Monday - Sep 7 - No wonder Woodall's rates this campground so highly, what with the speedy, hi-tech laundry facilities, flowers, luxurious bathroom facilities, etc. A pleasure and worth the rental fee (Only $30 - not bad for this touristy area). Had a 10:08 tee time and got a little fright when we drove thru shower activity getting to the Mountain View G.C. The course was in great shape, lush fairways, U.S. Open rough and nice greens with river views and mountain vistas. Had an eagle on the sixth hole....not a golf eagle, a BALD eagle. Sat atop a pine and watched us for awhile.
 got an eagle on six! |
 yukon golf |
Afterwards, we drove the short distance to Takhini Hot Springs and Resort and were 1)disappointed in the facility and 2)NOT disappointed that we changed our plan yesterday to move and RV here for a night or two. The spring was two concrete pools with a bunch of playing kids...not soaking restful as is our want. Paulette won't just soak anywhere, you know. So we food shopped, gassed up for tomorrow, made dinner and watched trashy tv for awhile. Unlike soaking, we WILL watch any junk on television.
Tuesday - Sep 8 - PAULETTE BIRTHDAY ---YEAAA! --- DAY 100 ON THE ROAD-----YEAAA! After having a morning birthday celebration
 birthday gift in whitehorse |
After lunch in the valley, we headed SOUTH (you heard me) SOUTH to Alaska on the Haines Highway, built by that same Army bunch in 1943. The scenery escalated immediately as we began the glacial mountain route. Our first stop was Lake Dezadeash (look it up if you gotta know) where we hiked a 2 plus mile trail (built by a service corp group in the 70's) to and upon glacial remains...the moraine of rocks pushed ahead and left behind centuries ago.
 lake dezadeash |
Moving on we entered the OMG, blow your mind Alaska scenery that we came for (and we aren't even in Alaska yet). Huge, black, glaciated peaks and mountains, panoramas of cloud encased beauty. Seeing the snow poles on the side of the road made us wonder what it must be like in these parts in the middle of winter. Other mountains were dressed in the colors of fall; fields of pinks, reds, oranges, purples, tans....the Yukon logo "Larger than Life" really applies. Wish we had more words than huge, colorful, panoramic, vast because we have seen much more than that.
We wanted to camp one last night in Y.T and had a tough time deciding which pullout to employ, and finally chose one just south of Chilkat Mt. pass nestled in a huge glacial area. The weather had turned to cool, misty, cloudy...no, chilly, getting raw. Great place to spend your birthday, eh? The generator is on keeping us toasty, Jim built a fire pit and a roaring campfire, Paulette made Krusteaz Lemon Squares, we broke open a bottle of fine wine and partied hearty.
 roughin' it in the yukon |
 fire on ground - fire in belly |
Wednesday - Sep 9 - Oooh, foggy and rainy this morning, not good for visibility in this awesome area. We waited until noon for clearing, but it never happened, so we moved south to the nearby American border. We zipped right thru, glad to be "home", and "good on ye Alaska." On the Haines Hwy, we stopped at the Bald Eagle Preserve pullout, and saw a couple of them soaring and fishing (I know that I'm still hungry even if it's raining). In late fall, apparently as many as 3,000 eagles feast here on the spawning salmon, which must be quite a spectacle.
Haines did not disappoint, even though it was socked in with clouds and mist and lots of wind, and all peaks and glaciers were in hiding. We're camped at Oceanside RV park, right on Portage Cove, spittin' distance from the water. It really feels like what we expected of Alaska with a cruise ship in port, lots of seafood, rustic bars, wide plow able streets and all the touristy shops open for this last week of major cruises from Vancouver and Seattle.
 Haines AK |
 Happy Haines people |
After walking the town in the cool, enjoying the lack of crowds that must have been around a month ago, we were told about, and followed up on a 10 mile drive along the fjord to the Chilkoot Recreation Area. Dusk. Feeding time for the animals in the area? There were lots of other folks out there with the same idea, and before we knew from where, we saw five brown bears filling their already fat bellies with the salmon spawning by the thousands in this the mouth of the Chilkoot River. The gawkers didn't seem to bother the eaters, and actually we felt kind of silly as we moved along the road in a group in order to get the best viewpoints. Not only were the bears playing with their food, I think they were playing with us, too.
 Bears feedin' close by. |
Thursday - Sep 10 - Oh, Oh,....still raining and low clouds and wind, and the forecast doesn't predict any improvement soon. A local told us that this is considered rain forest climate and moisture in September is not unusual. There's always something to do, you know, so Paulette took advantage of being back in the USA and our insurance coverage, and went to the local clinic for a minor problem consult. She got great service and attention, and like the physician in the old Northern Exposure tv show, the young GP loved his job because he got to do everything from heart attack treatment to lancing boils. There are only five medical people in town without a hospital. If you're pregnant, you go to Juneau 3 weeks prior to delivery. If you die and want cremation or a ceremony more than three days hence, you go to Juneau. If you need air lifting, you'd better pray for better weather than today (or January days, I suspect).
