Author: wellsmarsha

Started off looking for eagles and bears having success with both but nothing up close to blog about. Today marks day one of the Southeast Alaska State Fair here in Haines. Early afternoon we walked to the fair to check it out. It’s small yet plenty of fun. We listened to music and enjoyed some excellent food from the various vendors. We even did square and almost contra dancing. I say almost because the caller started with a contra but where only the couple at the head of the line really did anything. The squares were more fun. Mind you it was in an outdoor pavilion with a concrete floor and we both had on hiking boots. By just about any measure we knew more about squares and contras than any of the other eleven couples. All the dancers were into it and had a fun time. We stayed until the last performance finished at nine and walked back to the campsite before ten. Met our new neighbors sitting down outside with them for another hour. One aspect of this type of camping is the interactions with delightful people. Next door to us on the other side is an older man who travels about 4 months each year for several years now. He retired shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union working for the CIA and stays active. He heads out on his bicycle frequently. We had several chats with him over the past few days. He volunteers teaching English as a second language and very much supports many social causes. Soon he’ll head back to California where he’ll help people register to vote.

While at the fair we bumped into Kim the photographer again. What I had not mentioned earlier is Kim was on the trip to Juneau with us as well. We met her on our first attempt to head to Juneau. She also came back the day we successfully made it there. The three of us enjoyed each other very much so. She and her husband who is back in the Albany area know our friends Becky and Bob. Maybe sometime the six of us will meet up in the greater Albany area. Kim’s vet is our friend Tom so it’s a small world.

While checking the various booths at the fair I came across the National Weather Service booth where they were telling people about their various services. Around these parts the marine weather is hugely important. I sort of did a double take in looking at the booth. In my mind I was thinking about when I was a meteorologist. The young woman at the booth took my body language as a question so she asked how she could help me. I explained that I had been a meteorologist and was just thinking back to that time. She asked where I went to school, I replied New York State. She asked more specifically where. When I mentioned Oswego, she broke out in a grin. She graduated from Oswego in 2010 with a degree in meteorology. It was 1974 for me. When she was going to Oswego she lived in Schenectady, NY. She grew up in Haines, AK. She now works for the National Weather Service in Juneau.

Back at the campground a new group moved in next door. They’re here from Whitehorse, YT. On returning from the fair Marsha and I joined them for an hour or so. We very much enjoyed their company. One woman had worked for Canadian Customs and at one time or another had been stationed at all of the Alaska/Yukon border crossing. She told us some interesting stories of various encounters she had over the years. Our plans had been to skip Skagway since it is a huge tourist town. When all the cruise ships are their the town had 10,000 invaders, sorry, I mean visitors each day. The town as capacity for 5 large cruise ships to dock at a time. Our new found friends understood where we were coming from in avoiding Skagway, yet they said there is plenty to do and escape the crowds. They convinced us to check Skagway out since it was so important to the Klondike Gold Rush. Our plans are to camp about 60 miles from Skagway near Carcross, YT tomorrow then drive into Skagway for the day on Saturday leaving the trailer back at the campsite.

Once again we explored the greater Haines area. It started with a drive out to the river about ten miles to look for bears. We got great views of the sow with her cubs along with more photos. Next we headed back to town and went the opposite direction to Mud Bay looking for eagles. When the cannery is processing the eagles know it. Not much happening at the time so out to look for bears once more. More views of the sow with her cubs.

Back at the campground we set up our bicycles for a twenty mile ride. A great ride, but my butt reminds me that one needs to ride enough to break in the butt, not the saddle.

The day started off like the movie, Ground Hog Day. Up and ready to go heading to the dock a bit after 8 only this time there were no engine issues. A beautiful yet hazy day on the water with mountains all around. We viewed a few sea lions and plenty of eagles then orcas at 3 o’clock on the starboard side. We got some great views.

We arrived in Juneau close to noon. It was a bit overwhelming with four large cruise ships in port. In one of the shops we were asked if we were on a cruise. When we repled no, we were in a small trailer the person called us independent travelers. I like it! A few blocks away we found a small café and enjoyed a tasty lunch. I checked at a local camera store to see if they had a D850 camera in stock. No luck, but it was worth the try! Around 4 we returned to our vessel and started back towards Haines. On the trip the captain meanders a bit more looking for more wildlife. We got distant views of a humpback or two then more orcas. We spotted two more groups of orcas. It’s likely some were part of what we saw in the morning. We just did not really know. It’s not common see orcas here everyday only every so often. We were lucky!

Onboard we were served some tasty salmon chowder along with a piece of sourdough bread and a cookie. We arrived back at our campsite around 8 and grabbed a shower. It was delightful.

Orca – This is NOT cropped

Alaska State Ferry

 

 

We’re up and ready to go. Juneau is a large city using Alaskan standards. The same size as Fairbanks with more than 30,000 people yet you reach it by air or sea. No roads lead to Juneau. Off on a day trip to Juneau we head over to the dock to catch the boat. It leaves Haines at 8:30, drops us off in Juneau around 11:30, then leaves Juneau for Haines around 4:30. It’s not a direct boat trip. On the morning trip the captain looks for whales and other sea life and on the return he wanders even more.

Dockside we meet a photographer, Kim, living in Haines for the summer who leads photo tours out of Haines. She doing a busman’s holiday. On her day off she’d heading to Juneau as well. 45 minutes out of port we are near shore observing some sea lions when the captain announces one of the engines has stopped working so we are turning around and heading back to port. Our Juneau trip is cancelled.

