Skagway in October feels like catching the town in its last long exhale. The crowds are gone, the boardwalks are quiet, and the final colors of fall hang on just long enough to make you stop and take notice. Bright orange leaves in one corner, a full sweep of yellow in another — all of it set against mountains already slipping into winter.

Shops were closing for the season when we walked through, some with lights still on, some already shuttered. The little art store, the raised-bed gardens by the inn, the familiar historic signs — they all felt like part of a town easing into rest.