Skagway, Pretty in Pink
“Skagway is the derivative of a Tlingit word, with “Cruel wind” as a simple enough translation. Still, there are a dozen more claims to the original meaning. My vote for imagination, if not decorum, leans towards the interpretation “woman pissing on a rock.” Today, the town deserves the former connotation, as successive icy gusts whistle up Broadway, buffeting the little group I have joined on a guided tour of historic sites. “ —From the unpublished As Good As Gold manuscript
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Friday, May 27/94, Skagway, Alaska
20:10
Sitting in the Prospector’s Sourdough Restaurant drinking coffee. The ferry trip yesterday from Juneau was spectacular, with views of Mt. Fair-weather and infinite huge peaks thrusting right out of the ocean to their magnificent glaciated summits. I burned up film as if it were free, which of course it is, but as a result I was forced to buy a roll here for the trip over White Pass to Carcross, which I will attempt to climb tomorrow [to get me to my next provision drop].
The ferry [docked] here last night just past 20:00. Dave [a fellow cyclist met on the ferry] got a room in the hotel. The $70.00US was a bit rich for me and I ended up at 02:00 this morning pitching a tent with a minimum of pegs at the far end of Broadway at the almost deserted campsite. The showers and other facilities are excellent and I’m sure it will be packed later in the season. For now there is no one to collect fees so I camped for free, as at Mendenhall, in Juneau.
I can report that the Red Onion Saloon really rocks! I will go there again tonight to see if any of the gang from the ferry are there.
As I wrote the last sentence, Tod, one of the Australian lads, walked by the window and noticed me. So there’s my answer ….
Today, I did the usual touristy things: visited the museum and various tourist traps. Spent more money than I should have … forced to get a cash advance on my Visa.
I must say that I’m feeling rather forlorn and miss Amanda much more than I’d anticipated.
Commuting out of Juneau around Skagway
Tm: 3.36.15
DST: 29.6
AVS: 8.2
MX: 40
ODO: 3162.9
23:20
This evening a short visit to the Red Onion for another reunion of the Aussie clan. We shall, perhaps, meet again in Whitehorse. Dave and his friend who works in Whitehorse will drive up tomorrow [they would pass me on the road].
I’m very anxious to get on the road myself, if only to distract from a rather depressing feeling of being overwhelmed by the now clearly daunting immensity of my undertaking. Perhaps it is simply the way I am perceiving it or I’m missing Amanda.
Whatever the reason, my loneliness at this rather eerie camp is only slightly alleviated by the sound of voices and the crackle of a fire over the other side of the site.