Solo Sojourns

Today we docked at Skagway, a borough in the Alaskan panhandle. Although it’s local population is only 1,200 or so it gets over 100,000 mainly cruise visitors a year and it’s seasonal working population has to double in order to cope with them. Although it’s a beautiful day, it’s cold (September 19) and you can see your breath as you exhale. Shoulda brought a woolly hat.

It was an important port during the Klondike gold rush with many prospective miners passing through town each week. Back then Skagway was a lawless outback and between 1897 and 1898, it was a described by one member of the North West Mounted Police as “little better than a hell on earth.”

Fights, floozies and firewater were ever-present on Skagway’s streets, and con man “Soapy” Smith who had risen to considerable power, did little to stop it. Like many of its inhabitants he was a former criminal himself and ran it like a don.

After the Gold Rush, it’s the 400 cruise ships a year that turn this small town into a boomtown every summer, with 95% of the economy cruise -dependent. That makes its economy in 2023 very fragile and perhaps more than most places, totally dependent on cruise tourism. It was very badly hit by the lack of visitors during the pandemic. As you see today there are a number of cruises docked.

Today I opted for the good time girls walking tour around Skagway. I love a bit of theatre and had a feeling it would be well done. I was not disappointed. Our Madame was totally in character and at times really quite hilarious. Very ‘punny’ too.

The innuendos were flying and the tour group loving it. It was interesting historically and gave you a feel for the life at the time. Wild is an understatement! Although it was fun and lighthearted, there was a more serious side.

They don’t sugarcoat the reality. Obviously many street workers met sad ends -some very young, were trafficked and sexual health care was non existent. STDs were common, as were fatal back alley abortions.

Overall the tour gave a pretty good feel for what it must have been like with many original artefacts on show in the infamous Red Onion Saloon including these electric curling tongs which the girls plugged into the only light socket.

I suppose back in the day the smartest thing you could do was to get out of Skagway as fast as possible, given the risk to health and also life!But there’s so much more to Skagway now than Klondike stories. It’s also called the garden of Alaska and is abundant with nature and parklands. Once again wishing I’d had longer to see it properly. It’s really beautiful. I saw some very interesting marble jade and glasswork along with the jewellery stores!