A big bad wolf could well be lurking;
though this poor fellow was hanging out in a storefront window
being gawked at by passing tourists.
It's not just our friend Wolfgang who has given up the ghost,
Skagway's Golden North Hotel is reputedly haunted by two ghosts of its own!
The richer folk of the gold mining era could afford a few nights at the hotel, stopping for a drink at the bar, while those still struggling to make their fortunes would have been happy to call a little log cabin home.
The native influence can be found slyly referenced outside contemporary shops,
though this cigar store Indian has a dubious place of origin (perhaps in a white man's imagination?)
The Russian influence in Skagway is reflected in a few
onion dome-topped buildings.
onion dome-topped buildings.
Wandering off the main streets to explore a side-alley yields not only a good view of the looming mountains but a surprising splash of colour.
A few small vestiges of summer blooms linger along the walkways of these unusual Skagway dwellings.
These old sheds look like they're still in pretty good shape.
Surprising that some entrepreneur hasn't transformed them into a bowling alley.
Is it just me, or is the door to this building just a tad incongruous?
And just what is that pile of massive rocks for?
I guess I should have signed up for the tour, though I doubt it would have taken in these
particular places of interest.
Evidently, the side streets are not holding out much interest to the tourists.
This charming little boutique is for rent. Anyone interested in opening up shop in Skagway?
.... wooden sidewalks.. that really conjures up times gone by.
ReplyDeleteI love the Russian influenced rooftops!
Gwen,
DeleteOnion domes to suddenly appear in St.Martins?
Perhaps you could start a ghost tour business: Find the Phantom Boo-tique.
ReplyDeleteDCW,
DeleteI think you've got at least the ghost of a good idea. It's a haunting thought, at any rate.
I've never been to Alaska - definitely adding it to my Bucket List. I love peeking over your shoulder and enjoying the view. Your photo editing is grand!
ReplyDeleteDiva,
DeleteSo glad you like my editing efforts. I try to impart an impression of how I feel when I see certain sights, rather than just the sight the camera catches. Definitely a skewed vision of Alaska here, but if it inspires you to go exploring, that's great.
Ha ha--try saying "Skagway-segue" ten times fast!
ReplyDeleteI love peeking into your photo album of Alaska--I know so little about it. The photos have incredible charm, but they also reveal a place so off-the-beaten-track that I know I could never survive there (for more than a few weeks, at least). Grazie mille for this glimpse into a rustic, backwoods life.
Jann,
DeleteI knew just about nothing about Alaska before I went, and still know not much more now (try saying "know not much more now" 10 times fast!). The place seems to hold a lot of charm for a lot of folks, my mother included, but it's a bit too frontier-like for my tastes, other than the tastes of fresh salmon and crab that they're famous for. Weird mix of wilderness and tourist traps up there.
Well, I hope you were reading some Robert William Service poems while poking around in such places, looking for your own poke in the photographic gold rush...
ReplyDeleteAm sorry the wolves kept you at bay (well the boat was in the bay) and prevented you from following the rails to the miners' cemetery, I would have like to see that, and probably not so many tourists get there ? And where do those rails go anyway ? I'm going to rail a bit if you don't enlighten us...
I'm still marvelling over that name, Skagway... I guess there are no highways to Skagway ? Just byways to Skagway by backwater bays. So segue on and on...
Owen,
DeleteHad to pack my bags too fast to include any Serviceable books of poetry to bring along on the cruise. What I think would be really fascinating to read would be accounts of the women who went up there to make their fortunes off the gold-miners in these rough and not-too-ready towns that sprang up in the wilderness.
Supposedly, much of Alaska's charm is that it is largely not accessible by road. Lots of privately owned float planes docked in the harbour & flying in and out of those coastal towns.
I would guess that not many tourists do get to the miners' cemetery as there are absolutely no markings/signage to point the way. Even the tourist information centre was not that evident to me, housed in the twig building with nothing to indicate it's there--so I didn't venture in, especially as the door was guarded by that scary looking couple.
