Haines, AK–Our Kind Of Place!

Haines is in the region of Alaska called the South East. To get there by road, you leave the Alaskan Highway at Haines Junction (which is in The Yukon), cross the border into British Columbia, and then pass through customs, back into Alaska and arrive at Haines 148 miles later. Or you can fly or take a boat/ship.

We love the proud, independent and self-sufficient attitude of the folks who live here. In talking with them, sometimes you get the feeling they are not part of Alaska. it is a place of  their own. And they want it no other way. They treasure the lives and community they share in Haines.

I would like to share some experiences and anecdotes from the four days we had in Haines.

Driving to Haines

It was unfortunate that both driving down and returning on the highway from Haines Junction, we had overcast/cloudy sky's. But we had enough breaks that we could see what a gorgeous countryside it is, in the two provinces and Alaska.

And we saw brown bears

We took a GREAT video of this brown bear digging up and eating roots. (When I get time to figure out how to put videos online, I will send you the link. I also want to post one of a close-up of a moose eating lilies, Jaxon howling, and the three of us singing with Elmo.)

A shy porcupine

Shots around town

View from our campsite on the harbor

 

You gotta eat…. great halibut!

 

View from the harbor

Small boat harbor

Mural on store

For sale….Cheap…You Pick Up

Gill-Netting for Salmon

We watched this fellow for about 1/2 hour. He was the only one on this boat, so he did everything. As he brought the net in with the winch/reel, it was continually filled with salmon. I bet he was overjoyed with his good fortune this day. But that is the way it usually is when I go fishing

Haines Packing Company

Jill and Splash –Strategic Planning Director

Hugh – Owner of Haines Packing Inc.

When driving out to Chilkat State Park we came across the Haines Packing company. It was started in 1913 and closed down for a while. About 5 or 6 years ago Hugh started it up again. Jill, who was a school principal in Tucson, joined him. She has some “visionary” ideas that keep the small staff busy. When we were there she was talking about coffee shop in an old shack with a deck looking over the beautiful bay. Fishermen bring fish and crabs in to them for packing. It is a remote but beautiful location and we wish them well. They had just finished designing and installing a huge crab cooker holding 200 plus pounds and we were lucky to be there to watch and buy the first crabs, EXCELLENT.

The Bald Eagle Foundation

On the Haines Highway just north of town is the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, along the Chilkat River. Each year in November between 3000 and 4000 bald eagles come to this area to feed on the fall run of chum salmon. Most of the rest of Alaska is frozen over at that stage. Many of the eagles spend the winter on the 48,000 acre preserve. Haines has a large bald eagle festival at that time which encourages many summer visitors to return to see the birds. Unfortunately there were not many around when we were there. But we did enjoy the Foundation headquarters in town. It is a combination wildlife museum and rehab center for injured bald eagles. Very good work.

Dee kissing a moose at the Foundation. See that twinkle in his eye? I think he has done that before!

These are BIG birds!

Bears on the Chilkoot

In the evening we would drive up the river to see if we could spot any bears. They would gather here to feed on the spawning salmon. We saw the mother and two cubs several times. Note that one of the cubs has a fishing lure in it’s lip, probably from going after a salmon that was hooked. The local biologist thought it would dissolve but there was some thought to capturing the cub to remove the bear.

That’s gotta hurt!

The cubs were always playing

So that’s some of the things we did and saw in Haines. The people were so friendly and seemed very happy to be in Haines. Nice town. Go there!

Co-Author of these blogs is Jaxon Jefferson Thomas

Till next time when I will tell you about the Hammer Museum. Bye!

This Is The Real Alaska–Really

Jaxon loves his raincoat! Can’t you tell?

I know I have claimed that several places we have visited are what we envisioned the real Alaska would be like. Well……. I think we have found another REAL ALASKA. And this may be the closest yet…..
We put the Denali Highway (DH) on our itinerary for our second loop around interior Alaska because it is off the beaten path. The 134 mile DH links Paxson, on the Richardson Highway on the east, to Cantwell, on the Parks Highway on the west. The first 21 miles from Paxson are paved as are the first 3 miles from Cantwell. The remaining 110 miles are gravel. This keeps almost all tourist traffic away. It shouldn’t because it is truly a beautiful drive. Make sure you have good tires and a full gas tank as there are no services on the road. Some tour buses even come across, stopping for lunch at one of the several lodges along the road. They usually travel the highway in 4 hours. We took three days.

View from a geocache along the highway

Gulkana and Maclaren Glaciers

We camped at the Brushkana Campground for two nights. We were on the edge of a large graveled area. Nice quiet spot. Then about 7pm the Green Tortoise showed up!

At first we thought it was just turning around but alas, the passengers were here to camp! We watched in amazement and intrigue as 35 folks climbed out and started unloading their gear. It was quite entertaining and as it turns out they were great campers. After they were somewhat settled we went out to find out what their story was. The Green Tortoise Company runs economy tours. You sign up on the internet. This particular tour was comprised of people from all over the world: Philippines, Sweden, Germany, England, China, Puerto Rico, Brazil, US…… All walks of life were represented from students, doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers and even a politician . They met in Anchorage and were off on a 14 day (for only $1000)adventure tour of Alaska. they seemed to get along very well. They shared the cooking and cleanup chores. We had some interesting conversations with them that night and next morning.

On down the road we found a great campsite along the Clearwater Creek. I caught a couple grayling here. We did some walking and talking to a few travelers/fishermen.

The Gracious House Lodge and more importantly it’s Sluice Box Bar was great stop along the road. And it is for sale if you are interested. Carol and Butch, the owners, have been running it for 55 years. They spend almost all year in this remote place, catering to snowmobilers and hunters in the winter. Travelers, fishermen, hunters and explorers occupy the other times when the roads are open to traffic. Butch also runs an air taxi service.

                               Carol

Dee really liked this shirt. I didn’t understand it, so I wouldn’t let her buy it

Butch does a big used tire business back here!

When we got toward the east end of the highway, where the 22 miles pavement starts, the road lost some of it’s excitement for us. It was still beautiful and the Tangle Lakes area is renowned for the fishing. But we preferred the back country.

This is a road we would definitely do again. For me the ideal would be to have an ATV and a float tube so I could get to the distant lakes and then fish them. Wow, that would be great.

So we will sign off for now and hope you all are staying cool

This bumper sticker captures the independence of Alaskans. Gotta love it!