Our Last Day in Haines

After a lot of thought about taking the ferry to Skagway tomorrow, we decided against it.  The cost would have been more than driving back up to Haines Junction and out, but it would have saved us some miles.  The ferry would get us into Skagway around 9:30 in the evening or later and we didn’t want to pay for a high cost campground for just spending the night and we would probably have to drive several miles to get to a place where we could boondock overnight.  We did some additional research and found a location not too far out of Haines Junction that would give us a chance to explore some new territory so that will be our destination tomorrow to spend a couple of nights before continuing on to Whitehorse.

  It was raining all morning so we didn’t get too enthusiastic about going sightseeing this morning. We waited until after lunch and then started out.  We took on some additional fuel in the pickup and picked up some items we would need to get us by until reaching Whitehorse.  With those chores completed, we drove into town to visit the Hammer Museum.

Unfortunately, it was closed due to illness and we headed out for another chance to see the bears again.  First we stopped near the bridge where the sow and her three cubs were out in the grassy area.

We saw a couple of bald eagles.

We continued on out toward Chilkoot Lake and there was the sow with the twins (including the one with the fish hook in it’s nose).

We watched them for a few minutes then headed back toward town.  As we got close to the bridge area, we found the sow and three cubs in the river and had to stop and watch them for a while and get some more photos.  We weren’t able to get them all in one photo this time.

We’ve had a great time here in Haines and would love to stay longer, but the weather has taken a turn for the worse and we’re ready to continue on in the search of sunshine and warmth.

Atlin–Tagish–Carcross Scenic Loop

After packing a lunch, we packed what we needed into the truck and started out on our trip for the day on what is called the Atlin – Tagish – Carcross Scenic Loop.  This is a side trip off the Alaska Highway starting at Jake’s Corner and is a 59 mile drive to Atlin.  We returned to the Alaska Highway via the Carcross Loop, a 66 mile drive via Tagish Road to Cross then back to the Alaska Highway.  As we started down the road to Atlin, we followed Little Atlin Lake with some picturesque  mountain views.

 

 

There was a side road with a sign showing binoculars that led us a few hundred feet up a road to a parking area and hiking trail that indicated there were mountain goats in the area.  The sign asked that hikers avoid the area in early May – June.  So, we continued on up the road and looked up to see these 6 mountain goats on the hillside.

 

We arrived at Atlin around noon and drove around a bit to see what was there.  The town was quite a bit larger than what I expected.

 

We saw a couple of interesting houses in town:

 

 

In the middle of town and on the lakeshore, the MV (motor vessel) Tarahne is on display.  It was built in 1916 in Atlin by the White Pass & Yukon Route and carried passengers and freight from Atlin to Scotia Bay until 1936.

 

After leaving Atlin, we continued back to the Carcross Loop.  We were hoping to see some of the Carcross caribou herd, but that didn’t happen.  Ken did notice something in a tree, so we turned around and found this porcupine climbing a tree branch:

 

After watching the porcupine for a few minutes, we continued on and crossed the Tagish River.

 

In our prior trip to Alaska in 2009, we had been through this same route as we drove to Skagway.  However, we had never taken the time to go into the town of Carcross.  This caribou is at the turn off the main road into town.

 

And this is one of the more unique houses we saw in town.

 

This is the historic White Pass & Yukon Route train station.

 

 

It was already a full day of touring, but there was one more thing I wanted to see and that was Caribou Crossing.  Milepost indicates that it is the premier wildlife museum and attractions center.  The displays are to include over 100 Yukon and Ice Age mammals including a life-size woolly mammoth and world’s largest bear.  As we’re finding out, we’re getting to the north country way too early, and it wasn’t open yet.

 

It was a good day with over 240 miles logged onto our pickup.  Wildlife sightings included:  1 coyote, 6 mountain goats, and 1 porcupine.

 

6/7/2009 - Skagway, AK to Whitehorse, YT

There were only 3 bear sightings as we traveled from Skagway to Whitehorse.

Here are the first two together:

They each demanded individual photos, so here they are in the next 2 photos:

The third bear was much too interested in eating dandelions to let us be a bother.

6/6/09 - Fjord Express to Juneau

Since this is most likely a one and only trip for us, we wanted to get to as many towns in Alaska as reasonably possible. We had checked into the Alaska Ferry, but it would have been quite costly and an overnight stay in Juneau would be required adding to the cost. Bob and Karen, who were parked next to us, told us about the Fjord Express to Juneau: http://www.alaskafjordlines.com/index.php -- that trip worked out perfectly for us and was well worth the cost of $155 each plus tax. We left Skagway at about 8am with a stop in Haines and a few hours in Juneau and returned about 12 hours later. The following photo is of the Fjordland which took us to Juneau and back.

On the left is deckhand, Sierra...on the right, is owner/captain, Glen.

Glen brought the boat in close to shore to see these newborn harbor seal pups.

One of many bald eagles along the route.

There it blows!

Whale tail.

Sea lions rookery

Porpoises

Juneau waterfront

Juneau is a busy port for both cruise ships and float planes.

Mendenhall Glacier

The following three photos are of a young humpback whale that kept us entertained for well over 30 minutes. Glen told us that it was about 22' long and grew at the rate of about 8 pounds per hour.

6/3/09 - Teslin, YT to Skagway, AK

On 6/3/09 we drove from Teslin, YT to Skagway, AK. The following photo is our first caribou sighting. We weren't quick enough with the camera to catch the wolf that had been stalking them. It quickly ran off as the RV approached. And here is the "Welcome to Alaska" sign as we drive down the hill toward Skagway.

This next photo is a view from our RV site in Pullen Creek RV Park. We were parked on pavement with 30amp electric and water, but had this excellent view of the harbor.