Clock Tower Hike in Skagway Alaska

After a full day working at the store, the sun broke through the clouds for a second so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to go hiking. I'd never hiked in Skagway before, so I called the interns at our store and asked which one I should do. They decided to come along and show me in person.

They chose right. Less than 10 minutes into the hike and we were blessed with this view:

A little higher up the trail and we had to make a few decisions. Our options included Lower and Upper Dewey Lakes, Lower and Upper Reid Falls, a Reservoir, and Ice Lakes. "All of the above" was apparently not an option for tonight because we had to make it back by 6:30 for Burrito Night at Bonanza.

So we first hit the Reservoir.

Then we went off trail to an option that wasn't marked and some place neither of them had been yet. We wanted to find the cliffs with the painted clock tower on it. Except it was hard to see the clock tower from this vantage point.

Mt Roberts, Gastineau, and Gold Ridge Trail Guide

Two down, three to go. (Of the five peaks in Juneau)

Tanner and I (and Panda, who had to bail early to go to work) hiked Mt. Roberts today. It was much longer and more difficult than we had anticipated. But much more worth it than I thought it'd be.

Douglas Island (left) and Downtown Juneau with Mt Roberts Tram station (center) and Father Brown's Cross (far right)

We started hiking around 9:30am. Well, I left my apartment around 9am (at sea level) and hiked up to the interns' apartment on 7th (already at 200ft although it feels like way more than just 200ft). We took the 6th Street entrance because it takes so much longer to go around to Basin Road.

No longer maintained, but not technically off limits.

There are a few landslides and downed trees that you have to traverse and the trail itself is a little overgrown, but for the most part it's an easy-to-follow trail. It takes about 45 minutes at a good pace to get up to the Mt Roberts Tram Station (1800ft). There you can refill water bottles, buy some snacks if you'd like, watch a movie about the history of the native people here, and say hello to Baltimore, a chill bald eagle rescue. This is also your halfway point to the top of Gastineau Peak, so it's a nice time for a break. 

There's also a nature center with trail maps and a helpful guide who told us there's too much snow up top so don't attempt Gastineau or Mt Roberts. We didn't believe her, but it's nice to get a guides perspective anyways. I think she could sense our blasé attitude so she asked us to please check in on our return to make sure we came back safely and didn't fall off a cliff.

Above the tram we started to see some wildlife, with this Rock Ptarmigan.

Why can't you hear a Ptarmigan go to the bathroom? Because the P is silent. Bwahhahahaa.

We also saw a bear cub scampering off. I didn't get a picture, but you can see him in the video at the bottom.