June 2019 Ramblings from Ramblin Ruis
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| Alaska/ Canada Border |
Well its hard to believe that it’s the first of June and Paula
and I only have 59 days left here in Skagway. The past month has been very busy
with the cruise season picking up full speed ahead on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
we average 12,500 cruise passengers a day visiting this tiny little harbor town
of Skagway which maintains a normal fulltime population of 1000 people. The
remaining days average between 8000 on Mondays and Thursdays with, 6000 on
Fridays with Saturday and Sundays usually being our lowest days between 2000
and 3500. All of this is based on the schedules of the cruise lines with north
and south bound ships both passing through here on Tuesday or Wednesday. The
largest of the ships is the Ovations of the Sea at 4100 passengers and the
smallest being the Alaskan Dream with its overwhelming large capacity of 40
passengers. Needless to say, the town that is 4 blocks wide and 20 blocks in
length, with most retail on Broadway between the Docks and 7th street
gets pretty busy.
Here in Skagway there are a few days we get really excited
about, they are paydays (every two weeks), days off and Barge Day. You might
ask what are Barge Days. Well those not familiar with exactly where Skagway is
located it is in a small valley 12 miles south of the Canadian border with the
harbor being on the Lynn Canal which leads to the Prince William Sound and
eventually to the Pacific Ocean with 3000 to 5000 foot mountains completely
surrounding the town with one road leading to the closest civilization in
Whitehorse Yukon Canada(130miles). So,
after a quick geography lesson back to why Barge day is so exciting, it is that
everything comes from the lower 48 by Barge to Skagway, groceries, fuel,
hardware store supplies almost everything except sunlight travels here by
Barge. So, on Tuesday afternoon which is barge day here in Skagway you better
hit the grocery store early for milk, bread, produce and meats and such cause
by Wednesday you may not be asking what did I want for dinner but rather what
is left at the grocery that I can have for dinner. So, most folks travel at
least once a month to Whitehorse to get supplies but the 200-mile trip with
fuel and the current exchange rate of one Canadian dollar equal to .65 cents US
it about equals out on cost cause everything on the barge is marked up 6.25 for
a gallon of milk for example. Well enough of the inconveniences of living here.
Knife Mountain in the Distance
We had our company
orientation on Monday May 6 the last day of no ships in Skagway and which was
the first time the employees of all four stores had been together and
introduced to each other. We have a group of people with a wide range of ages
and backgrounds. It was nice to meet everyone and put a face with some names we
had been hearing but had not yet met. Dennis and Nancy Corrington own five
retail stores plus have a real estate business among other interest in the
town. After our orientation we were provided a pizza lunch and then a tour and
overview of the five stores so we could better serve our customers if the store
we were working in may not have an item but we could refer them to one of the
other stores. Along with the tour of the stores we got an insight to how the
Corrington’s got started in the retail business which was very interesting.
Dennis Corrington was a school teacher and pilot in Nome Alaska. He was
promoted to Superintendent and in this capacity, he visited a number of the
outlying villages to recruit student and teachers for the school district which
cover hundreds of miles. He became well know and liked by the native people, so
he would always ask if they needed anything the next time he was back in their
village. He filled their request for car parts or whatever they might need on
his next trip. Instead of paying him money which they did not have they gave
him ivory from animals they had harvested or found buried in the ice from
woolly mammoths to other tusked mammals. After a while he had began to
accumulate a large amount of ivory so he began investigation and found about
how valuable ivory was so he opened his first trading post in Nome selling his
ivory. Once he and Nancy met, they moved to Skagway and opened the ivory store
here in Skagway back in a day before the cruise ship stopped here and maybe
only 9000 visitors a year came to Skagway. Once the cruise ships began coming
to Skagway Dennis was quite the promotor, he would meet the ships at the dock
with his one dog bicycle sled and signs to encourage passengers to stop in his
store. He once raced a horse and buggy with his one dog bicycle sled on
Broadway and won. The extended bicycle frame is on display in the knife store (legend
has it he got a fine for speeding when he won the race.) Dennis also ran the
Iditarod race in 1979 and finished last of those that finished the race and he
won the “red lantern” awarded to the last finisher of the long dog sled race.
