Alaska's Best 4th of July party

Driving to Alaska, one of the first chances you have to enter the state is to turn south off the Alaska Highway at Whitehorse and drive a hundred miles or so to Skagway at the head of Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska. Skagway is where the Klondike gold seekers got off the ship and hiked over the Chilkoot Trail to the headwaters of the Yukon River. Today much of the town is part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. Many of the buildings still in use are a century or more old.

Skagway goes all out for the 4th of July. There will be traditional games and contests, a parade involving many of the residents, and uninterrupted fun from mid-morning until well into the evening. And even though Skagway is in that part of Alaska that is cloudy, cool and damp most of the time, you'll probably get lucky with the weather. A local saying holds that there are two seasons in Skagway, the 4th of July and winter.

To make your visit to the region even more meaningful, July 1 is Canada Day. You can join the festivities in Whitehorse near the restored sternwheeler on the bank of the Yukon River, then head south to Skagway for the 4th. It's a great way to meet local residents and to enjoy this part of Alaska and Canada. If you watch carefully, you'll probably see many of the hardiest party goers from Canada in Skagway a few days later.