June 17: This morning we drove to Skagway, AK, (about 100 miles from Whitehorse, YT). Our group then gathered at the train station in Skagway to go on a round-trip sight-seeing excursion up to White Pass, which served as the entry way to the Klondike Gold Rush area. It was a beautiful train ride, but I can’t imagine lugging on foot the 2,000 pounds of goods and equipment each miner was required to have in order to prospect or stake a bona fide claim. Each miner made several trips to transport his supplies. Our group had an entire train car to ourselves, so we weren’t crowded and had a delightful time on the journey, especially when going through the dark tunnels (hee-hee-hee!). Think “vintage cars” here, that were pulled by small diesel-electric locomotives. The cars had seats that flipped over for the return trip if a locomotive was hooked to the other end rather than taking the train around a loop. Our trip was lengthened somewhat when the train in front of us had mechanical trouble. This meant that our train had to back a mile or so down the track to a siding, so that the train with problems could go past us and on down to the main station. Given the mountainsides, bridges, etc., along the way, it made for a thrilling, chilling procedure that the engineer and train crew executed safely and well! After returning to the station, we had a bite to eat, then drove back to the RV park. We arrived about 9:30 p.m. and that was it for the night.