Haines

Helen and I have been here in Haines, Alaska for a few days now and, as usual, we're having a good time. Yesterday we took the dogs for a swim at Chilkoot Lake only to find it elbow to elbow with fishermen. On the way back to the campground we found a little brook running into the bay, actually called Lynn Canal. The water was extremely cold, probably because the brook comes from snow melt in the mountain behind us. They were in and out of the brook in seconds and then tried the canal. A short dip and they were done. Helen gave them a quick bath in the brook to wash off the salt water and soon her hands were frozen. We gave the dogs a brisk rub down with several towels to dry them and make them warm. Then I collected some driftwood to use for a fire.

The first picture below is Helen, enjoying the ambiance with The two dogs. The second picture is me in the same setting with the Canal and the mountains across the way.





One of the minor hassles we have at this campground is the large number of crows hanging around all the time. They sit on the tables and beg for food. Apparently it has been a good system as they are rather fat and lazy. The bad part is that they create such a racket at various times of the day. One of the times is early morning, which is around 3 or 4 here in Haines. This picture shows a few of the vagrant crows.



I was able to sleep through this mornings cacophony, but the banging woke me up. Thinking it was much later and someone was at the door, I got up in a haze and shuffled into my pants. There was no one at the door. The banging was Helen banging on the ceiling to scare the crows off the roof. I couldn't believe how early it was and I was sure I wouldn't get back to sleep, but I was wrong.

Later we took a ride to an animal park, but it was closed. On the way back we saw a sign saying "Porcupine Crossing". We decided to investigate and found the following sign.



We drove over ten miles into the woods and found a place that looked like it was set up for a mining experience, but there was no body there. It was an awesome ride and we should have turned around much earlier than we did.





The road went from two lane to one, and got narrower and narrower. Eventually the bushes were scraping the Jeep on both sides. The picture below shows an area of slides. Please note that the rocks on the left side of the picture have rolled down the hill and ACROSS the road! Some weighed much more than our little Jeep and we did not tarry in this area.



Helen took the two pictures below. The first showing local architecture and the second local beauty.





The last stop on the way back to the camper was at Dawson City. Years ago, the Disney Studio filmed the movie "White Fang" in this area. When they were through, they were going to burn down the set and return the area the way it was. The people of Haines pressed Disney to give them the set and then it was moved to it's present location at the Haines County Fairground. It really is a bustling location during the fair, but is also house a few business all the time. There is a T-shirt printing business, a micro brewery, a knitting store and a restaurant.

From Haines

I went back down toward the lake and got another load of driftwood for a fire tonight. We have an excellent day planned for tomorrow, but that will be in the next blog. Sometime I feel like I'm ready to head home, but there is still so much to see and do. Thanks to the information from "Celebrating 20" we're going to try the Cassier Highway back to Jasper. So much planning and so much more to do.