Haines, and Skagway, AK

Haines and Skagway, AK July July 20th to July 24th


We left the Mendenhall Glacier campground the night of the 19th and camped in the Ferry parking lot for the night because our ferry was at 7am and we had to be there by 5 am. This way we could sleep until 5 instead of getting up at 4 and heading down there. When we arrived, we watched cars depart the terminal and then all of a sudden, there was a brown (grizzly) bear walking around the parking lot. We tried to get a good shot and stay safe, but I'm afraid it came out a little blurry. He gradually walked the lot and then back across the street and up the hill from whence he came.

The M/V Malaspina ferry boarded at 6, we departed at 7 and went in for breakfast at 8. While waiting in line, Tim met Karen Baker. She is traveling with her husband Ken and are going to the same places we are although in a different time frame. We exchanged emails and blogs and will keep in touch with them along the way. We are getting off in Haines and them in Skagway for one night and then they will come to the  Chiilkoot Lake campground to join us for one night.

In our travels, we have found that State and Federal campgrounds are more to our liking than the commercial ones and the one in Haines was perfect! To find it was a bit of a challenge as we wound our way along the Chilkoot River and up to the lake. At the weir in the river, a brown bear was climbing up trying to get at the fish!

Many folks along the roadside trying to catch the action which made for a bit of a squeeze getting through. We found a site right on the lake with beautiful views. No electricity or water again however, but the location and ambience make up for it.

The following morning, we took the high speed ferry from Haines to Skagway which I will write about later. We met Don and Marcia on the boat and they are also staying at the Chilkoot Lake Campground. They gave us some hints about where to stay in Soldatna and Homer. They also were kind enough to let us use their kayaks one afternoon to try to find the bears feeding up the other side of the lake. The kayaking was great but no bears! Eagles flew overhead

by the shore and the weather held out with no rain for a few days.

Tim Kayaking

Our RV view from Lake

Marcia and Don Kayaking

Tim fished in both the river and the lake with no luck this time but he sure does look good while  he's doing it!

We explored the town, Fort Seward and Dalton City where the movie "White Fang" was filmed. These are some of the original buildings from Haines. One of them is now a Brewery! Fortuitous for Tim.

Haines Ferry Dock

We really enjoyed our few days here. It is peaceful and very low key. In the winter, the locals tells us, they get 30-40 feet of snow! The summers are like our South Carolina winters..high 50s to mid 60s during the day and mid 40s at night. Needless to say, our heat was on at night and we did dress warmly for our stay here as in most parts of Alaska thus far.







PS: Don and Marcia if you are reading this, please send us your email so we can send you your pictures. Have a good trip!











Skagway

As I previously stated, we took the high speed ferry to Skagway for the day. Upon our arrival, we ran into Ken and Karen at their campground right next to the ferry dock. They were packing up to get on the Marine Highway Ferry over to Haines where they will spend the night at Chiltook Lake.

Ken and Karen's RV

As we walked through the town, we came upon a barker outside a building hawking a tour and an old fashioned saloon show. We bit! We took the van with just one other couple up to the Yukon and the Whitehorse pass for a few hours and then came back for the show. The trip was just long enough and we saw most of what you could see from the train ride but certainly not all of it. The scenery is wonderful..and I am running out of adjectives for the majestic Alaskan landscape! Every time we hear about the pioneers who first crossed this country and settled in these remote areas, we marvel at their stamina to endure such hardships and make it through!  The weather was warm today for pretty much the first time since we have been in Alaska

View from Summit Road

View from Summit Road

Train to the Pass

Downtown Skagway

Sitka, Juneau and Glacier Bay

Sitka July 15th -July 16th

Our next Marine Highway stop was in Sitka. On July 14th, we left Petersburg on the M/V Taku

Petersburg Harbor

at 3 pm and traveled around the top of Mitkoff Island through the Frederick Strait and down to Kake which is mostly a Native American village and very heavy into fishing, of course.  As night descended we continued up between Admiralty and Baranoff Islands into Chatham Strait and around Baranoff down into Peril Strait and finally into Sitka Sound.   We arrived in Sitka at 3:45 am on the 15th. We had a cabin for this 12 hour passage which consisted of a set of bunk beds and a bathroom with a shower. We did have an outside cabin so it was bright. We didn't get much sleep even though we went to bed at 8pm because the engine was noisy as were the children in the next compartment. Before that, however, we did see seals on a buoy and quite a few whales  along the way and, again, some of the most incredible scenery of mountains and glaciers that Alaska has to offer.

