Nightmarish Skagway and Heavenly Marsh Lake

Ferry trip from  Haines to Skagway was a nightmare. Too many tourists, a monster of a ferry which seemed to be polluting the gorgeous landscape and destroying it slowly and painfully every second, with every laboured moved and Skagway itself- a tiny town which could be gorgeous but with four cruiseships ( one sailing from the Caribbean)  and thousands of tourists pouring out of it every morning and then deserting the town ( turning it into a ghosttown) in the evening it made us miss tiny, quirky and homely Haines Junction even more.( okay, it made me miss it enormously. We absolutely adored Haines Junction).

We did do a lovely hike around Skagway the next day. The rocks with pine trees and vicious sea battling its way towards the lagoon  made it absolutely spectacular. On our way back we went off the trail which provided us with  an additional bit of exercise ( more rock climbing).

Afterwards, we crossed the US-Canadian border  once more ( and sadly last time this year) and we were amazed by the beauty of the landscape. Naively, after Top of The World Highway  and all of the Alaskan  landscapes as well as Kluane National  Park, we thought  there is only this much variety one can get, yet the beauty of the mountains with hidden turquoise  ponds stunned us.

We've been spending the  last two days in a gorgeous lodge at Marsh Lake cycling and driving around the area, nearly running over cute porcupines, playing snooker and getting ridiculously  drunk  on amazing South African brandy provided by a lovely British lady that lives with her husband ( from South  Africa) in Toronto. We've also been talking to them for hours about travelling, South Africa and living in Canada. Dolce Vita.

Podroz promem z Haines do Skagway byla  koszmarem. Prom przypominal potwora, na pokladzie znajdowalo sie z tysiac turystow, a kazda sekunda przeprawy zdawala sie zatruwac srodowisko. Co wiecej, samo Skagway, ktore mogloby byc uroczym, milutkim miasteczkiem, zamienia sie w horror wraz z poranna fala turystow ze statkow ( a stalo ich tam cztery- jeden przyplynal az x Karaibow, kazdy mial co najmniej  7 pieter) a potem  w miasto duchow, jak turysci wracaja na kolacje na statku.
Wszystko to sprawilo, iz zatesknilismy sie za nasza malutka, ukochana dziurka- Haines Junction  ( a szczegolnie ja za nia zatesknilam, uwielbiam Haines Junction).

Mimo wszystko udalo nam sie zrobic  mily hike wokol Skagway. Skalki, morze wpadajace do zatoki oraz lasy porosniete mchem byly cudowne. Co wiecej, dzieki temu, iz zgubilismy droge powrotna, mielismy wiecej sportu i dawke wspinania sie po skalkach.

Po hike'u po raz kolejny i niestety ostatni w tym roku przekroczylismy amerykansko-kanadyjska granice. Po Top of The World Highway, Alaskowych widokach i Kluane National  Park myslelismy, iz zaden widok nas juz nie zaskoczy. Bylismy jednak w bledzie- przepiekne gory skrywajace male turkusowe jeziorka i unoszaca sie nad tym wszystkim mgla sprawily, iz na nowo bylismy oszolomieni pieknem tego regionu.

Ostatnie dwa dni spedzamy nad jeziorem Marsh w pieknej lodge. Jezdzimy na rowerach, wybieramy sie na wyprawy samochodem, prawie przejezdzamy sliczne jezowate ( po ang. Porcupine) zwierzatka wpadajace na ulice i upijamy sie na wspanialym poludniowoafrykanskim brandy, ktorym raczy nas przemila Brytyjka mieszkajaca z mezem ( z RPA) w Toronto ( zostalismy zreszta do nich zaproszeni!).Rozmawiamy z nimi takze godzinami o podrozach i RPA oraz Kanadzie.Dolce vita.