Haines to Haines Junction, Friday, June 18

Friday, June 18 (I think) - We headed down to the ferry first thing this morning, and got in our appropriate lines.  Joe loaded at 6:15, and I followed shortly after.  I think the name of our ferry is Malaspina.  The Carnival Spirit cruise ship was heading into port, followed by Island Princess (Hamilton) and then a little one, Spirit of Discovery.  Then a fourth big one, Amsterdam (Holland America) came in on the other side of us, so Skagway should be full of tourists today.

Joe and I cruised on Carnival Spirit several years ago, out of Miami, so those big ships do get around.  We spotted an eagle cruising high overhead.  Getting on and off the ferry was very organized, and we had breakfast as we sailed.  It was very cold on that ferry though, but the scenery was great.

The sights we have seen on this trip have just been magnificent.  Everything continues to exceed any expectations we had, and we haven't even gotten to real Alaska yet (although Skagway and Haines are both in Alaska, but we are back in the Yukon tonight).  The drive from Haines to Haines Junction was very different than any we have had, but equally beautiful.  This was more "tundra," an alpine valley for miles and miles.   We continue to follow rivers, creeks, streams.  Alaska has 34,000 miles of coastline, more than all of the lower 48 states combined, and provides more than half of all the seafood in the U.S.

We came upon a fish wheel next to the road, so we stopped to check it out.  There was a second one a few hundred feet in front of us, and two guys were working that one, so we waited a little while and they pulled up at the one we were at, and checked it out.  We never did see a fish actually in the wheel, but they open some hatch and pulled out some fish, one by one (we watched 3).  They looked like silver salmon, but we don't know that.

On down the road, we went through an eagle sanctionary (I don't think that is exactly what it was called), and we stopped and checked it out.  We finally saw one eagle flying overhead.  During different times of the year, there are thousands of eagles nesting here.

Then we saw a moose, right beside the road.

The moose seemed a little confused -- he came right toward us at first, then stopped, then came at us again, then headed off into the brush.

Next up, we saw 3 white swans in a small pond beside the road.  We believe they were trumpeter swans.  When we went through Customs at the border shortly after that, the Officer there said they probably were trumpeter swans.

We continued on our excellent journey, our necks constantly swiveling so we didn't miss anything.  There are countless little creeks that just come crashing down to the rivers.  Very clear water.  And we are still beside the zebra mountains.

Then we got into an area that looked like tundra, right next to the road.  This is the alpine valley area, and it was just beautiful.

The road was in very good shape on this drive, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Here is the road ahead in this stretch.

I thought this was particularly beautiful, with the tundra, the shelf of bare dirt, and the pine trees.

Then we saw another bear!!  This one was a black bear, and we didn't get a very good picture of him, but we did get something. 

As we were coming up to Haines Junction, we were driving next to Kluane National Park.  It is part of an area of 4 huge parks that stretch across Alaska and Canada.

We met up with our group in Haines Junction, and I did laundry this evening while I posted by blog (I couldn't get Wi-Fi at the camper).  There is a bicycle race from Haines Junction to Haines tomorrow, so the southbound highway that we traveled north on today will be closed.  We lucked out that we made this trip today instead of tomorrow.

Yukon 1

Wednesday, June 16 - We awoke to our second morning of sunshine!  Collins didn't appear to have any after effects from his dip in the lake yesterday, so we all headed up the last part of the Cassiar Highway.  It got narrower, with a lot more potholes and gravel patches, very bumpy in some places.  Joe did a lot of 30/40 mph driving today.  We passed lots of beautiful blue lakes, very large lakes in this part of the country, surrounded by pine trees and mountains, with no one fishing on them!  We saw one brown "black bear," but when it saw Joe's scary face, it ran back in the trees.  It is in this picture but you can't really see it.