The sled and other items are on display in their museum which is free to the
public and a small store is attached. Two other stores focus on more high-end
gifts and items. Most all made by native Alaskans. A lot of his ivory carvings
are on display here as well and are absolutely amazing the detail work in these
handmade scrimshaw pieces. And then the last store is the SOS store or Skagway
Outlet Store which is souvenir central and where Paula and are working. Paula
mainly as a cashier and me as a stock clerk. I never knew they made so many
different magnets and key chains and thing-a-ma-bobs but we got plenty along
with tee shirts, placemats, mugs, jewelry, almost anything you could want to
remind you of your Alaskan cruise. So, don’t forget to look us up if you are in
Skagway at the SOS located at 7th and Broadway.
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| Emerald Lake on the Klondike Highway between Whitehorse Yukon and Skagway |
Then a second trail sprang up in Skagway because of a deeper
channel it allowed for the boats to maneuver much safer and easier. William Moore was a homesteader here in
Skagway but was overrun by gold seekers. And then came The White Pass Yukon
railroad which was began and completed in 2 years ,2 months and 2 days which
made travel up to the Yukon River much easier and Dyea dried up and immediately
the 20,000 patrons moved to Skagway which had hotels, salons and lawlessness.
But for most of those 20,000 gold seekers sadly got to Dawson City to only find
all the claims had been staked and only 4% of them actually found gold. Most
had to make the return trip home with no gold and broke from the cost of
getting to Dawson City. One such fellow was Jack London and from his travels he
penned the book “The Call of the Wild” from his experience on the Chilkoot
trail.
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| Skagway Harbor from the White Pass Railroad |
One of the main reasons Skagway is here today is the National
Parks service has preserved a lot of the History by making this area a national
park area. Most of the buildings on Broadway are the 100-year-old structures
preserved from the gold rush era just repurposed today as museums, retail
stores, apartments or restaurants.
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| One of two tunnels on the 20 mile White Pass rail trip to Fraser Canada |
The White Pass Railroad is still operational today and offers 40-mile
round trips to Fraser Canada where you can see the remnants of the old foot
trails used by these gold seekers. Paula and I took this train ride on a
beautiful sunny day and enjoyed the views of glaciers and waterfalls from the
train.
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| Literally on the edge of the mountain |
Paula and I have also made a number of trips to Dyea which is
the only other road in Skagway and its a 7-mile dirt road. We spend time here
looking for eagles, otters, seals, sea lions, porcupines and the elusive bear
which will frequent the many rivers and streams once the salmon start to run in
mid to late June.
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| Local Dyea Residents |
We also have had a few movie nights and a trivia night with our
employee group on Sunday evenings at the campground clubhouse. Paula and
finished second place at our first trivia night and I have to admit we would
have tied and maybe won had I listened to my wife on a couple of the answers.
(Imagine a husband not listening to his wife).
We have adjusted to life in the 17-foot Starcraft Autumn Ridge
camper. But man, I miss my recliners more than anything after walking 5 to 6
miles a day while stocking the store we would both love to come home to those recliners
and put our feet up. But other than that, we are good still speaking to each
other with no issues. So, I guess we passed the test and are meant to be for
these 27 years together.
Well you may be wondering about the weather here in Skagway. It
was cold and snowy the first two weeks we were here then it turned nice we have
had some days near 75 which is unusual for here this time of year. Our forecast
is changing the next week is rainier and cooler which the rain is needed as
forest fires have already began in Canada and across the bay 45 miles in
Haines. The sunlight is getting longer with the approach of June 20 today the
sunrise was at 3;58am and the sunset want be until after 10pm. But its almost
to the point of only a couple hours of true darkness.
So, with that we will
leave you with this to remember;
“Wherever you go,
no matter the weather,
always bring your own sunshine”
Author Unknown
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| Cinnamon Black Bear (2 cubs not photogenic) |
Until Next Time
Ramblin Ruis
Allen and Paula
