Looking South Toward the White Pass

The day has turned beautiful and hot.  

Common Courtesy and Road Rage

The image above was shot after we had done some Fahrtlich for several miles.  On the hill just before this scene, we were pedaling up a long exhausting hill and there was a lot of traffic coming toward us from the direction of Skagway.  It might have been the arrival of a ferry boat.

All of the sudden a brand new Holland American tour bus passed us going up the hill, and several more cars and buses also then passed us.  The bus driver had been following us slowly waiting for an opportunity to pass, and had never honked or announced his or her presence to us.  We were impressed, and grateful.  We couldn't have been going more than a couple of miles per hour, but the bus driver was courteous enough to wait.  Thank you, driver.

I couldn't help but contrast this kind of thoughtful road behavior with the bone-headed RV driver and the two truck drivers who nearly did me in outside Haines Junction.  

Most of the drivers we passed on the road tried to give us lots of room.  Many waved and honked.  Many honked and waved while I was too occupied to wave back.  My apologies to you.  I wanted to wave, but I may have been trying to figure out whether the driver behind me was going to give me any room when he or she passed.  

Then there were also the Mikes and Jims of the world who, I think, would have given us their trucks on the spot if we had really needed them.  

The one class of driver who were most grudging in giving us some roadway were the land-yacht drivers in huge RVs towing huge SUVs.  It became a joke with me when the highway is clear of oncoming traffic, and a big boppin' RV/SUV goes around me and leaves me with about 3 feet of roadway.  Obviously, they believed that once they gave some roadway away out of courtesy, they would never get it back.  It was hard sometimes, but I was discrete.  I didn't flip any of these guys the bird that they so richly deserved.

Majenta Flowers on the way to Log Cabin

Jim thinks these are a form of Fireweed.

The Canadian Border at Fraser, BC

From here it is about another 10 miles to the White Pass.  We are on schedule for our arrival in Skagway.

At the White Pass Summit - looking North

Finally, the work of the trip is over.  Nothing left to do, but coast down from the summit into Skagway… a distance of 14 miles, and a downgrade averaging 8 %.

Bike Tour Headed down the Hill to Skagway - Looking South

We are concerned that we will get trapped either in front of or behind this bike tour.  One of the kids setting up the bikes tells us not to worry.  “These guys will take an hour and a half to get down from the summit into Skagway.  You guys will probably take about 20 minutes.”

Down the Grade

My bike, a Univega mountain bike purchased new, for $300, about seven years ago, has given me no trouble on this trip.  The tires haven’t lost any air, and my bike seat, which usually needs adjustment every time I ride, has needed no adjustment on this trip.  Nevertheless, the hill down into Skagway is 14 miles long with an average grade of 8%. 

 I’m sure that I could get going upwards of 50 miles an hour if I stay off the brakes, but I decide to stay on the brakes, and keep my speed down.  I’d hate to get going really fast then find that my brakes couldn’t handle a sudden need to stop on this last few miles of the trip.

Downtown Skagway

We get from 3292 feet above sea level to sea level in pretty short order.  By about 3:00pm local time we are in downtown Skagway, and we head straight for the ferry terminal.  Our tickets back to Juneau are for the following day.  It is possible, that, because of the schedule disruptions resulting from problems this summer getting the Columbia back into Ferry service that there could be a ferry waiting at the dock.  

That is exactly what happened.  The Taku is waiting, and we get our tickets re-written for the trip back to Juneau today rather than tomorrow. 

We even have enough time to go back into Skagway to get a pizza to pig out on.  The waitress looked pretty frazzled in the restaurant where we got the piazza, so I didn't ask for a chocolate milk shake.  She gave us first class service otherwise, though, so, In all other respects, Life is good.

Big Cruise Ship

Leaving Skagway on the Ferry Taku

This is the view from the deck of the Taku looking back over the city of Skagway toward the White Pass.  Jim and I get loungers in the solarium on the top deck.  The wind is blowing hard from the south bringing with it rainy weather.  As we turn into the wind to go home, the wind on the solarium dies down, and, basically, we crap out.

Almost Home

Hearing some rustling around on deck, I wake up to see this beautiful sunset.  One quick picture and I am back to sleep until we arrive in Juneau at 1:30am Monday morning.  It is raining when we get home.