Sitka Inlet with Cruise Ship

Kate Watching for Whales

We arrived in Sitka early in the morning before the campsites opened, so we parked outside the nearest one to the ferry and slept until it opened at 7 and then continued on with our day.

Sitka itself is a pretty little town with many fishing vessels in its harbor. It is steeped in Russian history with St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Church being at the center of all directions. It is a quiet town until the cruise ships arrive and even at that they have to anchor off shore and not many come all at once. We were only here until noontime on the 16th but we did drive out to the Eagle and Bear Preserves but decided not to go in. We would prefer to see them in the wild and not constrained by cages and and fences. Overall a nice little stop along the way.

We did see many more  rubber boots just commonly referred to as their "xrtratuffs" and sometimes called the Southeast Alaska "flip flops" here in Sitka. They wear them with everything from shorts to rain gear!

Southeast Alaska "Flip-Flops"

Juneau  July 16th- July 20th

We took the high speed ferry from Sitka which took us back up through Peril Strait into Chatham Strait and on into Juneau on Sunday the 16th. We left at 12 noon and we arrived in Juneau at 4:30 pm. We had reserved a campsite at the Mendenhall Glacier National Park Campground which was next to the Mendenhall Lake. We set up the RV and immediately set off to see the Lake, the Skater's Cabin and the Glacier itself. It's amazing how accessible it is.

Approach to Juneau

Lake at Skater's Cabin with Glacier Behind

The following day we were up bright and early for a 5:30 am flight to Gustavus to get on a cruise into Glacier Bay! Wonderful and exhausting day! We flew low over the mountains for 35 minutes into the small airport on Gustavus and took a van to the Glacier Bay Lodge to await our Glacier Bay Cruise.

Glacier Bay National Park is comprised of 3.3 million acres of  mountains, glaciers, forests, and waterways and we were on our way to see the many beautiful sights it holds.

 As we picked up speed  on the way out of the harbor, we donned yet another layer of clothing...it was cold! From thermals to long sleeve shirts then polar fleeces to wind gear (jackets and pants) including wool crew hats and gloves...and it took all of it to keep us warm on deck. Inside was warmer but then we wouldn't have seen as much.

Along the way to the glaciers we slowed for views of Otters, Orcas, brown bear, eagles nest,  mountain goats, puffins, seals, and sea lions.

Orca Whale

We also stopped to let off 12 kayakers on the beach and pick up 10 others. These women will stay out for a week and be picked up by another sightseeing cruise vessel at the end of that time.

Orca Whale

Kayakers

Puffin

Sea Lions

 Along with all of this, the views of the Fairweather and St. Elias Mountain Ranges were incredible.

Fairweather Range

Cruise ship in front of Margerie Glacier

Margerie Glacier

When we arrived at the Margerie Glacier we stayed in place for about 30 minutes hoping to catch it calving. We did see it a few times but nothing dramatic but the "white thunder" it produces while moving and calving is powerful. There were several other glaciers that we passed along the way: Reid Glacier, the Grand Pacific Glacier which comes down from the Canadian border, and the Lamplugh Glacier.

An interesting note is that John Muir not only explored the forests out west, but he also explored Glacier Bay with an inlet being named for him..Muir Inlet and Muir Point. The man really got around!

Glacial Ice

Grand Pacific Glacier

Our flight back to Juneau was spectacular as the pilot dipped his wings as we went through the mountain passes affording us panoramic views of the Chilkat Mountains.

We had dinner at the Red Dog Saloon which is an original landmark from old time Juneau where Rag Time Hattie used to play the piano in her white gloves and silver dollar halter top. At one point in the territorial days, they would meet a boat with a mule which wore a sign saying, "follow my ass to the Red Dog Saloon." We picked up a bag of "Tim's" potato chips which they serve there and headed home exhausted!




The next day was a little more low key. We went back to the Mendenhall Glacier and hiked out to the Nugget Falls.

In the afternoon, we took the tram up Mount Roberts above Juneau from which we had great views of the harbor, but really wasn't worth the trip for the overall experience. On to the Alaskan Brewery to end our trip to Juneau. Lots to do and I think we did it all!

