Hello again - here is part three of four for Monday, August 2.
White Pass -- there is no way to adequately describe this part of our trip, but I will try.
As we approached White Pass, we drove into a huge white cloud; we could see virtually nothing but dim, gray outlines. Near the top, we crossed the Alaska border, returning once more to the U.S.
The descent from the 3,292' summit is 11.5 miles long and has an 11% grade! It is full of sharp turns and steep drop-offs. Fortunately, there are quite a few turnouts so that vehicles can cool their overheated brakes. We stopped several times.
After we got out of the clouds, the scenery was spectacular. Gorgeous snow-capped mountains, crystal waterfalls tumbling from the craggy ledges, roadsides full of blooming wild flowers -- it was absolutely beautiful.
At each turnout, there were interpretive panels recounting the history of White Pass. It is difficult to comprehend the challenges and hardships faced by those intrepid stampeders.
After visiting Skagway (see Part 4), we of course had to climb back up the mountain. Those turnouts came in handy again, this time to cool overheated engines. When we stopped the first time to give poor "Gertie" a break, Donny noticed that the outside dual tire on the rear passenger side looked soft. When he kicked it, it felt hard, so he checked the inner tire and found that it was flat! The valve stem extension had been damaged, allowing the air to slowly escape. We removed the extension, and filled the tire with the little compressor we brought. Happily, that solved the problem, and we continued upward. We were so thankful that the outside tire didn't blow out on the way down the mountain. That could have been a disaster.
As we were stopped at the turnout, two White Pass & Yukon Route trains came chugging up the valley from Skagway on its way back to Carcross. We got to watch them as the made their way along the narrow track cut into the ledges on the opposite side of the Skagway River gorge.
After the tire incident, we slowly made our way to the top of the pass, stopping numerous times for photos, then made our way north.
Continued in Part 4.
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