June 11, 2009 - Skagway and the Yukon

We wake up as we approach Skagway, AK.
Our journey overnight took us from Glacier Bay through many of the islands of the northern "inside passage."

We board a bus and head north, closely following the White Pass train route.

From sea level, this is quite a climb.

we're in a shetchy region of British Columbia.

Passers by have left their relics, not unlike what native Arubans and other Caribbean people do.

After an hour or so, we make it to the Yukon - the first Canadian territory most of us have visited.

Yep, we're just over the BC/YT border.

Carcross is where we're headed.

We heard you can see bears on the side of the road, but we were still surprised to see this pair of black bears.
(Yes, the brown one is technically a black bear, as you can see from the shape of the face and the color of the muzzle.)

Another black bear - this one is a bit bigger.

Another brown-black.

We pass some abandoned tracks that are just picturesque.

We scared this little guy.

It's like a Chris Farley skit: "Big bear on a little branch!"

We stop at a lake just in time to witness a bald eagle race by.

Abandoned ore mine of some kind...

Dandelions - territorial flower of the Yukon.

Route 2 into the Yukon is striking.

The opposite of an oasis: a dessert in the middle of a very green land.

Then there's Emerald Lake.

We stop at an ecclectic lunch spot, check out their museum, and see their sled dogs (and husky puppies).

The metropolis of Carcross, Yukon (pop 431).
It got its name as there were multiple cities named Caribou Crossing and all but one had to rename. (Wikipedia says it was because of confusion with Caribou, BC.)

Back in BC, we're almost to our train back to Skagway.