Petersburg

Petersburg     July 11^th to the 14^th

The M/V Taku didn’t arrive at the dock in Wrangell until after what was supposed to be our departure time of 11:30pm, so we got a late start on our 3 hour journey to Petersburg.  I napped for a short while and then joined Tim on deck to see the ship find its way through the Wrangell Narrows. The Narrows can only be sailed by the ferries at high tide and at some points are just wide enough for the ferry to maneuver through. We had come up through the Sumner Strait into the Narrows quickly, but now the ship had slowed through the passage with Mitkof Island to starboard and the Krupeanof Island to port. There was a full moon casting its reflection on the glass like water and the skies were much lighter than I was expecting because there is almost 18 hours of daylight here in the summertime. The ship moved with the slightest whooshing sound but the wind was strong on the foredeck. With most of the passengers asleep and those that were up and on deck extremely quiet and talking, if at all, in whispers, it almost seemed  like we were on a ghost ship!

Wrangell Narrows at Night

As we neared Petersburg, the red and green lights on the channel markers were flashing everywhere.  One of the crew was at the bow communicating with the captain on the bridge and Tim and I were thankful we were not doing this in the fog, as, I’m sure, was the Captain. We had to wait outside the harbor entrance while the M/V Matanusca left the channel on its way out of Petersburg. Two ships that passed in the night!

Passing the M/V Matanusca

We arrived safe and sound in Petersburg on Mitkof Island about 4am and drove straight to the National Forest Service campground, Ohmer Creek, about 21 miles out of the town back down the Mitkof Highway which runs along the Wrangell Narrows that we had just traversed to get to Petersburg. We were surprised to see that it was totally empty as had been the one on Prince of Wales Island. Posted on the board was the fact that this one was no longer maintained due to budget cuts so there was no water or bathroom facilities. Okay with us.. we carry what we need with us. We took the site we liked and went to bed. After a few hours sleep, we went to town to the visitor center and got information from the Fish and Game Department for Tim’s fishing excursion which included getting a King Salmon permit for 3 days.  

Petersburg Harbor

By then, the day had moved along so we explored the coast a little more, came back and lit the fire and enjoyed the solitude. The next day, I dropped Tim off at Blind River Rapids where the King Salmon were running and I drove to town to do the recommended tour of the Eagles Roost and Sandy Beach as well as stopping at different turnouts for views of the mountains and the harbors. I spied only one eagle, but I could hear more up in the trees.

Eagle's Roost

Mitkof Island is 23 miles long and only 16.5 miles wide with its highest elevation at Crystal Mountain which is 3,317 feet high.  Petersburg is known as “Little Norway” because a lot of the residents can trace their ancestry to the Norwegians who followed Peter Buschmann (hence Petersburg) here. The waterway with snow capped mountains had reminded them of home.  It’s a quaint little town with a population of about 3200. It’s main source of income is fishing in 2012 it was reported that the community generated $50 million in fish landings. It was ranked 20^th nationwide in millions of pounds (52 million) landed. It is carrying on the tradition started 2000 years ago by the Natives of Tlingit (click it) Indians on Sandy Beach. The cannery is owned by a Seattle based company called Icicle Seafoods, Inc. The town is growing, though, as evidenced by the newer, larger buildings and the airport that are all located a few miles from the downtown area.

As in all of the Islands we have visited so far, there are many deer that appear along the roadside. Here we saw a young buck with its velvet horns still intact as well. We watched for a Brown Bear that we were told is in our camping area, but we never did see him. 

Buck with Velvet Antlers

Tim had a very successful day of fishing. He caught a King Salmon which was 32 inches long. He said it was the biggest caught by the group of fisherman out at the rapids that day. We cooked it for dinner and it was delicious. We’ll have enough for probably 6 more meals of Salmon!

Fishing at Blind Rapids

King Salmon at last!

We didn’t have the same views from our campsite that we had in Wrangell, but the ones downtown and across the water were every bit as good.

 This has been a relaxing and comfortable stay. The weather has warmed up and the rain has stayed away. The mosquitoes that I mentioned we had in British Columbia have not followed us in an extreme a fashion throughout our travels thus far in Alaska. Let’s hope that trend continues!

