Travel
Alaska and the Yukon:
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The 2008 Artpoints Tour of Alaska and the Yukon
The White Pass and Yukon Railway and Bennett Lake
We follow the path of the 1898 gold rush "Stampeders"
Bennett Lake
Our time in Whitehorse was very brief. Due to a problem at our assigned hotel, we spent only one night there and went a day early to Skagway via the White Pass and Yukon narrow-gauge railway.
Sometimes, apparent problems can yield surprising dividends. I had one great “Canadian moment” in the morning when I was distracted from my packing by the sound of a lone bagpipe. (I love bagpipe music, a taste I credit to my Scottish ancestors) . A gentleman was standing in the parking lot playing for his fishing-buddies before their departure into the woods. One of his friends noticed me listening and volunteered that they sit around the campfire sipping good Scottish whiskey and listening to his playing with ever-increasing enjoyment.
The view from the caboose platform of the White Pass and Yukon Railway
We were driven via motorcoach to Carcross where the restored section of the railway begins. Our day-long ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railway was perfect. Lake Bennett was calm and reflective. Clear weather, blue skies over mile after mile of pristine alpine lakes and meadows. One stunning moment was seeing in the distance a lone grizzly bear swimming across the lake.
The "town" of Bennett and the White Pass and Yukon Railway seen from the hills
The train tracks parallel the Chilkoot Pass trail that thousands of gold rush prospectors used to haul their ton of supplies to Lake Bennett in 1898. The prospectors wintered in Bennett building boats and waiting for the Yukon ice to break up so they they could float to the gold fields.
 The Stampeders building boats on Bennett Lake in 1898
During our long motorcoach rides, I worked my way through a comprehensive history of Alaska: Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land by Walter R. Borneman. Borneman gives a through and dispassionate account of the competing economic, cultural and political forces of Alaska’s history. He provides an exhaustive exploration of the issues surrounding the extraction (or preservation) Alaska’s natural resources. One very current example; the controversy surrounding drilling for oil in the Alaska Native Wildlife Reserve where the great caribou herds calve and migrate.
Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land. I would recommend this to anyone traveling to Alaska. My reading greatly deepened my appreciation of the land we encountered.
 
View from the
White Pass and Yukon Railway, and a bridge out of service since the 1960s
The train stopped in what remains of the town of Bennett for a lunch break. We had the opportunity to take a short hike in the hills above town to see a small graveyard, a church building and some lovely views of the lake. The rest of the day was spent in a leisurely descent to the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska. I spent quite a bit of time on the platform of the rear car enjoying the fresh air and taking photographs. |
