Road conditions from Skagway to Whitehorse

[jamminjim]

Hello . My wife and I are on the Diamond Princess on the May 13th northbound sailing. We will be renting a car in Skagway on the 17th and will be going to Whitehorse via Carcross and would like to know what to expect for road conditions?

I am Jammin Jim and my wife is Terrie.

Thank You in advance

[Bucky3]

I just check http://www.weather.com every day and hope for the best! Hopefully, Yukon, who lives near Carcross and writes regularly on this board, will keep us up to date. He wrote the other day that there might be snow on the pass! Budget Queen, who also writes here, may be in Alaska right now and hopefully she will be reporting in before we leave on the 17th! We have sixteen people and four cars reserved for that drive on the 20th, but we plan to go only as far as Emerald Lake. Keeping our fingers crossed for great weather!!

[Yukon]

Here's what the road looked like southbound at about Mile 25 this afternoon - http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/images/s_klondike_hwy-2368.html We hit a couple of snow squalls, but not even enough to wet the road (the lowest temp was 39F). I hope that you're blessed with weather at least this good, but nobody can say for sure. We saw 2 Dall sheep low and 2 mountain goats high at Mile 50, then a goat low at Mile 52. I'll have photos of those as well as some unusual geese that are migrating through up on my blog later this evening - http://www.explorenorth.com/wordpress/

 

Murray

[tinkerme1]

Sry, I guess you'll be there in May. Ooops.

[Bucky3]

Oh, my, really didn't expect THAT MUCH snow. Last time we were there it was the end of June and snow was only on the mountain tops! Hope there won't be a snow storm on May 20th!

[Bucky3]

Hi Tinker! - We leave Vancouver May 17th on HA's Volendam RT. How about you?

[tinkerme1]

Hi Tinker! - We leave Vancouver May 17th on HA's Volendam RT. How about you?

 

Hi Bucky,

 

I just realized I made a boo-boo. LOL! We're sailing on June 17. Let us know all about your trip when you return. We're really looking forward to seeing Alaska.:D

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Jamminjim, we're renting a car in Skagway on the 17th as well (we're on Norwegian Sun) and planning to go at least to Carcross. Just want to be able to say we've been to the Yukon and maybe get a picture standing by the Welcome sign. If we're making really good time we might go all the way to Whitehorse but also want to spend time in Skagway so that's why the earlier turnaround.

 

If you happen to see us stuck in a snow jam, please pull us out!!!!

 

BobK/Orlando

[dyeadave]

I just returned from Whitehorse about an hour ago and I am happy to report that in spite of some snow flurries at the pass, the most exciting thing was a pothole in the road at about mile 20 or so with a full size highway cone sitting about half evident in said hole! There were a few rocks in the road up around the Tutshi Lake area and the sun was out most of the way down. I didn't fall asleep on this trip so maybe I can remain in my hometown of Skagway for a little longer and not have to move back north just yet!?!

I have a hundred or so Australians on the Diamond Princess in about a week, who have been promised a bit of snow to play in at the summit. We are praying that there will be some left by then!?! It goes pretty fast at this time of year so maybe even Emerald lake wil be open by then. It was still covered with ice this morning!

I saw some people out photographing some white animals at the Yukon sign on Sunday. Don't worry though, if you don't encounter any "live ones" they have some fake animals up on a hill above Carcross!?!

[jamminjim]

Jamminjim, we're renting a car in Skagway on the 17th as well (we're on Norwegian Sun) and planning to go at least to Carcross. Just want to be able to say we've been to the Yukon and maybe get a picture standing by the Welcome sign. If we're making really good time we might go all the way to Whitehorse but also want to spend time in Skagway so that's why the earlier turnaround.

 

If you happen to see us stuck in a snow jam, please pull us out!!!!

 

BobK/Orlando

We will be glad to help if you are in a snow jam but it sounds like we should have good crisp weather. We do not mind the cold but snow storms are another story.;)

[jamminjim]

Here's what the road looked like southbound at about Mile 25 this afternoon - http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/images/s_klondike_hwy-2368.html We hit a couple of snow squalls, but not even enough to wet the road (the lowest temp was 39F). I hope that you're blessed with weather at least this good, but nobody can say for sure. We saw 2 Dall sheep low and 2 mountain goats high at Mile 50, then a goat low at Mile 52. I'll have photos of those as well as some unusual geese that are migrating through up on my blog later this evening - http://www.explorenorth.com/wordpress/

 

Murray

Thanks we enjoyed the links very much.

Jammin n Terrie

[jamminjim]

I just returned from Whitehorse about an hour ago and I am happy to report that in spite of some snow flurries at the pass, the most exciting thing was a pothole in the road at about mile 20 or so with a full size highway cone sitting about half evident in said hole! There were a few rocks in the road up around the Tutshi Lake area and the sun was out most of the way down. I didn't fall asleep on this trip so maybe I can remain in my hometown of Skagway for a little longer and not have to move back north just yet!?!

I have a hundred or so Australians on the Diamond Princess in about a week, who have been promised a bit of snow to play in at the summit. We are praying that there will be some left by then!?! It goes pretty fast at this time of year so maybe even Emerald lake wil be open by then. It was still covered with ice this morning!

I saw some people out photographing some white animals at the Yukon sign on Sunday. Don't worry though, if you don't encounter any "live ones" they have some fake animals up on a hill above Carcross!?!

Hi,

We were curious if they were coming in on the Diamond on the 17th? We have seen very little activity on the Roll Call for our cruise on May 13th, except that it is pretty much sold out but no one is writing. With over 2600 passengers maybe.

Thanks for the update.

[Budget Queen]

I just drove the Klondike Highway last week, big snow storm at the summit, over 8 foot snow banks and the roads snow covered. Yes, a few too many pot hole too. Clear past the summit to Emerald Lake, with ice covering Emerald Lake and plenty of ice in others.

[dyeadave]

Yes it is the Diamond Princess but I don't know if they are aware of this site. They have posted complements, in the past, on Trip Advisor where I cover the loco scene of Skagway!?! They actually go back to the pre internet days when they were transported over here but managed to flee back to Australia!?! They are usually an outgoing and gregarious lot so you might encounter some of them aboard ship. Just look for a snowflake glint in their eyes?!?! Happy travels! DD

[Coral]

Great picture Yukon! More snow compared to the last 3 years or so at this time of the year.