I started to wander along the dirt road by the tracks but felt very vulnerable on my own, especially as I didn't even know if I was going in the right direction. The train these days is an excursion route, going to Whitehorse in the Yukon as its furthest destination. A day trip through the mountains is available, timed to get cruisers back to their boats before they sail away without them. The scenery is supposed to be spectacular, well worth the pricey ticket, but some people who went on it the day I was in Skagway were grumbling about the lack of visibility due to the heavy cloud cover.
Skagway, to our N.American ears is indeed a dreadful name. In my high school days, "skag" was a very pejorative word applied to unpopular (for whatever reason)girls. Nowadays, I understand "skag" refers to heroin. The urban dictionary describes the meaning as half scab/half hag. Nice, indeed. However, the original name of the place that became the town (after 1887) was a Tlingit (the indigenous people of that area) word, "Skagua," meaning windy place. I hope you feel better about it now.
Love what you did to that top photo. And appreciate the tour of the "real" Skagway, and not just the main street facades. I got out my pictures we took in Skagway from 1987 - just 2 :) Much of the area had scaffolding up, and chain-link fences. hmmmm. I guess they were building up the facades back then. I can identify similar buildings from your photos on the main drag in skag-way :) but a lot of the facades have changed and even grown another story higher! From one of your photos it even looks like the side streets have been developed more. Thanks for the memories :) I agree with Jann, I don't think I'd be able to live there. I'm not that wild of a woman. I don't "run with the wolves"... lol
ReplyDeleteMystic,
DeleteInteresting to hear how the town has been revamped and overhauled for the tourist trade since you visited. The main street was definitely "duded up" with colourful wooden store fronts. There are regulations to ensure that the original style of the era when the place was built is maintained...or maybe "enhanced." Definitely a tourist town, now, with just about everything closing down once the cruise ship runs are done.
Living up there wouldn't hold any appeal for me either: The wild women that I know don't run with those kind of wolves, either.
Wonderful pics. There sure is a lot of character in this little town.. especially when you arrived. ;) Love the pink building in the street scene.
ReplyDeleteHilary,
DeleteHa ha. Lots of character when I arrived. I take that as a compliment.
That pink building was so startling! It was obviously the home of an artistic-type rather than a mountain man. Although...who knows? I imagine someone painted it to get some relief from the monotonous grey tones of the long damp and cold winters.
Phew, at least there is a bar there! Looks like a wonderful wee place, am trying to think up a scheme for that shop....
ReplyDeleteSaj,
DeleteNo lack of bars in Alaska! Though I'd look for one a little livelier than the one pictured in this posting, myself. My sister and I attended a sampling of Alaska brewed beers while we were on the cruise but didn't venture into any local ale houses.
You appear to have caught the spirit of the place,like it's in some sort of time warp!
ReplyDeleteWould anyone really want to make off with these chained artworks?
I'm surprised to see sunflower plants in Alaska,but maybe summers there are warmer than I imagine.
Ruby
Ruby,
DeleteI think the time warp aspect is very deliberately maintained, except for the toting of guns and shoot-outs in bars. At least not in tourist season.
I imagine someone wouldn't mind having those artworks gracing their front porches or garden patches, somewhere out in the surrounding backwoods. It would be a bit harder to imagine a tourist carting either of the sculptures back to the cruise ship, though. But I'm sure if they offered the right price, it could be arranged.
Lots of sunny days and lovely wildflowers during the summer months in Alaska, apparently. I was surprised to see those flowers still blossoming late in the season like that.
Louciao, as always, looking at your wonderful captures is like being right alongside of you! I love the glimpses you've given us of Scagway! :)
ReplyDeleteGypsy,
DeleteSo happy that you're enjoying my personalized tour of the Skag, as I affectionately like to call it. The stores had interesting things, as well, but the side streets held the real gems for me.
