> On 6/6/09 5:40 AM, in article
> > We found the train up to the Canada border to be spectacular, ?The White
> > Pass and Yukon RR, the scenery and the story are "must do's" when I make
> > recommendations to my friends.
> > Skagway (the town) is small and can be explored on foot - not sure what it
> > takes to get to a hiking trailhead.
> > Enjoy whatever you decide.
> > Jim
> >> We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
> >> Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
> >> 6 years of age).
> >> We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
> >> (Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
> >> $100 total) and explore by ourselves.
> >> If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
> >> about navigating around Skagway?
> >> If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
> >> please let us know.
> >> Thank you very much for your time,
> >> __
> >> Sudarshan.
> Sudar, I agree with Jim. Take the train at least once. Your kids will love
> it. We took the ship's excursion (one way bus; return by train; saw bears,
> moose and eagle); it was not much more expensive than tours offered locally.
On our last trip we took a van tour and the kids took the train. We
saw more, interesting scenery according to their account, stopped and
the van driver took photos of all who wanted them in front of the
beautiful sign at the border coming back to Alaska, and heard the same
basic stories, met a couple of the "***s" in town and just
generally had a better day trip in the van than the train trip
offered. We also saw, up close, Salmon at spawn in a small creek.
Pitchfork Falls was beautiful and one of the sights unviewable from
the train as was a cantilevered highway bridge built to be safe in an
earthquake. Again, try one of the van trips, you might like it.
PDDeen