We stopped at the Princess Jade Mine Gift Shop at Jade City, the mines provides 90% of the jade in the world.  Very pricey little shop, though.  They had a cutter outside who was very informative.  They had a beautiful chess set made out of jade and I forget the name of the pink stone.

We finally made it to the Yukon Territory today, and the Al-Can Highway, a major milestone in our trip.  We are at the Continental Divide Campground, heading toward Whitehorse.  Tomorrow we will reach the junction to Skagway and we need to decide if we are going to drive the RVs down there and take the ferry over to Haines, or drive the car down there.  The cost of the ferry will be a determining factor, if we can ever find out that cost.




Collins went fishing again this evening, but this time he didn't hurt any fish, and he didn't get hurt.  He did realize he lost his hat in yesterday's mishap, but he didn't figure that out until he was getting ready to go fishing tonight, and we didn't have to go back to try to find it.  Although when we were on our mission yesterday, Mazie's swimsuit happened to be in our car, left from the days we were in hot springs areas, and Joe kept trying to get her to go diving for the glasses.  I guess we could have taken her back tonight (about 214 miles, bumpy road), and she could have dove for the hat tonight.  Oh well, too late for that I guess.

Dease Lake

We made 200 miles yesterday.  This morning we were fueled and on the road by 8:30, but we had a low tire again so getting that fixed was on today's agenda.  Back up 37A to hook up with Collins and Marilyn, through more beautiful mountains and waterfalls.  We saw one bear, and then we caught a glimpse of another bear, barely, just before a semi spooked him.  We also saw a moose.  Didn't get any pictures of any of those, they just didn't cooperate.  But, in case you all are not yet tired of this scenery, I did take a few more pix of those mountains, the river, and the glacier that came all the way down to the lake.

About halfway up the Cassiar Highway, the road deteriorated somewhat, but not too bad.  There were no longer center or side markings, almost no shoulder, and some areas where gravel had replaced the concrete, but traffic was very light so it wasn't too bad.  We had some 8% grades up and down, and one had a hairpin curve at the end of it.

Joe does not know if Canadian 8% grade is the same as a U.S. 8% grade, but anyway.  We got to Dease Lake and located a campground, and Joe got directions to a tire repair shop, Charlie's.  Charlie found a nail in the tire (inside rear on driver's side), and he fixed it, but he charged us dearly.  Then we fueled and paid the highest price so far, $1.239/liter, which figures out to about $4.68/gallon.  Joe is ready to get out of this little burg.

But we did have an excellent adventure today.  Well, Collins might not think it was so excellent.  He bought a fishing license yesterday, and while we were getting our tire repaired today, he found a small lake nearby that is stocked with brook trout so he went fishing.  Mazie fixed dinner for the group tonight, and he wasn't back when it was ready so we ate without him.  However, he came in, all wet, and reported that the fish had gotten away, but he made a valiant effort to net it and had slipped on moss in the water and fell in the lake.  And lost his glasses.

Marilyn took him home and dried him off, and Joe offered to go back and try to find his glasses.  So the rescue team assembled (Joe, Wilma, Collins, and Marilyn and Mazie (the M&M girls)), and off we went.  Joe put on his waders and I put on my dairy boots, and Collins led us all back to the scene of the crime, I mean accident.  We wanted Collins to reenact the event so I could capture it on film, but he refused.

So here we go, traipsing after Collins, on our mission to rescue his glasses.  He actually had walked quite a little ways through the woods to his fishing spot, but the water was really clear so we thought we had a shot at it.  We were all scanning the water with great intent (this was not a posed shot).

  I waded out as far as my boots would allow, and Joe went out in his waders.  Collins pointed out where he thought he was when the mighty fish took off on him, and we all scanned the lake bottom as far as we could see.  Suddenly, eureka, Joe spotted the glasses!!!  And Mazie miraculously came up with a stick immediately for Joe to fish them out of the water with.   Joe plucked them out victoriously!

