Skagway and Haines

Skagway and Haines are only separated by 15 miles of water, but they are nearly 350 miles apart by road. So it's best to take the ferry. Both towns are steeped in history.

Skagway marked the beginning of the route to famous Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. Within two years of the discovery of gold Skagway became the most populous city in Alaska. For several years during that time Skagway was lawless, and run by groups of con men who created a well oiled system for cheating newcomers out of their money as they arrived in town. The city and some of it's residents, like Soapy Smith, bore numerous similarities to the famous Deadwood television series.

 

Today a remarkable amount of that history has been preserved, and the bulk of the downtown area is a kind of living museum. Cruise ships arrive regularly, and during the day the streets are jam packed full of tourists. Then, at 7 or 8pm the boats sound off their enormous horns, and the tourists hypnotically file back into the ships, like the Eloi in The Time Machine. The town is transformed. Residents, now off work, begin to live their lives, relaxing, riding around on bikes in the empty, quite streets. It's very nice at that time of day.

 The streets are peaceful after the cruise passengers leave.

 The original headquarters of Soapy Smith.

Unfortunately all these beer bottles were empty.

The White House B&B, where i stayed the second day in Skagway. It was far better than the previous night's accommodations.

The unfortunate thing about Skagway is that the entire economy appears to be based on tourism. All of the buildings downtown are either gift shops, restaurants, or museums. The White Pass railroad is a major employer, but it too has devoted it's operations almost entirely to tourism. Outside that small downtown area there is virtually nothing. Still, it's a very nice town.  With the whole White Pass area a few miles away I wouldn't mind spending an entire summer there, maybe even longer.

 Some pictures of the pioneer cemetery in Skagway.

  

The view from my room at the Chilkoot River Lodge

 Coincidentally, they day i stayed in the Chilkoot Lodge happened to be the day of an annual race where contestants get into makeshift rafts and race the last mile of the river down to the ocean. The guys in the lower picture managed to hit every rock in the river.

I took the ferry to Haines, and felt a world away when i arrived. Although Haines does have it's own tourist industry, it is also a functioning town in other ways. Downtown looks more like a downtown of any other tiny city, but around the edges you'll find other industries, like logging and fishing. I get the sense that Haines could survive in some form if the tourists stopped coming.

Portage Cove

Fort Seward is visible from afar, but up close many of the buildings appear to be in disrepair.

After the quaintness of Skagway i wasn't too happy with the hotel selection in Haines. I did find one incredible place to stay, and i couldn't believe it had a room available. It was called the Chilkoot River Lodge, and it only had 3 or 4 rooms. Having just opened, it still smelled brand new on the inside. Situated directly above the Chilkoot River, you can catch fish, and then walk right up to lodge, cook the fish on a large grill, and eat it on the spot.

The Bald Eagle and the otter in these pictures were having a duel over a fish carcass. The otter won, i think because i spooked the eagle when i got too close. While i was taking pictures i didn't notice the quickly rising tide. By the time i was done the camera bag i left on the beach was in the water. It ruined one of my extra batteries.

I only stayed in Haines for one day, but it was a long one. I had wanted to take a flight tour over to Mt. Logan and Lituya Bay, the site of the larges megatsunami ever recorded. I didn't get to go because it was the 4th of July and either the flights were already full, or the pilots were taking the day off. Instead i hung out and enjoyed some of the small town festivities, including an impressive fireworks display late in the evening. I couldn't figure out where such a small town could get enough money for such a big show.

I decided i would try and take a flight tour from Haines Junction, in the Yukon. I called and made reservations the next morning. I had already been up that way a few days before on the way to Whitehorse, and met a French Canadian pilot who seemed enthusiastic.

Fourth of July firework celebrations in Haines.

Panama

As one flies into Panama City, one is struck by the skyline. Far removed from other Latin American cities that i've seen, Panama's is littered with tall, densely packed skyscrapers more reminiscent of the larger coastal cities of Brazil. Floating offshore from this skyline is a huge armada of large ships, anchored and waiting sometimes up to a month for their turn to pass through the Panama Canal. From the air the scene gives off the impression of a world class metropolis. Indeed, it already ranks number 57 in the world based on the number of completed high rises and it seems like half the skyline is currently still under construction. On the ground the city is more mundane. The skyscrapers look shoddily constructed, and stand incredibly close to one another, sometimes so close that a resident of one building might be able to pass something by hand to a resident in a neighboring building.




A great number of these buildings are under construction.

I had the opportunity to go to Panama to do some work for a friend, taking pictures of an island that is the location of a soon to be built eco-resort. We stayed in an old historic area of the city that was half in ruins. Casco Viejo (also called San Felipe or Casco Antiguo) has been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site. At this point many buildings are mere shells with nothing beyond the outer facade, but a few residents remain in old decrepit structures. New reconstruction going on all over the neighborhood, with nice results on finished streets. The presidential palace is also in the neighborhood.