       

The Tongass National Forest

The Tongass National Forest

We have been in and out of the Tongass National Forest, designated as such by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, since our trip into Hyder, AK and up to Salmon Glacier. It is almost 17 million acres and is the largest National Forest in the United States and the largest contiguous temperate rain forest in the world….thus all the rain we have been having!  It is estimated that more than 900,000 people travel through this forest each year while about 75,000 Alaskans call it home as do over 5,000 Brown Bears. They all depend on the forest for their livelihood whether it be from fishing, timber or its minerals.  In the 17 million acres there are 19 designated wilderness areas for a total of 5.8 million acres. In addition, it offers over 400 hiking trails, about 150 recreational cabins and 13 campgrounds, which we have used frequently. In it, we have seen glaciers, mountains, valleys, estuaries, islands, lakes, and miles and miles of shoreline but no bears as yet!

As you can imagine with all the rain, it is a beautiful, lush and verdant area with spectacular vistas of its mountains and glacial cirques. We anticipate enjoying more of the forest all the way up the Inner Passage through Sitka, Juneau, Gustavus, Glacier Bay and on into Skagway and utilizing its wonderful, peaceful camping sites.

Wrangell Island

Wrangell Island   July 9^th and 10^th

Our ferry ride to Wrangell was a night passage from 10:45pm to 5:15am on the M/V Matanusca which is the same ship we took from Prince Rupert to Ketchican on our first leg of the Inner Passage. We slept in the recliner lounge which was quiet enough bar the continuous drone of the engine. When we arrived there we stopped at the boat harbor that offered parking for RVs and I promptly fell asleep for a few hours while Tim went and explored the National Forest Campground at Nemo Point which was about 14 miles south of the town on Zimovia Strait. Originally, we thought it might be too far from town, but we were thrilled with this campground and its location. It had 3 sites all very large and extremely well done and maintained by the Tongass National Forest Service and was free. The site we chose over looked the strait with spectacular views of the mountain range in all directions. We were in Wrangell from early on the 9^th until the ferry departure at 11:30pm on the 10^th so we had plenty of time to explore this island and sit by the fire and just enjoy the views. The weather was cooperating and the rain was nowhere in sight.

Campsite at Nemo Point

The town of Wrangell is located on the northern tip of Wrangell Island which is about 30 miles long.  It is the only town in the state of Alaska that has been ruled by 4 different nations. The Tlingit (clink it) Indians, Russia, England and the United States.  It was first formed as a trading post for the Tlingit and the early settlers and was incorporated as a town in 1903. Most of the original town was ruined in 2 different fires first in 1906 and then in 1952 so much of the town has been rebuilt. We were told that the population has declined from about 3000 to a mere 1500 due to government regulations on fishing. Fishing is the major industry with Salmon then halibut, shrimp, crab and herring as its mainstay. The timber industry is fairly small here while tourism is increasing. There is a huge cannery with hundreds of large refrigerated containers for shipping fish off the island on barges.  

Wrangell Harbor

We saw several tour companies touting excursions to Anan to see the bears and to the Stikine River and Leconte Glacier.  The Stikine (Stick EEN-means Great River) River is said to be the fastest free flowing river in North America. It is 330 miles long through British Columbia, where we first saw it, through mainland Alaska. It opens out into the Pacific Ocean just 5 miles north of Wrangell. The Stikine/ Leconte Wilderness area was established in 1980 and is a very popular place for the tour companies to explore. We had not planned a trip here, so we were unable to go up the river to the LeConte Glacier but we could see it in the distance and we will be seeing many more as we continue our journey.

View from Campsite

There are very few cruise ships that come in to Wrangell and the only sign that we saw of catering to the adventure cruise ship passengers now in the harbor was a young lady selling garnet stones. She has a list of when these adventure cruises come through and she sets up her stones to sell. The first published report about the “Wrangell Garnets” was in 1906. In 1907, the all-woman Alaska Garnet Mining and Manufacturing Company based in Minneapolis became interested in the area after seeing an article in the Wrangell Sentinel about them. They applied for a patent, got it and started mining for the garnets. They made and marketed things like watch fobs and garnet pins. The activity dwindled through the 1920s and, in 1936, the company was sold to Fred Hanford who in turn deeded the ledge to the Boy Scouts of Wrangell in 1962. The only stipulation was that the land must be used for the sole purposes of the Boy Scouts and that the children of Wrangell be allowed to take garnets from the ledge. If an adult wants to go there, a child must accompany him/her. The local Presbyterian Church now has oversight of the Ledge for the children’s benefit. To this day, the children have free use and go by boat  7 miles up the Stikine (Stik EEN) River to the Garnet Ledge to mine for garnets. Some are still in the stone when they sell them. This young lady told us how it is difficult to get them out in one piece without them falling apart. The children save their money and some have used it towards college tuition.  Yes, of course, we purchased a small garnet..how could we not?