And they were not even scratched!  Joe was the hero.  Collins was still mad that tomorrow night's dinner had escaped him, but he was glad to have his glasses back.  We really are not sure how he managed to get himself back to the car, and then to the campground, wet, hungry, practically sightless.  But it all worked out and the event came to a happy conclusion.

Here we go back to the car, mission accomplished!

Cassiar Hwy 1

Monday, June 14 -- Woke up to rain again this morning, but the sun peaked through about 8:30.  While we were getting unhooked, three deer showed up for breakfast.

We had a low tire on the RV this morning so we stopped at the entrance to our campground and aired it up.  Dave provided the air compressor, Collins provided the electricity and inflator, and Joe and I provided the muscle.

Then we were on our way, back to Terrace and then up the Cassiar Highway.  Joe checked the tire pressure when we fueled in Terrace and it was good, so he thinks it was just leaking around the valve stem.  He'll keep a close eye on that situation.

We had scattered showers most of the day, lots of misty clouds hiding the mountaintops.  We met several trucks hauling logs that were dripping water.

John and Bridgette, I tried to show the tide pools left in the mud.   Prince Rupert and the North Coast of Canada experience some of the world's largest tides.  These 24-foot tides equate to a 4-foot change in water level every hour.  There are two high and two low tides each day, and the times they occur change about 45 minutes a day.

The drive from Terrace to Prince Rupert (and back) is like driving through a rain forest, very dense trees and brush, and water pouring off all rock walls after last night's rain.  The mountains are sprouting waterfalls all over the place.  The white streaks in the picture below are waterfalls.  I did see a bear on this road, and Mazie spotted a baby bear (that Joe and I missed).

After our stop in Terrace for lunch and fuel, we headed up the scenic Cassiar Highway.  Our first stop was at Gitanyow, an old Native village that has 23 totem poles.  However, these totem poles all seemed pretty old, did not have much color to them anymore.  But they were interesting, some were very tall, and some were very detailed, with different things on the very top (animals, birds, people).

Then we drove up to the turnoff for Stewart, B.C., and Hyder, Alaska.  That drive was absolutely spectacular.  Glacial mountains on one side, and moss-covered, waterfall mountains on the other. 
Stewart is Canada's most northerly ice-free port.

One of the glaciers came all the way down to the glacial lake below.  We should get a better picture tomorrow when we drive back to the Meziadin Junction where we pick up Hwy 37 again.  Collins and Marilyn stayed at this Junction, at a provincial park, so they did not make the drive down to Stewart/Hyder with us.

And there are still waterfalls on the other side of the road.

And then we came upon two black bears right beside the road!

We did come up with the answer to an age-old question today -- do bears poop in the woods.  The answer is no, they poop on the road.  We must have seen a dozen little piles today, right on the edge of the road.  So there you are.  This area is really supposed to be "bear country," so we hope to see some more in the next few days.

We stayed in Stewart tonight, and toured the town (that didn't take long), and then crossed the border into Alaska.  We found a "bus" that served halibut, and we had a very good meal there.  It was different, but it had a very clean sitting area in a building, and the cook fixed the food (fish) in the bus.  It was delicious.  She said her husband had caught the halibut today, but he's getting ready to leave tomorrow for 10 weeks to go crab fishing.  Maybe he'll be on Deadliest Catch!

Prince Rupert

Sunday, June 13 -- Today was a better day, even though we still have rain.  As Joe said this morning, "we're back to our favorite pastime, driving in the rain."  We stayed in a municipal park campground right across the highway from the Skeena River last night in Terrace, after our frustrating day of car issues and rain.  This campground was very wooded and pretty, but when the wind gusted, it blew some small branches on top of the RV and scared us to death.

We left Terrace about 8:20 and headed to Prince Rupert, a very pretty drive.  Picturesque mountains, waterfalls.  Didn't see any wildlife until we got into Prince Rupert, though.

