I am finally in Skagway, AK, a town of 800 residents in the peak of summer, whose name roughly translates into "the place where the north wind blows." I learned what a fitting name Skagway really is when it was 58 degrees and cloudy, and everyone in town kept noting what a "nice day" it was. I'm glad my boss gave me a new UVM sweatshirt when he picked me up at the airport.
The journey actually getting here was pretty incredible itself. I flew into Juneau around 10 pm on Sunday and spent the night at a friend's house who lives just a few miles from the airport. It was so surreal to get off the plane and see a familiar face from home. She picked me up and immediately brought me to see the Mendenhall Glacier, pictured below.
Needless to saw, I practically had to pick my jaw up off the ground. She showed me some other highlights of the state capitol, including Tongass National Forest, the University of Southeast Alaska (which consisted of 2 buildings, from what I could make out), and where the road simply ends. The pavement just stops. The only way to get in or out of Juneau is by plane or ferry. We stayed out until the sunset around midnight, which felt like 4 am to me, before I finally got to sleep. After traveling for so long, I though for sure I would sleep for 16 hours straight, but sadly, I was wide awake at 4:09 am when the sun was back in the sky. Should have packed that sleep mask...
The next morning, Kelsey and I went out to this great waffle house before going to the airport (conveniently, Kelsey had to go there for work). I checked my bags and picked up my boarding pass and waiting in the observational room for small aircraft. Since I was forced to check my carry-on, I just watched various planes come and go. As it neared 10:30, I saw a small 10-passenger plane drive up to the front of the observational room. Excitedly, I watched as my luggage was wheeled out the "Wings of Alaska" plane, but was confused when they kept carrying them past that plane. I then realized I was going to be riding in a plane so small, it could be completely concealed by a 10-passenger aircraft.
At least we all got window seats. There were 5 passengers, one of whom had to sit up front next to the pilot. Honestly, the plane wasn't even as wide as my mom's Prius; we were all nearly shoulder-to-shoulder. We didn't even need a ladder to board to plane. Surprisingly, I wasn't that nervous during the ride- the views were so spectacular I forgot about what a tiny, vulnerable plane we were in. As we flew north through the Inside Passage of the Gulf of Alaska, we had amazing views of the Chilkat mountain range, characterized by jagged, multi-pitch peaks with snow covered summits. The range itself is surrounded by a massive glacier, which we could see at points, where it was slowly retreating.
Of course, I was quickly snapped out of this awe-filled trance as the pilot announced we were about to arrive in Skagway. As I looked ahead, all I could see was a tiny airstrip boarded by mountains on 3 sides, and ocean on the 4th. Before I knew it, we were descending alongside the peaks I was previously admiring and now cursing. We flew completely pas the landing strip before completing a 180-degree turn, touching down, and screaming to a halt just before reaching the water. Made it!