This old church tower was on the opposite of a public square from where i was staying, so i saw it a lot.


These clam shells were used on several old buildings and might have looked pretty neat in the sun when they still had their silver lining.


Much of Casco Viejo consists of colonial ruins, like these, which were literally the back half of our apartment building.




Some buildings are still lived in.

Walking around I was at first put off by the plentiful, machine gun toting police/soldiers that stand at every other corner, but after I saw the alternative, I began to appreciate their presence. Only a few blocks from the area where it’s safe to walk around is the most desperate urban slum I’ve ever personally seen. The people of El Chorrillo live in extreme poverty, and just driving through it was a surreal experience, especially at night when it was jam packed full of people. I sat next to a man on my return flight who told me the first time he had gone into that area, to take pictures, he had been choked into unconsciousness by muggers and was woken up by a guard, who admonished him for being in the area. I'd have to agree with the guard, it's not sensible to go there. During the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, much of the Chorrillo neighborhood, which had been old wooden buildings from the 1900's burned to the ground and were eventually replaced with concrete buildings.

Pictures taken out the car window in El Chorrillo. Other images of El Chorillo can be found here.

Panama is going though a growth boom. As such, a lot of crazy stuff is happening. During one meeting I had to attend, a group of scumbag lawyers groveled for an hour in front of us, nervous and paranoid although dressed to the hilt in expensive Panamanian suits. One of the things they were worried about was that they suspected an old uneducated woman whom they had been stealing money from had been kidnapped by a rival lawyer. As the topics moved on another lawyer in the group mentioned how he had corrupt government contacts who could help us smuggle gold artifacts off of a valuable archaeological site. I couldn't believe what i was hearing. During this long conversation in a public square, an African man walked up and introduced himself as someone my associate knew. He boldly warned us not to trust the lawyers, who laughed nervously and looked side to side, literally. The African then went to another table where he produced a photographer who began to make a visual record of our meeting.

Eventually the lawyers left, and were immediately replaced by the African, accompanied by a Swiss man, who was supposedly acting as an interpreter for the African. Though he claimed not to be able to speak English well, the reactions of his face to our words spoke otherwise. Who and what this guy claimed to be is irrelevant. What he was in reality was a kind of Nigerian con artist who was pretty straightforward about threatening us with extortion. Eventually we walked away from the meeting through several streets and took a cab to the other side of the city, in order to meet more pleasant company and discuss what had happened.

This place had really good sorbet/ice cream. These were all flavors of tropical fruits.

My friend Ben had us on a tight schedule, so i was only in the city briefly for two evenings (never even going downtown), but one thing we did manage to do was to go to an old palace that had been bombed during the 1989 invasion. It sits on the coast and is battered by waves. We didn't know at the time that it was a major scene in the movie Quantum of Solace. In retrospect, that explains some of the strange things we noticed while looking around, especially the fact that it was remarkable clean on the upper floors. One staircase had weird foamy pads on each stair, something i thought was extremely weird and couldn't explain. It actually made walking up or down the stairs more difficult.




We were able to find a way in from underneath. We had to walk through a dark and0 stinky drug addict area to get up to the main floors.

Two months later i saw the movie (which wasn't very good) and was glued to the screen when i saw the scene using the palace. It's a scene outside at night with "party" lights all over the place and a kind of dance going on, if i remember correctly. They used the location really well, and all of a sudden everything made sense when i saw Bond or someone take a fall down those very stairs. Also, upstairs we were shocked at the extremely shoddy construction of some of the stone railing. At the time i was wondering if that's how palaces are built in a third world country. The movie explained that too, when i saw someones head get smashed into that railing, cracking it or something. In hindsight our confusion was funny.


The main patio, with the skate rail. Right behind both sides of me was the ocean with the distant skyline. A very cool location to skate.


The main floor was a major skating hangout. The kids had improvised some kind of skateboard vehicle with an old workbench.


This rail, and all the rails up here excepting the outside ones, were movie props. They looked great but were actually hollow wire mesh.

The building is very intriguing as you see it walking down the street but maybe looks a little intimidating because there are a bunch of "no good" (by definition) teenage skateboarders in side, totally unsupervised and very devoted to the task of being teenagers. Additionally, there is no way to get in from the front, except by going down to a small beach, standing on top of an upright board and hoisting yourself up into a dark opening in the wall. Although i saw plenty of "no-good" teenagers popping out of that hole, Ben claimed it was physically impossible to go the opposite direction, so we had to find another way. Walking around to the back side we found a large, much easier opening underneath by the waves. That lower area is no place to hang out, unless you like heroin, and for-real no-gooders. One guy that looked like drug addicted former pirate wanted to know what we were doing in his house. He spoke english and sounded American. Maybe a leftover from the invasion. Maybe he was the guy who bombed it originally, so he felt it was "his" house.

