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Saturday, June 20

Gold Rush Territory

Exploring the Yukon today our first stop was Carcross - a small village that played an important role in the Klondike gold rush. A Carcross native discovered the first gold that set off the rush. Then the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad was constructed in 1900 - it ran between Skagway, Alaska, Carcross and Whitehorse in the Yukon - and linked with paddle wheel steamers (at one point nearly 250 of these boats plied the rivers and lakes in the Yukon) making Carcross a transportation hub for the region. Today the railroad still operates (last Yukon paddle wheeler ran in 1955) but only transports tourists - we briefly toyed with hoping on the train down to Skagway, but abandoned the idea when we heard how many cruise ships were in port. Decided it was better to just move on down the road to Whitehorse - where we are tonight.

Longest overwater bridge in the Yukon - Watson Lake
The WP&YR leaving Carcross
The beach at Carcross
The Carcross Desert just outside town

 

2 comments:

  1. What was the water temp. at the beach?

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  2. Oh, I love the pink General Store. What fun to work days at the Store, then pull on a pair of moccasins and make some Arts 'n Crafts in the little apartment on the second floor, over the Ice Cream Shop! And, filled to the brim with stories from railroad passengers. :) That is the stuff of dreams ~

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