June 1--Haines, Alaska to Haines Junction, Yukon

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June 1, 2011 Haines, Alaska 8565 starting mileage and 68 degrees

This RV park is the cleanest we have been in. Not much in looks, as it is just a “posts in a field” type place, but it at least has grass and the bathroom and showers are like brand new. We did ALL our laundry here first thing as we were almost completely out of clean clothes. Filled up our water tank and all inside “good drinking/cooking” water vessels as not sure what kind of camping we will do when we are back in Canada.

Drove downtown to purchase some fresh foods as we had eaten down all frozen and fresh stuff in preparation of leaving Rosie II on the ferry dock with everything turned off. Haines has a small IGA and it was in the US, so thought foodstuff would be reasonable. Nope!! Bought a loaf of regular Oroweat healthy-nut bread, 4 medium red potatoes, and a pkg of mixed salad greens and the bill was $11.21. Bananas were $1.49 a pound!! So, figured we would get into our canned food if needed to.

Since we hadn’t taken the time to look at Haines before, we went further toward the docks to Fort Seward, which was the first permanent Army post built in Alaska. It was built in 1902 to protect and keep order among the Stampeders that were heading to the gold fields. There was also some concern at the time, over a border dispute with Canada. The fort was built on a hillside around a central parade ground that looked out on the Lynn Canal---really nice view and the homes for the officers were quite plush when they were built. The army decommissioned the fort in 1947 and it was purchased by some war vets who wanted to turn it into an arts community. Not sure the “community” flourished, but the Native Americans have use of some of the buildings.

Had lunch sitting in Rosie II on the waterfront and watched the tourists off a cruise ship swarm all over town. Got a full tank of gas as we left town as gas is cheaper in the US, and we have a long drive before the next gas station.

Headed up the Haines Road toward Haines Junction passing the Eagle Preserve Area on the Chilkat River where every year in the Fall, hundreds of eagles congregate to eat the salmon. The road was good and the climb much more gradual than the other pass out of Skagway, but also way less scenic. Went through Canadian customs back into British Columbia, where they asked about firearms and pepper spray. The Canadian Govt. must start their agents out at this out of the way post as I swear; the agent was all of 12 years old.

We are not sure why this pass wasn’t used more to get to Dawson City and the gold fields. Quickly drove above the tree line and had miles and miles of snow on the ground and heavy snow covering the mountains with no trees. Valerie spotted a bird that she thought was a chicken, and then realized it must have been a ptarmigan. Reached Chilkat summit at 3510 feet and started a gradual descent.

Spotted a beaver dam on a pond/puddle of water. Came to the south end of the large Dezadeash Lake, now in the Yukon Territory, and pulled into a large pull out to watch over 25 trumpeter swans feeding on the bottom of the lake. They had an entourage of ducks following along beside them eating what was left over from the swans pulling food off the lake bottom. The waters at that end of the lake must be “just right” as there were no more swans seen as we drove along the whole rest of the lake.

We had just passed the turn off to Kathleen Lake, when we saw a huge old porcupine waddle slowly from the edge of the road and go into the trees. His tail looked to be at least a foot or more wide and really full of quills. We approached the southern part of the very large Kulune National Park Preserve and drove into the only campground in the park, expecting to spend the night. Our book said it had nature/ranger talks and facilities like US Nat’l Parks. Instead, there was NO one around---campers or rangers. For some reason, neither Valerie nor I liked the “look/feel” of the campground and so we decided to drive into Haines Junction about 30 miles away.

The town has only 840 people, but it was “civilization” of a sort. The RV “park” we found, next to a gas station, was nothing but a graveled lot, but we had electric hook-up for $4.00 more than the park fee would have cost us. As a bonus, we were able to pick up a local unsecured wifi signal.

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