Five Finger Islands Lighthouse, snow-capped mountains, Frederick Sound, Alaska
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Prospectors' passage
Though built in 1906, some years after the Klondike Gold Rush, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse marks one of the most important waterways used by prospectors of that period. Leading straight to boomtowns like Skagway and Dyea, and connected to the capital Juneau via the Gastineau Channel, the 90-mile fjord called Lynn Canal was the go-to route for fortune seekers in the fateful years of 1896-99. Prospect in these parts today and you're facing even longer odds than those grizzled gold diggers—but a mother lode of great views is a sure thing on this passage plied by numerous cruise lines as well as the Alaska Marine Highway.
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