An epic train journey from Canada to Alaska

Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt and his wife Sheree (who you might know from The Great Australian Doorstep TV show) run fully escorted motorhome convoy tours in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and Alaska. Here, Spida takes us to Cooktown on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula.

We’re on a motorhome tagalong tour and today we’re taking a full-day tour by train and bus along the White Pass and Yukon Route to the world famous Skagway.

We begin this intriguing trip in Whitehorse, Canada by being picked up from our holiday park by our friendly and well-conversed tour guide. The first part of this exciting day trip is by bus, touring along the scenic South Klondike Highway.

The first stop is at a gorgeous scenic lake lookout – of which in this part of the world there are plenty! This is where you can be easily mesmerised by the brilliant scenery. The bright blues and greens in the lakes are created thanks to the glacial silt that runs down out of the mountains behind. The silt settles on the bottom of the lake and gives the water the most beautiful tone. 

The countryside throughout the Yukon is just breathtaking, there is no other word to describe it and even then ‘breathtaking’ does it no justice.

Next stop is Carcross for morning tea. Carcross was originally known as Caribou Crossing and is a very quaint little village with a population of just 289, nestled right on the banks of two big lakes: Bennett and Nares. In winter these lakes completely freeze over. Being here in autumn and seeing how huge they are, it just blows your mind to think how on earth could these lakes possibly freeze over?!

Carcross is also home to the S.S. Tutshi, – or, more specifically, the remains of the S.S. Tutshi. Launched in 1917, the steamboat held 110 passengers and was built especially for the tourist trade on the lakes. In 1955 the career of the S.S. Tutshi ended and she was hauled out of the water. Then, in 1990, a fire destroyed most of the vessel, which was devastating for locals and tourists alike as the it was a famous icon of the Yukon and had given everyone some remarkable memories of her times out on the Lake. 

The bus trip is very comfortable, with our driver and guide giving us a complete commentary. As we pull into Fraser, we see the world-famous narrow gauge White Pass & Yukon Route train waiting for us to board.  Today’s train trip is a 28-mile journey and will descend over the White Pass Summit into Skagway, Alaska. If you do this trip, remember to take your passport, as you’ll be going over the US/Canadian border again.

Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the White Pass & Yukon Route is a marvel of engineering, especially consideringthe harsh weather and extremely challenging conditions faced by the thousands of workers who built it. Now, some 115 years later, we are taking the journey to see the splendid panorama of mountains, glaciers, gorges, waterfalls, tunnels and bridges. The most spectacular parts of the trip are Glacier Gorge, Dead Horse Gulch and Bridal Veil Falls. At the very top we see the White Pass at 879 metres, which we climb in just 32 kilometres! This is why the White Pass & Yukon Route is known as the Scenic Railway of the World.

Then we arrive into Skagway, the gateway to the Klondike. Our trip includes a two-hour layover in Skagway, long enough to shop, have lunch or just stroll around this stunningly unique and historic town. Remember to rug up even though this is autumn, as the Big Freeze is just around the corner. When we arrive they have already started to evacuate the town, as they do for the treacherous winter months. 

Skagway, with a permanent population of nearly 1,000, is located at the northern-most point of the Inside Passage in southeast Alaska.  This is the place where the past lives on; where the cries of yesteryear still echo around every street corner and every bend in the trail.

Nearly one million tourists flock here during the summer months each and every year, to take in the colourful history of the old gold mining days. A seven-block corridor along the Broadway features historic false shop frontages and restaurants, wooden sidewalks, locals in period costumes and beautifully restored buildings. Beginning in 1897, Skagway (and the nearby ghost town of Dyea) was the starting place for more than 40,000 gold-rush miners who headed to the Yukon in search of their fortune.

Today Skagway survives almost entirely on tourism, as bus and train tours and more than 400 cruise ships a year turn this small town into a boomtown. Five times a day during the summer, National Park Service rangers lead a free 45-minute walking tour of the historic district, stopping at buildings like the Mascot Saloon Museum, the first cabin built in Skagway and one of the town’s earliest brothels.

For the adventurous, Skagway has an excellent trail system that begins just blocks from the downtown area and allows hikers to trek to alpine lakes, waterfalls, even the graves of Skagway’s most notorious residents, Soapy Smith and Frank Reid.

It is a place you will want to return to and a place that will be etched in your memory forever.

After enjoying this intriguing little town, we then board our coach and take the comfy journey back over the mountain ranges, through tiny villages, over the US/Canadian border and back into Whitehorse. And as though we were being given a final wave good bye, the first snowflakes of the Big Freeze start to fall as we bid farewell to Alaska for the final time.

Travel tips:

• Make sure your camera battery is charged, and that you have a way to recharge it! And if you’re going old-school, take plenty of batteries!
• Wear multiple layers of clothing. The train and bus are both cosy and warm, however if you step outside on the train viewing platforms you will be greeted with a swift icy wake up!
• The best time to visit Alaska is between May and September.
• If you’re planning a trip of a lifetime, head to Alaska!

Fast facts:

• Winter can get to -70°C very quickly thanks to the wind chill factor.
• Winter lasts for up to eight months a year, with daylight lasting just 3-4 hours.
• During the summer months, temperatures can reach the high 20s and daylight can last up to 22 hours a day!

The Great Australian Doorstep is on Channel 7Two on Saturday afternoons, or tune in to the radio show every weekend across the TripleM and FlowFM networks – 68 stations, Australia-wide.