Our next stop after Juneau was Skagway, buried deeply in an inlet in Alaska’s Inside Passage. To get an idea of how deeply it’s buried, take a look at this Google Maps link; the map should be big enough to show the inlet: Google Map of Skagway
Skagway has its own history, of course; you can find a general overview on Wikipedia. But it’s primarily remembered as the jumping-off place for the 1896 Klondike Gold Rush, in the Canadian Yukon. Billy Moore, an early resident of Skagway, homesteaded at the mouth of the Skagway River in 1887 because he believed there were goldfields in the Klondike, and also that Skagway was the most direct route to the goldfields.
So obviously, the major cruise ship activity on arriving in Skagway is the bus trip up the Klondike Highway to the top of the White Pass, which was the route taken by the prospectors who came by way of Skagway. The trip was fascinating when you considered that the original prospectors would have taken it on foot or horseback. It is not gentle country. The rock formations below are typical.
Taken from the Klondike Highway