In case you can't tell, the white strips are actually waterfalls cascading down the mountainside.  Very pretty.  We saw several of these.  We had a river on the other side of us, that eventually dumped into the bay at Prince Rupert, which connects to the Pacific Ocean.  It was probably good that we waited until today to make this drive because most of the mountains would probably have been obscured yesterday, plus they had some pretty high winds here.  We followed a railroad track for miles, and we met one passenger train going the other way.  Then we caught up with a really long freight train heading into Prince Rupert.  Prince Rupert is actually one of the seaports that the Alaskan cruise ships stop at, and Collins and Marilyn had visited this port on the cruise they took a few years ago.

It had some train cars we don't usually see -- Canadian ones.  Most were tagged with graffitti just like in the U.S.  I thought this one was especially colorful.

We stopped at one campground at Port Edward, but it was very steep, camp sites were too short, and they didn't have full hookups, so we wound our way through that mess back to the highway and came into Prince Rupert.  They were celebrating "Seafeast" here but the weather did not cooperate, so we didn't see much going on with that, although we did have fish (halibut) and chips again for lunch.  They had a boat parade this morning, but we missed that.  We drove around, toured the Museum of Northern British Columbia, tracked down the 7 totem poles in town for Mazie, and drove out to the Seaplane base, but no planes were coming or going, probably due to the weather. I forgot to take the camera with me, so I didn't get any pictures in town.  I'll try to get a few as we leave in the morning.   We saw one deer eating grass in the front yard of a house, which was a bit surprising.  Joe just stopped in the middle of the street (Mazie got a picture), and a car passed us on the right, then stopped, and backed up once they had spotted the deer.  It's always an adventure riding with Joe!

This is a pretty nice campground, and I even did laundry again -- this time it only cost me $10.00.  The thing about doing laundry in Canada is that you need Canadian money, and you never know what denomination the machines will take.  The expensive ones the other day took quarters, so you had to change your Canadian paper money into Loonies ($1 coins) or Tooneys ($2 coins), then change those coins into quarters.  This one here just took two Loonies per machine.  As I was waiting for my laundry to dry, I stood in the doorway of the laundry room and watch an eagle soaring high overhead.  This was the fifth eagle I saw today.

We were able to use the Skype program to make a few phone calls this evening, which is a nice plus to this laptop.  That Skype program is a lifesaver while we are in Canada without cell phone service (too costly).  We just have to have access to the internet, and we don't always have that.

It's raining again, so I hope it gets finished with that tonight and that we have a sunny day tomorrow.  We will backtrack over part of the same road we took today back to the Cassiar Highway (Hwy 37), and then head north.  That's supposed to be a beautiful, scenic drive, and we are all looking forward to it.

Terrace, B.C.

Saturday, June 12 -- Today was not a very good day.  It was raining when we got up.  The battery on my car was dead.  Joe hooked up the charger and we got it started, but he decided I should drive the Explorer to the next town (Terrace), so it would charge.  He was afraid the towing parts might not work right if the battery was dead.  We checked the GPS and found a Ford dealer in Terrace, so I followed him the 87 miles to that town, in the rain, couldn't take pictures while I was driving.  We drove beside the Skeena River for miles and miles, and it was pretty -- really running hard.  It is a muddy river, different from the glacial rivers we had seen in the parks.  We all pulled into the Walmart parking lot in Terrace and I picked up Joe and we went to the Ford dealer, which was only about 1/2 mile on up the road.  They checked the battery and said it was ok, but the alternator was not putting out the right amperage, so he thought that was the problem.  That dealership didn't have the part, but he called around and found one, so we got a ride back to Walmart and told them we would come back in 2 hours.  In the meantime, Marilyn had found out there was a fish (halibut) and chips drive-in place in town, so she and Mazie went and picked up lunch for all of us.  Then we went to a Canadian Tire store and Joe bought a pair of rubber boots (just in case we ever get to go fishing or panning for gold).  Marilyn dropped us off at the Ford dealer, but the car wasn't ready.  The part didn't fit, but when he put our old alternator back on, it worked, and he said it apparently had a bad connection.  So they put it back together, changed the oil for us, and we got out of there (for $114, not as bad as it could have been).  Marilyn and Mazie had suggested staying overnight here at lunch, but Joe thought we should forge ahead to Prince Rupert, even though it was raining and windy.  But by the time we got the car back (1:30), we thought it probably made more sense to just stay here, so we are in a municipal campground just on the edge of town.  I decided to drive back into town (short distance) to see if I could get a haircut, so the girls went with me, but by the time I found the hair salon, they were just closing (5:00 p.m.)  I took no pictures today, saw no animals.  Terrace is the home of the Spirit Bear, a white bear unique to this area.  It would be great to see one, but I think sightings are pretty rare.  We played cards (31) with our group tonight, and now it is off to bed. I did get in a nap this afternoon, a rare treat.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Hazelton, B.C.