Upstairs though, were lots of children and teenagers having fun. That's right, first floor: darkness and drug addicts, second floor: children and entertainment. Somehow someone had put in a skate rail, and the older kids were making good use of it. If i could have spoken to them conditions were right to get a cool picture of one of them flying through the air in a dramatic pose over the the ocean and the skyline in the background. Could have been a very cool looking skater shot but they looked like they would have preferred that we not be there at all, which seemed like a natural reaction to me. The children though, were excited to have some weird looking people stop by. They started showing off their improvised skateboard vehicle they had engineered. A few of them followed us around as we explored the upper levels.


These two kids in particular were pretty excited about us being there and started following us around. We couldn't talk to each other but when i showed them what their picture looked like they were thrilled and began to strike poses.

I didn't actually get to do much in Panama City. It may seem like a vacation, but we had actual work to do, and our busy schedule allowed for only two evenings in the city. Unfortunately i never even had the time to go look downtown where all those high rises were. I did however, drink the best mojito i've ever had, with real sugarcane.




Really a nice view upstairs before it was bombed.

Salt Lake City

When i was in high school we would go to this terrible hotel sometimes, get a room, and then just hang out in it all night and party. I got to Salt Lake after a kinda long drive from Great Basin and it was getting late. I've never done anything in Salt Lake except leave the airport. I stopped at a hotel that was part of a chain near the highway and got a room thinking it was an ideal place to quickly get to the airport in the morning. I should have thought twice when i saw all the people in the parking lot, but boy was i shocked when i got in the room. It was remarkably undesirable inside. Even repulsive. What was harder for me to get used to was the fact that, apparently in high school i was completely at home in such a place, thinking nothing of lying on the filthy floor to listen to music or pass out. Even writing this is uncomfortable so i'm moving on.... It was yucky and i stayed in it due to time and energy levels.

Anyway, my vacation had been so good up to this point that i had completely lost track of time. I called Maree to let her know i'd made it back from the wilds safely and would need to be picked up from the airport tomorrow. She didn't know what i was talking about because i wasn't supposed to be back for another two days. DANG. I forgot what day it was while i was out of Internet and cell phone reception and not watching TV. I drove all day just to get to Salt Lake a whole day EARLY. I could have stayed another day in Great Basin. DANG. Another embarrassing moment.


I think this was part of the convention center built for the 2002 Olympics.

No big deal, i'd find something to do. I spent the next morning finding a WAAY better hotel. In fact, i almost got a room at the Hilton just to erase the trauma. But then i found the Shilo Inn for half the price and only a little less quality.

I went to Park City. I've always heard rave reviews of Park City, about 1/2 an hour away from Salt Lake. It was a big let down. Nothing to do there but shop and the surrounding mountains are more like large rounded hills. It probably is more pleasant in winter when you have a large selection of slopes and lodges to ski at.


Chihuli glasswork at the art museum. I should have gone in when it was open.

I was impressed however, with Temple Square. The "Vatican" of the Mormon religion, Temple Square completely dominates downtown Salt Lake City. There are more than 5 large city blocks that are devoted entirely to the Mormon religion. Museums, conference center, headquarters, tabernacles, libraries, public areas.... you can wander around for quite some time. It's pretty, and water seems to play a central role in the design, seemingly flowing for blocks from the original stream valley that the Mormons followed into the basin, down man made streams along the sidewalk, over walls, down little canals, and out of fountains into pools. As a whole it's a stunning achievement and definitely gives off the impression being a major force in the world. Seriously, i haven't seen anything like it in any other city outside of our countries capital. It's that big, and it's that kind of investment. Even all the new building that came to the city with the 2002 Winter Olympics pales in comparison.


Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build and was started in 1853.

That evening i went back out to take some pictures. In Alaska night time is associated with being cold. If it's not cold, it's not night time. During our springs, it takes weeks of the sun shining until 9 or 10 pm to melt the snow. By the time we have green grass it stays light until late at night. In September darkness returns, as does Fall, and bad weather. There is only a very short time frame when you can go out at night and see green grass before the temperature drops below freezing at night. It usually rains during that time.

So the possibility of being outside, in the dark, with green vegetation and warm temperatures has become so rare for me that it's almost some kind of surreal experience. I have very few nighttime pictures from Alaska, which is too bad because i have a lot of fun making them. I really enjoy being outside at night and not freezing or slipping.


One of many fountains at Temple Square.

Utah has the youngest average age of any State, and downtown it was obvious. There are young people with children everywhere, and well dressed. Even at night around 10pm, when i took the church photo, there were tons of people hanging out talking and loving on each other, or even praying. Eventually though my luck ran out and it started to rain, so i called it quits.


Walking down the street with the shutter open. That giant red blur is my hotel. It's very ugly at night but i think this picture proves that no matter how drunk you get you will always be able to find it. I think i'll submit it to the Drunk Google Earth Project. They have that, right?