To Haines & Back

Continuing down the Haines Highway Saturday but with a steady drizzle and low clouds.   The plan was to spend a little time in Haines then catch the ferry to Skagway, but with the low visibility we didn't want to spend $250 for a two hour ride through a fog-bank.  Forecast for Sunday was 80% rain.

So we backtracked from Haines (B) 150 miles up the Haines Highway to Haines Junction (C) and made our way to Whitehorse (D), then another 100 miles South to Skagway (E).

Now you know I'm mellow when I have to backtrack that far without complaint.  Besides, the clouds had lifted a bit and the scenery along the whole route was as usual, spectacular.

A side note...  We've crossed the border and time zones 4 times in three days.  I currently have no idea what time it is or which currency I have loaded in my wallet.  I'd also add that for the first time  since I shaved my mustache of 47 years, someone noticed right away.  (US Border Patrol)

This part of Canada is the summer range for trumpeter swans.

The road to Haines is a lonely road

Anyone want to guess what this contraption is?

YES!... A quilt ship in Haines

I waited outside.

Another road bear.

For the road to Skagway, the skies cleared nicely for most of the way.

The tundra at Whites Pass was especially cool.

The winter snow finally melted out from under these snowmobiles.

Skagway is designated as a National Historical Monument because of it's association with the Klondike gold rush of 1898.  Prospectors arrived here by ship from Seattle or San Francisco and then walked up over Chilkoot Pass for a 200 mile hike to the Yukon River.

Glad we had the Funmobile

 When we arrived in Skagway on Sunday afternoon, it was pretty quiet.and the 658 permanent residents must have been all asleep or fishing..

Nobody Home  -  However, by the next morning, four cruise ships
with 6,000 passengers had docked in the harbor.

She's got this thing for carved studly dudes.

Resident Harbor Seal

We headed for the woods to avoid the mobs.

Seven Weeks  -  And still friends.

Tomorrow (Tuesday 29 July) we again backtrack north and then head west into British Columbia for a trip down the Cassier Highway, which is supposed to be one of the most remote principal roads in British Columbia with exceptionally good wildlife opportunities.

Good Night from Skagway AK

Brad & Val