lois on the road: Haines to Juneau to Fairbanks

Eaglen Haines
Sat. July15-18 Haines to Juneau to Fairbanks

Norm really enjoyed his massage with Lee, the same therapist he had gotten one from in 2002. She gave him a package of smoked salmon straight off the smoker, it is scrumptious. In the evening we took another ride to view the eagles. The population of Eagles year-round is about 350 but in the autumn it swells to 3,500 making it the largest gathering of Bald Eagles in the world. They can spot a fish a mile away and dive up to 100 mph to get it! We also toured Ft Seward, built in 1903 in response to a border dispute with Canada. It was there we almost pulled an Allen and Gene! There were several white tents set up on the parade grounds, with music coming from them and lines of people waiting to get in. They were grilling salmon so we ask what was going on. It turned out to be a memorial service for one of their local fishermen. Glad we didn’t stand in line too long.
We got up Sat to bright sunshine and a great day for our 8:30 Fjord Express to Juneau. The catamaran picked up folks in Skagway before coming for the 8 of us leaving from Haines. Skagway is just ½ hour away by water on the Catamaran, 353 miles by land. We were docked in Juneau by 11:45 where a bus picked us up and took us the remaining way into downtown Juneau. The driver, the boat captain’s brother, gave us a short tour of the downtown area then left us to our own devises for three hours. Norm and I toured the Capitol building, ate lunch and did a little shopping. The shops are very nice there, a lot of them filled with native items, I found the best bead shop, called “Peer Amid Beads”. They have more colors of seed beads than I have seen anywhere. The city sits below a mountain and the flats, where everything is built, is created from crushed rock taken out of the mountain from mining. Land downtown is scarce; the library is built on the fourth floor of a parking garage! There were two cruise ships docked downtown. The bus driver told us of a murder that occurred in the red light district, the guilty party shot a man who was mistreating a lady of the evening, he got 3 years for man slaughter, but while in prison he killed a guard, and this landed him life. He later became known as the Birdman of Alcatraz.
From downtown Juneau we boarded the bus and went to see the Mendenhall Glacier. It is beautiful, with a waterfall on its right side. We had 1 ½ hours to hike the trails then back to the boat where we saw a whale from the bus. Our trip on the Linn Canal was filled with whale watching, Eagle spotting and two really good stops to view the sea lions. The salmon were jumping as they swam up the canal searching for their spawning stream. It was 12 hours since we left Mickey and he sure was glad to see us.
Sun morning the trip out of Haines was sunny and warm. We stopped for about an hour to watch a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs. I’m sure we will never get an opportunity like that again. I couldn’t get enough and exhausted the battery on the camera! We toured a small but well done nature museum in Burwash Landing, and then drove by Kluane Lake with its deep blue water. It’s the largest lake in the Yukon at 154 square miles. We boondocked at an overlook and were joined by 3 other RVs.
I guess now would be a good time to mention the travel conditions. The roads have been 2 lane with a lot of them tar and chipped. The worst thing about them is the construction areas that are just stoned. Here is where we have picked up our chips in the windshields, I haven’t counted lately but on the motorhome passenger side we have two dandies, there are several on the car but that is cracked anyway so we know we’ll be replacing that one. The speed limit has usually been around 50-55 mph except for construction, and we are usually going slower to spot wildlife. We stopped for gas in Tok AK today $ 4.26 per gal, much better than the Yukon. I told Norm this morning that the moose have been avoiding us and just about then he spotted a mother and her baby on the side of the road ahead. Till I got the camera out she crossed the road and headed into the bush, I just managed one poor shot. Again we are boondocked a little south of Delta Junction which is the end of the Alaskan Highway, 96 miles south east of Fairbanks. A red fox just stopped in front of the motorhome, he had dinner in his mouth, What Luck! On to Fairbanks, stopping at Delta Junction for a photo of the end of the Alcan sign, and again at the Knotty shop, a gift shop that sells burled wood. We arrived at the North Pole and are camping at the same place we stayed at in 2002.