The Stewart-Cassier Hwy is an isolated and scenic 543 mile route linking the Alaska Hwy with Hwy 16 in the south. It took me three days to ride it and explore some of the sights along the way. I didn't stop much since there are few towns. My journals are full of the history of the area from the earliest First Nation individuals, explorers, miners, telegraph lines and rail roads. Mining of lead, asbestos, silver, gold and copper take place in the region and helped spur it's development over the ages.
There is only one way in and out of Skagway by land, the White Pass. I enjoyed the ride back immensely, taking advantage of the warmer weather and clear skies to take many pictures of the glacially carved lakes and beautiful scenery. I met a nice woman named Cricket beside Tagishi Lake - Shout out!
Journal Excerpt:
The rutted road to Dyea is lined with a lush moss and lichen blanketed forest. Cedar and Alder grow in abundance giving the dense dripping forest a unique scent...Dyea is a derivation of the Tlingit word for "Trail over the mountain" and served as a small family sided community that traded over the Chilkoot Pass with interior tribes. In 1898, with the influx of thousands of stampeeders heading for the Klondike Gold Fields, the population exploded to reach 8-10'000 hopeful miners. Inadequate docks and a waterfront that frequently experienced dramatic tidal changes made for a chaotic experience. Throngs of men began here on the Chilkoot Trail in the direction of Yukon hauling their gear 33mi in a series of trips over the 4000' pass. A massive avalanche on April 3rd,1898 buried many men, their graveyard a solemn testament to what was. All that remains to this day are some old foundations, the remains of a wood rowboat and an old Real Estate Comapny frontage. The decline of the gold rush and installation of the White Pass & Yukon Route moved focus to Skagway and away from the shanty town that was Dyea. As a result of the glacial melt, the town is rising at a rate of 1/4" a year. Much of the area what was once a dock/waterfront is now a forest, the tidal marshes almost a mile away. |
Mike SaundersIn May 2014 I quit my job to ride a Honda Ruckus over 69'000 mi and counting. Wild camping most nights and cooking most of my own meals, I keep the costs low and the landscape changing. Archives
April 2018
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