Back in Haines we arrange to try again for tomorrow. In the meantime we explore the greater local area. Kim and I talked photography and she told me a brown bear and three cubs were seen along a river outside of town yesterday. I saw a photo she had taken, one of the best photos of a mama bear and three cubs I have ever seen! WOW! Perfect lighting at two in the afternoon. Everyone else I had asked said don’t bother looking for any bear until dusk. Well, at dusk there may not be good lighting. Normally two pm would not be good either, but up here the sun does not get as high in the sky thus the good lighting. Marsha and I headed out to look for the bears but no luck. Besides, it was only 1 pm so of course, no bears. We explored a few other areas then headed out around 4 to look for her again. We were so lucky and observed mama and her three cubs for 20 minutes! Thank you Kim!!

We try for Juneau again tomorrow.

 

A beautiful sunny day here in paradise, Haines, AK. Went for a great  3 ½ mile walk to Battery Point in a temperate rain forest today in the big trees. The campground where we are staying on the waterfront in Haines hosts a crab bake ever so often when crabs are in season. The crabs come off the dock and get cooked within the hour.  Dungeness crab which I had not had before. They were amazingly good. The added bonus was it was the first “pot luck” we’d experienced at any campground. It was enjoyable to chat with people from all over while enjoying an amazing crab meal.

Tomorrow we are taking a day ferry to Juneau. It leaves Haines at 8:30 and returns sometime between 8 and 9 in the evening.

Trail to Battery Point

Marsha sketching

Today is my sister’s birthday. Happy Birthday Audrey!

The road towards Haines surprised me with many miles of treeless areas that reminded me of the tundra much further north. Fifty or sixty miles before Haines trees appeared and as we got closer to Haines the taller they were. Forty-two miles before Haines we crossed back from the Yukon to Alaska. No issues at the border and back into the US we arrived. In the area between 24 and 18 miles before Haines is what is billed as the largest gathering of American Bald Eagles in the world. Roughly 3,000 – 4,000 eagles gather outside of Haines feasting on a late salmon run along the river upstream from Haines. In the Spring and Summer the river water seeps into the gravel due to the large flow. In the fall when the river level goes down much of the water from under the gravel seeps up and warms the river. As a result there is a late salmon run on the river and the eagles gather for the feast.

We arrived in Haines and secured a campsite on the water in downtown Haines. Haines is considerably smaller than either Homer of Seward which equates to fewer tourists. Small cruise ships come to town but not like what comes to other Alaskan coastal towns. I like the feel of Haines. The local fair starts Thursday so we are sticking around until Friday to catch a bit of the fair. We booked a day trip to Juneau for Tuesday.  Now off for a much-needed shower.

Along the Alcan Highway

 

49 years ago today Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Such a long time ago yet not. Oh well, back to our journey. We continued our drive to Tok and beyond to the Yukon border. No problems crossing the border other than maybe a 25 minute wait. The border crossing is interesting in the sense that US Customs is right at the border yet the Canadian Customs is 20 miles down the road in Beaver Creek. It’s the only US/Canadian border crossing that I have traveled through where there is about 20 miles of no mans land. Well it’s not really no mans land, it’s Canadian soil yet you travel 20 miles into Canada before being checked. Not that there is any place at all to go other than the highway. Today’s highlight was in Beaver Creek at the Creperie where we had wonderful cinnamon buns. We got a few supplies and gas in Haines Junction left the Alaskan Highway and started out towards Haines 175 miles or so down the road. We camped at Kluane National Park 16 miles down the road from Haines Junction. Tomorrow we’ll finish the drive to Haines staying there for a few days.

 

We’re heading to Haines, AK. It will take a few days to cover the almost 900 miles or so including leaving Alaska, entering the Yukon then back into Alaska. On our way north towards Anchorage we stopped at Potter Marsha and enjoyed a short walk along the raised boardwalk. We stopped for the night just shy of Tok at a Alaska State Rec Area. It’s a beautiful drive with mountains along most of the route. We saw very little wildlife other than ravens today and several dall sheep on a mountainside. We traveled 420 miles today.

Another beautiful day in Paradise.  Today we headed to the Seward Sea Life Center, an Aquarian focusing on the marine life in the Alaskan surrounding waters. Other than heading out onto the water to fish or sightsee the Sea Life Center is on of the major attractions. It’s well done and we enjoyed ourselves. Marsha found herself in a down mood after we watched a film on plastic waste in the world’s oceans.

After a nice afternoon lunch at Zudy’s Café we headed out to explore a hiking trail out one side of Resurrection Bay. The sunny day was a sharp contrast to the temperate rain forest we hiked in. Shortly into the hike we spotted a creature heading up the trail towards us. As it got closer we realized it was a river otter. It was a highlight of the day seeing one so close. Sorry, no photo. Once he got close he finally figured out there were two humans in his pathway so he veered off the trail.

We continued on until we came to a stream flowing into the bay. In the water one could see several salmon (king salmon I think) in the water. It was neat to see the large fish struggle in fighting the current.

Tomorrow we start our journey leaving Alaska. We still to have plans to visit at least Haines and Hyder each of which require us to travel into Canada first. Haines is accessed from the Yukon while Hyder is via British Columbia.

The camera has not recovered. Once back in the lower 48 I’ll get it worked on. The good news, the lens is fine. In the morning we headed to the Nature Center at the start of the Exit Glacier trail. Marsha got there early enough to be part of an artist led sketching Exit Glacier with pastels while I headed up to photograph the glacier front. We regrouped after 11 am and headed to downtown Seward to grab lunch and take a 4 hour wildlife boat cruise.