canal, not a canal, but a fjord more than 2,000 feet deep, one of the longest (90 miles) and deepest in the world.

By then the rain let up enough so we could enjoy the waterfalls lining the canal, listen to the guide dispensing native history, and watch hundreds of ducks and birds migrating south for the winter.

Our second cruise to Alaska may not be our last, as we’d love to visit Skagway on a sunny, clear day just like in the picture, here!

Maybe next year.

~ Susanne

Category: Trails, TravelTags: , , , , ,

16 Comments on “Skagway – Another Soggy City in Alaska!”

  2. Great photos. Sorry it rained so much though.

    • Thanks. We had a great time, despite the rain, but if we go again, we’ll try to go earlier in the season before the rainy season hits.

  3. I have to endure so much rain during the year, I really could not contemplate going on holiday to a place where I knew in advance it was going to rain. Well done to you for not bothering, and enjoying the majestic scenery anyway.

    Best wishes, Pete.

    • Thanks, Pete. We had a great time on the cruise overall with the gorgeous scenery and whale sightings. But I would like to have seen more of Skagway without the rain. My friend was on a similar cruise the week before and had beautiful weather. We may try again someday, earlier in the season. 🙂

    • Thanks, Don. We had a great time despite the rain, though we may have to try again to see more of that beautiful scenery under sunshine! 🙂

  5. Even in the rain it looks stunning! And you seem to have made the most of the situation 🙂 It reminds me of a sign I saw on a similarly rainy outing in Iceland some years ago:

    ‘Wisdom of the Icelandic elves: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain’ 🌧🌧🌧🌧

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