Day 13, trip to Ak
Total
Nautical miles: 1010 total Bell to Haines,
200 road miles today (4.5 hours) Haines to Haines Jct
Chuck up at
5AM. It is light outside and we are
still docked in Juneau. Actually, Auke
Bay, outside Juneau. We came in at 3AM
but getting vehicles and people off the ferry and new ones back on the ferry
and changing staff, takes time to do it safely and efficiently. It’s raining, Pat goes back to sleep. Nothing to see here. Except, Chuck does see the Mendenhall Glacier
as we pass by.
Gray and
rainy, have a quick breakfast and finish packing. Only three hours up the Lynn Canal to
Haines. We ask about cabins and a crew
member clues us what to get in future.
If you book online you can’t choose but a called in reservation may get
what you want. There were larger doubles
but in noisier areas. The primo rooms
are in the bow Deck 5. We will remember
it if we ever do it again. We overheard
a couple say they do this as a round trip, Bellingham to Bellingham on
occasion. They don’t get off and they
don’t have a car. They live in Seattle
and leave the car in Bellingham while sailing.
The next stop is Skagway which we have visited a few times before; it
continues there after we get off. It is
amazing how the crew gets all the vehicles on and off the ferry. Coordinating it for each port. They don’t restrict size and it requires two
levels of parking, involving the car elevators.
We had to ride in the car elevator and amazed at how well it all
worked. No one got their car scraped or
dented.
Note: We saw many young women traveling alone;
using combination of tent, rooms, etc.
One was from Australia and she was covering a lot of ground mostly in Ak
and Canada. Seems pretty gutsy to us.
We warm into
the 50’s as we reach Haines; cloudy, no rain.
We spent time here last year exploring and it is a very pleasant
place. This is the national eagle
preserve and they will be gathering as the salmon come in. The Chilkat River flows on one side of Haines
and known for eagles and salmon. We
follow the river out of town, it is a braided river from the Chilkat
Glacier. The other river in town is the
Chilkoot and that is where we saw bears fishing last September. We are driving to higher elevations. At Mile 33 is a Roadhouse we have never
tried. Typical log cabin, old eclectic
Ak décor and excellent food. Must be,
lots of locals here. And it’s the last
gas before Haines Jct 180 miles away through very rough country. We pass through the Canadian border into British
Columbia and now lose an hour back to Pacific Time. No problems getting through customs. The Haines Hwy is some of the most beautiful
areas we have ever seen. As we climb
into Chilkat Pass at 3500 ft, we go from full spring, to early spring to late
winter. High elevation snow covered
peaks. It is very desolate without
anyone living up here. We see lots of
beaver lodges and dams and trumpeter swans nesting. The peaks are making their own snow. We drop from low 50’s to mid 30’s. We have a few flurries and not happy about
it. But as we descend there is more sun
and we’re back in spring. And now we are
in Yukon Territory. We stop at Lake Kathryn; dark aqua in color
from being glacier fed. High mountains
ring the area and high winds coming from their valleys. An Ohio car pulls in next to us. A long young man is traveling from
Gallipolis, Ohio (down on the river) to Seward, Ak where he works summer jobs.
We are bordering
a massive area called UNESCO World Heritage Site; largest internationally
protected land mass on earth; includes coastal biggies, Mt Elias, Clark,
Augusta and Fairweather, 18k-13.5k, Logan 19+k; Glacier Bay, Wrangell-St Elias
National Park, Kluane National Park, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park.
We arrive
full sun, very windy, but cool Haines Jct 50’s.
We are staying at the AlCan Hotel where we stayed before. Nothing to look at outside but rooms are
spacious and very clean with all amenities.
There is road and lot dust which is pretty typical of outback
areas. The wind is trying to blow
through our door. Will have to turn up
the heat. The view is spectacular with
snow covered mountains view and we have a bench outside our second floor door
to take advantage. If the wind doesn’t
drive us inside.
We drive up
to the Haines Junction Visitor Information Center, open to 8PM. It is a beautiful building with full window
walls looking out at the mountain range.
They feature native culture and art and talk about geography and nature
of the area. Mt Logan is in this area
but not able to be seen from the road.
19+k ft, just short of Denali. It
is the largest massive in the world with 5 separate peaks over 5K. Logan adds to the area’s high peaks and
their glaciers. A native artist has
created large clear acrylic native faces that hang like a chandelier from the
ceiling. It is remarkable and does not
block the mountain view beyond even with its size.
There are no
restaurants that seem appetizing and we’re still kind of full from lunch. So stop and get some cheese to eat with our
home crackers. This appears to be a dry
native area; all alcohol is tightly controlled.
Drinks can be bought in restaurants but not outside them. A ‘state’ store has restricted hours.
The wind is
howling; we’re told this is typical spring weather. But it is very sunny and the mountains are
beautiful. They have a water truck that
goes around town spraying dirt/gravel roads and parking lots.
We’re
spending the evening catching up on the blog and email that we haven’t gotten
to for days. On to Tok tomorrow. We have been warned the road is really bad
for a while due to frost heave.
Nighty
night!
