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The Klondike Gold Rush

johngregsite Posted on by

D81_5922_zIn the late 1890’s, gold was discovered in the Yukon. The easiest way to get there, which is not saying much, was to take a ship from civilization, such as Seattle or Vancouver, and head north through Alaska’s southeast fjords to a tiny outpost called Skagway, at the north end of the Taiya inlet.

You can see a glimpse of Taiya inlet at the center of this picture. Between the inlet and the site where this photo is taken is the Skagway River valley. One would continue up the valley to White Pass and the Canadian border.

Thousands tried on foot and horses but very few ever made it back with any gold. We had a private car on the White Pass & Yukon Railway up the valley and brought back views like this. More pictures of our modern day gold rush coming in Alaska Part 4.

Alaska glacier visit No. 2

johngregsite Posted on by

Glacier icebergs D81_5794_zThe next leg of the Gregorian cruise along Alaska is now available here or select the “Alaska3” tab above.

The excitement on this day (after riding helicopters to and fro one glacier) was visiting another glacier, this time by boat. As we traveled up the Endicott Arm of Stephen’s Passage, more and more icebergs appeared in the fjord. Here you can see a couple of the larger ones, but most of them seemed quite small (I wonder if those are words heard on the bridge of the Titanic?). I found more interesting the scoured texture of the rocks on the shoreline. It is said that the “arm” has been carved out by Dawes Glacier. Here you can get a sense of that observation.