Jessi Fleagane

Many people know about the White Pass Railway in Skagway Alaska, but did you know that you can get off a few miles up from the station and hike in the Tongass National Forest, then meet back up with the train, to complete the loop?

I had the pleasure of doing this excursion recently, when I sailed with Holland America, on a round-trip cruise out of Vancouver. We hiked 6 miles in the beautiful NF at the end of August.

It was a wonderful experience, and I had such a nice time wandering in the misty beauty of the interior. We even had a bear encounter! Our group split into 2, with one group electing to push further up to see a waterfall, and the other going back down at a leisurely pace. About midway back to the train stop, a bear made itself known to the group at the bottom...it was stuck between the groups for a semi-tense 45 minutes, as we hiked back out. We had been seeing the prints throughout the hike, so we knew we had one nearby and had all been keeping alert for signs of it. No one expected to get quite so close to it though! 

Along with hiking opportunities, there is also a cabin up at this pass (the Denver stop) and you can rent a whole vintage rail-car which has been converted into a bunk room. It's super cute and I fully intend to try this out one day.

Of the many excursions I have done in Alaska, this was definitely one of my favorites and is something a bit different than what most people do. It was nice to be in a small group and get some decent mileage in the forest. I highly recommend this for people who love to hike, when visiting Skagway!