{"id":7474,"date":"2021-02-04T10:12:39","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T15:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7474"},"modified":"2021-02-04T10:19:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T15:19:54","slug":"episode-244-yukon-diary-escape-to-juneau-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7474","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 244 YUKON DIARY ESCAPE TO JUNEAU ALASKA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:  The next Episode (245) really surprised me and  I would  like to share it with you.<\/div>\n
I felt my stories were cluttering up some of your emails so decided to prune my BCC list.<\/div>\n
Take off the people who never responded  in any way\u2026felt I was  bothering them. What<\/div>\n
a response!  Dozens sent notes  of  alarm.    Did not want to be cut off as they were<\/div>\n
reading my stories as  a  kind of isolation therapy.  Surprised me as most of them<\/div>\n
would never have been pruned anyway.  Touching.  Needs a special Episode.<\/div>\n
I will send their messages only using first names of course.  End result makes<\/div>\n
me feel like a prince.   So I will continue a story every day.  Takes a lot of time<\/div>\n
but knowing most of  you read  the stories is a big  push factor.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

EPISODE  244    YUKON DIARY   ESCAPE TO JUNEAU , ALASKA<\/p>\n


<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Feb.2921<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
THURSDAY SEPT. 13,1962<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Woke up in Skagway.   Last night I figured  how  to get out of town.  That issue troubled<\/div>\n
me  for I was travelling by the seat of my pants.  Chasing rainbows.  How would I get<\/div>\n
to Juneau, the  landlocked capital city of Alaska.  There are two alternatives.  Either I<\/div>\n
book a small float plane or I try to find a water taxi.  Not really a choice.  Water taxi<\/div>\n
would be cheapest.  So I booked passage on the Blue Star Taxi \u2026 room on the launch<\/div>\n
for five or six passengers.  And the captain provided donuts  and coffee.<\/div>\n
His water taxi would  get me to Haines\u2026across the fjord.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I think that is  my ferry to Junceau\u2026the S.S. Chilkoot in the distance.  The wrecks in the foreground got most of my attention.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My water taxi in the distance.  The Spot is being rebuilt obviously\u2026charming little fishing boat.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"jpg<\/div>\n
The S.S. Chilkoot\u2026Alaskan state ferry from Haines to Juneau in 1962\u2026small<\/div>\n
enough to get close to the glaciers.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We powered our way across to Haines, an old military base that was once important when<\/div>\n
fear of a Japanese invasion was  real.  After Pearl  Harbour The Japanese were sending  incendiary balloons<\/div>\n
across the Pacific Ocean to set the west coast of  North America ablaze. A few actually arrived.<\/div>\n
The Japanese also made a feint attack  up the Aleutian Chain of Islands.  Haines became  important.<\/div>\n
As did Skagway for moving equipment to build the Alaska Highway.<\/div>\n
Haines was a Nice clean  looking place.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I was Enjoying my trip.  Historic events  had happened  here.<\/div>\n
The mountains towered over us.  At Haines I was able  to board the S.S. ChilKoot, a<\/div>\n
larger ferry bound for Juneau.  Six hour trip sitting on deck or in a small compartment .  Very few<\/div>\n
passengers\u2026maybe 5 or 6.   Several porpoises wanted to play tag with our ferry\u2026bobbing<\/div>\n
and  diving\u2026.sneaking side to side.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Had time to finish reading To Kill a Mocking Bird.  The book deserved all the praise <\/div>\n
it was getting.  When we reached  Juneau we were greeted by  a ferocious rainstorm.<\/div>\n
A Tlinget (First Nations) family and I stood on the pier \u2026 confused as to our next <\/div>\n
step.  The city of Juneau  was high above us.   Night time.  Then one of the ferry crewmen offered<\/div>\n
us a lift up into town.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Signed in to the Northlander Hotel at 11 p.m. Dead tired from doing nothing.  Travel<\/div>\n
is tiring.  Still went out and  walked around the rainy streets.  Juneau is a weird place\u2026.a<\/div>\n
city built where no city should be built\u2026.in what seems a long deep ravine running from<\/div>\n
the Pacific Ocean to the Coastal  mountains.  If  shaken by an earthquake it seemed to<\/div>\n
me that the whole city would slide into the sea. Stopped at a drug store for a hot dog<\/div>\n
and root beer.  Cost surprising $1.70.  Crawled to bed.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:<\/div>\n
I could see Douglas  Island across the channel from Juneau but I realized I  would<\/div>\n
never get there.  Time was running out.  The great gold mine was gone anyway.,  <\/div>\n
Well not exactly gone.  The mine had 45 miles of passageways criss crossing<\/div>\n
beneath Douglas Island and out under the ocean.  Forty five miles!   Now a water<\/div>\n
filled grave for the horses left below when that unusual high tide pushed up the<\/div>\n
Channel.  Water is heavy.  A sudden influx of an extra few hundred thousand<\/div>\n
gallons was  enough to break into a weakened fault in a  subterranean passage<\/div>\n
triggering a race with death stalking the 300 miners scrambling to get up the shaft.<\/div>\n
No room or time for the horses.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My Yukon boss, Dr. Norman Paterson, even sent pictures he once took in<\/div>\n
Skagway.  His shot of the interior of a brothel is  particularly interesting as<\/div>\n
you will see.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
All that remains of the  Treadwell  Gold Mine on Douglas Island, Alaska<\/div>\n
The rest of the mine is still here\u2026under the ocean filled with water.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
THIS was the  Treadwell kitchen  for single men.  Lots of food made<\/div>\n
in pots as big as  garbage pails.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NEXT STORY<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I did not sleep well.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE:  The next Episode (245) really surprised me and  I would  like to share it with you. I felt my stories were cluttering up some of your emails so decided to prune my BCC list. Take off the people who never responded  in any way\u2026felt I was  bothering them. What a response!  Dozens sent notes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}