Unhitching in Haines

Haines Small Boat Harbor

Bumpy, dirty, dusty and the worse road we encountered this time around, that was our drive after leaving Tok.   It was one long miserable stretch of construction once we passed the Canadian border till we hit Destruction Bay.   It was relief to stop for the night at Cottonwood RV Park on the enchanting Lake Kluane.  

On the way to Haines

The next morning the autumn season had arrived!  The temperatures had dropped and the wind was cold and fierce, a vivid reminder that the summer season was ending and winter was coming soon to the great North.  Although the road improved greatly, Jack struggled with strong headwinds most of the way to Haines.  Still it was a magnificently beautiful drive with some of the trees starting to put their fall colors on for show. Two very stressful days of driving for Jack, we were ready for a rest!

Haines is one of my favorite small coastal towns in Alaska.  It is located in a spot accessible by both a road and the Alaska Marine Highway.  It is a short ferry ride from Skagway but a world of difference between the two towns. Skagway catering to the cruise ships and tourist industry, and Haines being more authentic in character with only one smaller cruise ship stopping each week.   We stayed at the Haines Hitch-up RV Park and enjoyed the next two weeks resting and waiting for our ship to arrive.  We had finally decided in favor of taking the ferry to Prince Rupert, BC and thus avoiding a significant amount of backtracking. Only problem there was only one sailing two weeks away that had enough room for the Biff, she is a total of 57 feet when hitched to the truck.  We broke it up into two parts, sailing to Juneau first and staying there for a few days and then catching the ferry to Prince Rupert on September 7.  More about Juneau and the ferry trip in a later post.

The area around Haines is spectacular.  Haines has a long history being the ancestral home of the powerful Chilkat  tribe and later becoming the first military base in Alaska.  There are a few museums, a historical fort, an eagle sanctuary along with a few restaurants and obligatory gift shops required for cruise ship ports. We did a few drives in the area.  Jack and I took some nice walks around town and short hikes on nearby trails. Plenty to keep us occupied. Let’s not forget about bear watching.  Every evening around dinner time the local stars were a mom and her two cubs.   Everyone came out to watch the antics (from a safe distance!) of the two cubs while mom did the fishing.

Mama Bear Fishing

Baby Bears  Fighting

Snow on the Pass

Wilderness Cabin

The weather was a pattern, a few sunny days followed by a few of cold rain. One morning the peaks surrounding Haines definitely had fresh snow.  We heard it was already snowing up north in Tok and on the road we took from Haines Junction. We decided to drive up to the pass and see for ourselves.  And yes there was a light dusting of snow!  It was quiet, eerily lonesome and beautiful but so cold up on that pass!  We found a small survival cabin and understood the need for these safe havens against the elements. We were thinking maybe it was good thing we were taking the ferry and avoiding the long drive back through the Yukon and BC with  the now very real possibility of snow. The day for the ferry trip to Juneau arrived! The boat sailed at 5:00pm on one of those sunny days.  It was a pleasant sunset cruise and very dark when we pulled into the Juneau harbor at 9:00 pm.  The daylight hours were significantly shortening since we arrived in Haines.  One more sign it was time to start heading south.