Found a local pub for some local IPA pale ale and fried halibut and chips. Jim liked, Paulette tolerated. Across the street, the fish market had "ginormous" Alaskan crab legs, but we determined to come back later as the old helper was obviously drunk as a skunk and was enjoying himself more than he was enjoying helping us. We looked at the Valley of the Eagles 9 hole golf course but didn't have mukluks or wet suits, but someone said that there are players about who wear such gear.
Haines has no stoplight, no McDonalds, no movie theater, no hospital, only one school K-12, but it does have a pretty nice little performing arts hall (where they also conduct funerals for those not shipped to Juneau), and tonight there is a performance by a local group. Maybe we'll see Rob Morrow and Jeanine Turner. We did see The Preserves, a unique entertainment, self described as a "therapy band" and we guess they were, kinda. Their music was all original and written by their members, great beat, clever, understandable, lively, some with a message, and the trombone backing three guitars, keyboard and drums was a real treat. We liked them enough to buy a CD. Their lead(er) was the son of the woman who owned the bar at which we ate lunch. Great. Really. Still raining.
Friday - Sep 11 - Thought we'd visit Skagway (400 miles by car, 45 minutes by fast ferry) and despite blustery but clearing weather, took the 11:30 with ability to return only at 7:30....more than enough time to "do" a tourist town. Skagway was to be Klondike-like, but I'm not sure the Klondike towns had quite as many jewelry, knick knack, t-shirt and native craft stores. Oh, well, we knew it going in, but SOMEBODY is going to ask us if we went there. So we did.
But, 7:30 came and went and the fast ferry never returned. They blamed it on the weather, but I didn't see it as any worse than this morning. (I'm not sure I'd boat all the way to Skagway in the dark to pick up two people, either, if you get my drift.) There was a crowd in town for the last weekend of the season (50% off everything--except hotel rooms) and I suppose we were fortunate to get any room, but paid dearly for it. I can hardly wait to get my hands on those ferries (I mean fast ferry people). What bothered us most was (all of it really) that we wouldn't make our 7 a.m. ferry to Juneau tomorrow morning. Now what?
As luck would have it, the boat we would be on tomorrow, sailed into Skagway tonite, and we were able to change our reservations without losing time or money. Really nice people running this State Ferry system. Our room at the Westmark Hotel was the first night that we've spent outside of the trailer. We haven't missed that kind of accommodation AT ALL. I think we have more room in the "love nest" and the beds were horrible (but we did get two of them for the money).
It could have been worse. There was a team relay race (10 teams, I think) starting at 6 p.m. here and running to Whitehorse, Y.T (160 miles) with a camping stop or something in between. The narrow gauge steam engine signaled the startings each 15 minutes which added a touch of Klondike, I guess. Running, Cold, Dark, Wet. Ah, youth!
Saturday - Sep 12 - Up at 5:30 today to catch the State Ferry at 7:00 back to Haines. Felt like that Will Smith movie because there wasn't another body on the street in Skagway.
 Sskagway ghost town |
 Beauty in Skagway |
We visited a farmer's market later and bought some great baked goods and fresh grown veggies. We tried the fish place again and Paulette got her king crab legs this time. The weather deteriorated, Paulette did the local Indian Museum
 Hammered in Haines |
Sunday - Sep 13 - Up at six to make schedule. Rain stopped. Load on the MV Malaspina (cap 700 passengers, 80 staterooms, lots of rv and car storage)which was really fun, professionally handled and quite a new experience for us RVers. You can't stay with your rig, so we hung out in the dining area with lots of views and peeps to observe, and a pretty good breakfast large enough to share.
The views were spectacular thru the inner passage; saw a whale blowing in the distance, ice fields all over, and the three named glaciers near Juneau, Eagle, Hubert and Mendenhall. What color. Ran into our friends from Arkansas for the third time in three days, walked the deck, napped, read, and the five hours passed quickly.
Not more than 10 minutes from the pier we found Spruce Meadow Campground at the base of Mendenhall Glacier (we can bike there, and will tomorrow) and about 10 miles from downtown. Perfect. Paulette immediately made friends with the owner's 17lb. cat, were told of bears often prowling thru the place, and were reminded that " a fed bear is a dead bear." ( I guess we'd tell em about the behavior of gators back home, so...) After a quick lunch with Jack Daniels we drove to Mendenhall, truly a sight to behold.
 Mendenhall glacier, Juneau |
Thought we'd check out the public campground at the lower end of Lake Mendenhall, still in view of the glacier. For whatever reason the campground was closed for the year, but Jim found a little iceberg floating close enough to shore to rescue it with the golf ball water retriever.
 Roping calves, Juneau |