Wrangell Harbor

We explored the harbor as well as the Petroglyph Beach where we say a few markings on the rocks. The majority have been worn away with the ocean motion. The petroglyphs we had seen in the west two years ago were very pronounced and these were hard to see.

Pats Lake

We also went to Pats Lake and even tried the strait where the used and abused ships have been left to rot to check out fishing opportunities to no avail. No fish in those waters!

Wrangell Harbor

We drove the Nemo Loop partially around on gravel roads through the Three Sisters Campground/Overlook, the Anita Bay Overlook, the Highline and the Turn Island Beach and decided the entire loop would have been too much in our little Fit. The views, once again, were wonderful.

Sunset on the Harbor  Waiting for 11:30pm Ferry

Once again we have squeezed a lot of sightseeing into a small window of opportunity. Wrangell is a lovely Island. We’re glad we made this one of our stops along the way. 

Ketchikan, AK

Ketchikan  July 7th

We returned from Prince of Wales on the 7am ferry so that we had most of the day and all of the next to tour Ketchikan. Ketchican is on the southwest coast of Revillagigedo Island accessible by boat or plane only. The only other community on the island is Saxman which is south of Ketchican with a population of 434 while the population in the borough of Ketchican is over 13,000.  It was raining off and on as it had been for a few days, but that didn’t deter us too much. We parked in the Walmart parking lot again for the one night we would be there. They are very welcoming to RVers as they know we will be going in to the store to buy our supplies.

Creek Street Downtown Ketchikan

Ketchikan was started in 1883 when a Mr. Snow built a salmon saltery there.  The fishing trade flourished and soon the mining and logging industries developed. , Ketchikan grew rapidly from a population in 1900 of 800 to what it is today.  Today fishing and logging are the two mainstay industries.  The tourist business has now added a new industry to the area. Our first day downtown, there were 4 cruise ships in port, each probably holding 4000 people or more. The place was packed! The dock area and shops are well done to handle the masses with many gift shops, galleries, cafes and the like, but it was a little overwhelming for us after being on Prince of Wales for almost a week with its minimal population. We strolled in the rain a little and called it a day.

Dock in Ketchikan

The next day there were only 2 ships in port and drizzling slightly so it was much easier to get around. We went to the old historic district, Creek Street, watched fish literally jump out of the river while being chased by a seal and talked to some children fishing off the bridge. It was great fun!

Fish Ladder

 We saw the fish ladder in the river which was built to help the salmon swim upstream against the rushing river. 

We also toured the Totem Pole Museum while downtown which gave us more history on the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimhian tribes. The Totem Poles were not idols as some of the earlier settlers thought, but rather were built in honor of their ancestors and deceased immediate family members.

 In the afternoon, we drove to the other end of the island on the main road. We were told that from the City Offices there are 17 miles of road to the north and 17 miles of road to the south. We covered most of them and saw the airport on another island across the harbor and more float planes then we could count kept taking off and landing in the strait.

The sightseers didn’t have much of a view with all the fog and rain, but they had probably booked this tour well in advance or on the ship. For any future cruisers of the Inner Passage, I would advise them to wait until they get to a port to see what the weather is like before they book any tours. Trust me there are plenty of tours available, especially in Ketchikan.

There is a saying in Southeastern Alaska that rubber boots are their flip flops! Truly, most of the citizens we have seen in all of the ports starting in Prince Rupert, wear rubber boots. The rain fall, or so we were told, in this area is over 12 feet (yes feet) per year! So winter or summer, long pants or shorts, boots are the preferred footwear. Our rubber boots didn’t come out, but we did wear our usual hiking shoes for warmth, comfort and to keep our feet dry as well.