Friday, June 11 -- OMG, we woke up to sunshine this morning.  What a welcome sight.  And it was 50 degrees.

Dave pecked on our front windshield first thing this morning and said a mama moose with her calf had just wandered through the campground.  Luckily, I was up and dressed (as opposed to Joe who was neither), so I grabbed the camera and dashed outside.  Well, maybe "dash" is a bit misleading, maybe "tripped" would be more apt.  Anyway, I caught just a glimpse of the mama, but the baby was unable to get across the fence and kept running into it.  Finally, the mama came back and led the baby through the break in the fence, and then they both disappeared from sight.  I got to watch the baby for a few minutes and caught a picture of it.

You may have to enlarge the picture, but it is right on the edge of the road, on the left.

Needless to say, this morning got off to a good start.  There was a RV (actually a fifth-wheel) that parked near us last night that we all decided we would buy when we win the lottery.  Would have loved to see inside it.  We saw it twice more on the road today, so we are on the same schedule, just not making the same stops, I guess.  Maybe we'll run into it, well, maybe we'll just pass it, again in our travels.  I would not want to run into it, believe me!

Yesterday we rolled over 2200 miles since we left home.  We've added maybe 300 more since then, so we are moving on.  Mazie is our "weather lady," since they are driving the Dodge and it has a temperature reading in it, so she keeps us up to date on weather.  Sometimes she even gives a forecast.  We passed a caution sign today for road construction that said "loose gravel."  It was one of those that blinks through the message, and Joe thought it said "loose moose."  He was really on the lookout for mooses then, although I'm not really sure what he was expecting!

We saw 4 deer (one at a time) in our travels today, but no other wildlife.  However, we are still in lilac country.  Joe never would pull over and let me restock, though.

This part of B.C. is just full of lakes and rivers.  At one time, our GPS screen was just splattered with blue lakes, even though we couldn't see most of them.  We did pass Burns Lake, which was very pretty.

We started out driving in tall pine country, but eventually we got back into snow-topped mountains.  Very pretty scenery, although different than what we've seen.  We went through some farm country too.

We crossed this bridge, which is the Hagwilget Bridge at Hazelton, one of the highest suspension bridges in North America.  Eric, you would have loved it.  It was a long, long way to the bottom!  We stopped at Hazelton because it is supposedly the Totem Pole capital of the world, and Mazie is into totem poles.  But they don't seem to have all that many here, and the carvers are not here at this time.

Mazie and Marilyn have gone down to the Visitors Center to get the scoop, so we may get to see more before we leave.  We are camped at 'Ksan Campground at Hazelton, right by the river.  Very scenic.  Dixie, we also went through "Decker Lake" today, but my picture didn't turn out of that sign. 

Lori, I made your key lime cheesecake recipe for dinner tonight. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Tomorrow we hope to make it to Prince Rupert, but the weather forecast is not very promising, so we'll have to make decisions in the morning about the day's travel.