Know what, would love to turn that small shop into some kind of library. Thank you very much for this dream ! General strikes roaming through the streets over here. Love the low flying clouds of your city as well. Thank you once again for these moments to breath. Please have a good new week.
ReplyDeleteRobert,
DeleteMaybe the local Alaskans would be happy to find some good reading to get them through the long lonely winters, and the tourists would be glad to find books recounting local history. Certainly if our mutual friend Owen were to visit your Skagway Library, he'd want to pick up an illustrated volume of Robert Service poetry. Maybe you could get together with the Sagittarian, whom I see from her comment after yours, has plans to turn the little store into a tea shop. Books and tea: two of my favourite things.
OK, I will turn that place into a wee corner of NZ with TEA and kiwiana stuff. See you at the opening!
ReplyDeleteSaj,
Delete(I just typed in Sagittarian and Spellcheck wanted me to turn it into Rastafarian: I can just picture you in dreds!)
A tea shop, you say...maybe a little stronger stuff to go with? Don't know if those Alaskans are the tea-sipping type. Your Kiwiana stock would certainly throw the invading tourists for a loop! Maybe you could get a government grant from NZ to promote tourism in your area to visitors to Alaska. And Robert (see above comment) could bring in some nice coffee-table books featuring gorgeous New Zealand scenery. Yes, a brilliant scheme. I think the Holland American cruise line that goes to Alaska also has trips to NZ so you could probably get sponsored by them as well. Best check the fault lines in the area, though. Heard there was a big earthquake up that way recently.
Will there be goodie bags at the opening?
Don't take any wooden nickels from that cigar store Indian.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
DeleteThanks for the tip.
i am quietly following you along your wondrous trip (and generously envying you, if there is such thing :-) - i also vote for a tea shop, though i am sure it will not last a week :-)
ReplyDeleteRoxana,
DeleteHow lovely to have you along, peering in the windows and lagging a little behind as you cross back and forth over the bridge of dreams. So many dreams that came to Alaska, in the days of the gold rush, and in the minds of rugged men and women seeking to make good lives in the wilderness and wildness of Alaska since.
That really would make a sweet little tea shop, though I must agree with your estimation of its longevity.
What a wonderful photo walk! My favorite images are of the alley with the mountain in the background and of course, the first one. Great depth of field on both of those. And I know that vulnerable feeling. I find that when I start imagining that I can swing my camera around to defend myself, it's time to turn back. Best not to ignore the creepy feeling. I admire that you got off the beaten path to go your own way. I doubt you would have photographed the town with such truthfulness of character if you had stayed with the herd.
ReplyDeleteStickup,
DeleteSo pleased you're along! I can only imagine what wonders you would have captured/created with your incomparable photographic skills. The beaten path is okay for a first run, but it's the byways that hold the real interest and beg one to come back for a closer look. You're right about that creepy feeling. My curiosity kept urging me to continue on along the dirt road but my gut disagreed.
What a strange, quaint and slightly unsettling place. I would prefer the bits without too many tourists, and that little boutique is lovely, although I guess if it is on a little-frequented road, then there can't be much passing trade. On the other hand, it might be possible to make it the first in a whole lot of great places in the street.
ReplyDeleteI would have found that road worrying too - dark, lonely and I bet rather silent....
Jenny,
DeleteIsn't it a sweet shop? Oh-maybe it should be a Sweets Shoppe! It's astounding how the invading tourists stick to the main street only, with the flagrant tourist shops. Sadly, every town has many of the exact same shops, or versions thereof. There's an incredible push to sell jewellery--big ticket items.
There were a couple of men wandering along the trail ahead of me, which contributed to my degree of discomfort. The silence and peacefulness was appealing, though, as well as the sense of mystery. Not good territory for a little lone lady, though.
wood sidewalks.. that actually conjures upward occasions eliminated through.
ReplyDeleteI really like the actual Euro affected roofs!
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