coming to skagway and recommendations (Barrow, Metlakatla: environment, military, travel)

[cannot_hear]

Hi all,

my friends and i are coming to Skagway for Work and Travel at Westmark Inn Skagway in May. We are thinking of travelling around in Alaska, any recommendations?

we come from Singapore, a tiny red dot in South East Asia. any advice on the clothes that we should bring? We have no prior experience to cold environments, as Singapore is a tropical island city.

Best Regards
Kenneth

[Metlakatla]

So you're going to work in Skagway for the summer and then travel afterwards? Or travel on days off?

Skagway is going to be very cold to you in May. The north wind will still be blowing--well, it blows all the time, but you'll feel the chill from the mountains in May still. So be prepared for that. The rest of the summer will be pretty good weatherwise.

Skagway has a ferry terminal so you can travel from there; you'll have lots of options.

[ASpilot2be]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

So you're going to work in Skagway for the summer and then travel afterwards? Or travel on days off?

Skagway is going to be very cold to you in May. The north wind will still be blowing--well, it blows all the time, but you'll feel the chill from the mountains in May still. So be prepared for that. The rest of the summer will be pretty good weatherwise.

Skagway has a ferry terminal so you can travel from there; you'll have lots of options.

Yep. However with the wacky weather these days it could be 80 and not surprise me

[rotorhead]

Get a decent GoreTex or equivalent jacket, you'll use it a lot. A couple different weights of fleece jacket for underneath and you've probably got it covered. You'll do a lot of walking in Skagway, so be prepared with some comfortable shoes that are already broken in if they need it. Not a lot of call for high heels or fancy loafers, unless you need them for work. About the only people I saw dressed up at all were working in one of the jewelry-based tourist-fleecing boxes, pretty much everyone else was dressed very casually. Suede shoes and such do very poorly up here, lots of areas are still muddy and it rains a lot. While it's certainly possible that you'll see some nice, sunny days the odds are very good you'll need bug repellent far more often than sunscreen.

[cannot_hear]

oh, i didnt expect insect repellent to be useful there. Thanks!

how about safety in alaska? we intend to travel within alaska, places such as anchorage, barrow, ketchikan.

[rotorhead]

In the USA, your personal safety is up to you as an individual. It's an often-ignored fact (especially by US citizens) that the police here have NO legal obligation to protect you personally, their only job is to protect the overall peace and safety of the community as a whole. You cannot file a lawsuit against a police department because they failed to prevent a mugging, for example.

That said however, you'll find that the "wild west" international reputation of Americans as a whole and Alaskans in particular is grossly overstated. Yes, it's true that many people here own personal firearms, including military-style rifles and pistols of many types. In Alaska especially they are often present in homes and many outdoor settings, not only for their perceived protection from aggressive bears and other animals but also for target shooting, hunting, and other recreational activities. Despite that fact, the violent crime rate here in Alaska is extremely low compared to the larger cities and more populous states. Generally speaking, you'll find in the US that the more restrictive the firearms laws are in a particular place, the worse the crime rate is...strange, but true. There's a recent thread on this BB about how to behave in bear country with several good links to official sites, I'll not repeat them here but you can find them with a cursory search. I will tell you that Skagways summer population is about ten times that of the winter population, so there will always be a significant transient element in town over the summer so you will want to keep an eye on your valuables.

If you plan on renting a car, just use normal safe-driving precautions and remember to get the rental companies permission before you drive it into Canada. Don't plan on public transportation working anywhere in Alaska outside of the local shuttle-type busses and the sparse routing of the Alaska Railroad (almost all tourist routes). This is also largely true of the rest of the US, but it's especially true up here in Alaska where the population is relatively small and spread out over a huge area. I personally would avoid hitchhiking unless it's an emergency, though not everyone here would agree with me. If your friends are young and female, thats another potential concern as well. All cities and most towns have taxi services, but long-haul bus service is virtually non-existant outside of the package tour agencies.

Keep in mind that air service here falls into two general categories: the regular scheduled airlines (FAA Part 121 Air Carriers) and on-demand air charter (FAA Part 135 Air Taxi Operators). To make a sweeping generalization, the airlines are almost perfectly safe, but the Air Taxi operators are distinctly less so. To be fair, the air-taxi services are still very safe compared to similar operations in other parts of the world despite the often very challenging situations they regularly deal with.

In either case, book early if possible because the summer is the peak season and space can be limited. The same also applies to the state-run Alaska Marine Highway ferry boat service, which is a great way to travel and serves much of coastal Alaska, especially in SE.

Good luck with your visit, hope it goes well!

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by cannot_hear

how about safety in alaska? we intend to travel within alaska, places such as anchorage, barrow, ketchikan.

If you plan on visiting Barrow, don't do a "tour". Send me email before you start planning, and we can work out a much more interesting stay than the tours provide. Just as an example, the tours are in today and out tomorrow, which simply is not enough time to see even half of what's here. Plan at least 2 days if at all possible, and 3 or 4 is much much more fun.

[cannot_hear]

Hi Floyd_Davidson, thanks for the offer! Barrow is definitely on my list of destinations, awaiting the dreaded exams to be over first.. will definitely contact you once i start planning...

thanks to rotorhead too, giving my such an insight to safety and travelling.. i'm planning to go to Vancouver for fireworks at the end of july.. didnt expect to have fireworks for my birthday...

[cannot_hear]

Hi, wad's the cost of food in skagway?

how about internet services?

[artemisdio]

My wife and I took my girls on cruise in 2005 and fell in love with Skagway. Diana is retired and is waiting for me to retire and then move. Can anyone that lives or has lived in Skagway give us any information that we will need to pull this off. I looked for houses there and found none. Its just the two of us now except for the animals. My wife is an RN, 34 years with the VA as a Psychiatric Nurse and I am an addictions therapist with the VA currently. I have done a lot of other things in my life but we just want to retire and enjoy the rest of our lives in a beautiful place.