July 25: Skagway – Haines

This morning we awoke to dry tents. Amazing as it had rained on and off all night but the winds were strong enough to quickly dry us when the showers eventually stopped in the early morning. At the RV park we finished our laundry and went for breakfast at a small cafe in Skagway. The coffee was great, the food only ok.

We hit Skagway full force for souvenirs before catching the ferry to Haines AK. I had an agoraphobic moment with all of the hustle and bustle of tourists lining the streets. After 5 days of solitude with only Ken and Steve to really chat with I was a bit overwhelmed. I think we were all feeling the affects of our hard physical adventure without really knowing it. The ferry ride was about an hour long and very windy. Haines is a strange little town, a port set amidst snow capped mountains and luxury cruise liners. We saw our first eagle as we disembarked from the ship and headed to our next campsite. Apparently there is an eagle preserve here and we should be able to see more before we leave.


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Haines has a Hollywood set from a Disney movie in their fairgrounds (White Fang was shot here) and there are a few local businesses set up in the remnant buildings.  Interesting place but it doesn’t seem to get a lot of traffic.

In town we loaded up on groceries and headed out to Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site when Ken spotted our first two grizzly bears. They were eating and playing by the side of the river and it seemed that everyone and their brother pulled over to photograph them. They were amazing to watch, and obviously used to people. It almost seemed that they were hamming it up for the cameras as they would rear up on their hind legs and pose. Ken took a whole roll of film, I took about 10 photos and Steve took some as well. One of the locals said they were about 3 years old and frequent the area adding that a sow and her cubs as well as a male can often be seen in the area. Seeing as our campsite is fairly close to the river I’m hoping they are more interested in the fish than our smelly gear. I do hope for more photos though.

So…obviously the highlight for all three of us was spotting the bears and hanging out to watch them. My additional highlight was managing to stay dry all day.

July 26: Haines – Kluane National Park, YK

Another dry day! Although the clouds followed us from Haines to the Yukon border it did not rain. After a nice hot coffee and oatmeal we decided to pack up and push on to Kluane National Park, YK. No more bear sightings on the river but we did manage to see an eagle land on a rock in the middle of the river. Talk about classic Alaska; unfortunately the camera was not at the ready!

We crossed from the US to BC and the ride from BC to Yukon was fantastic. It reminded me of the Dempster Highway – alpine like, treeless but with lots of shrubs and views for miles. We saw an owl swoop down for a snack but very few other critters until just before the Yukon border. The sun had come out from the clouds again and Ken spotted a grizzly which turned out to be two grizzlies about the same size as the ones from Haines. We took a ton of photos with the bears cooperation as they busied themselves with dandelions. We watched them for about a half an hour before they crossed the highway and ambled off into the brush.

We had a quick stop to check out Million Dollar Falls before continuing on to Kluane. The sun stayed with us but brought a chilling wind as we pulled into Kathleen Lake and set up camp. We managed a short hike to the lake where we were blown around quite a bit. Little has changed since the last time Ken and I were here. The place is still beautiful. There was a ranger presentation about First Nation Traditions at the amphitheatre this evening that was quite interesting and we received a sample of some nice hot traditional tea.

We are now snuggled in our sleeping bags after a nice dinner, listening to the crazy wind buffet the sides of our tents.

Highlight of the day for all of us was watching the grizzly bears.

July 27: Kluane – Whitehorse

We all slept in today (10:30) which was necessary for our bodies to re-coup from hiking the Chilkoot trail and the driving from the last couple of days. The sun had yet to make an appearance by the time we forced ourselves out of our tents and we were greeted by an overcast and very windy morning. We had planned on staying two days in Kluane but after a leisurely breakfast we decided to push on. Before heading to Whitehorse we did a quick hike up Rock Glacier just to keep limber.

We stopped at Haines Junction for coffee, snacks and a tour of the visitor centre before pushing on. Thankfully the sun has come out and taken the chill from the air.

In Whitehorse we stopped at the Takhini Hot Springs to soothe our aches and pains. We stayed for 2 hours and enjoyed the mineral water (not as nice as Liard Hot Springs as this is a large swimming pool as opposed to the natural landscape) and sauna before heading to town for Mexican food at Sam and Andy’s. Oh so good.  We also had a few Yukon brewery beverages as primers for tomorrow’s tour of said brewery.

We are camping at the Trail of 98 RV park as they have showers and Ken wasn’t happy with the staff at the Wolf Creek Territorial Park (where we stayed on our way to hike the Chilkoot). As I write this it has started to rain again.

Highlight of the Day:

Steve-the visitors centre at Haines Junction and learning about Kluane National Park;

Ken – having a good laugh when Steve and I were mortified that he knew the words to “On the Road Again”, and seeing a unimog at the hot springs;

Cameo – Clodhoppers at Haines Junction, soaking up the sun at the hot springs and enjoying the sauna.

July 29: Whitehorse – Edmonton

Today was a whirlwind of activity. We had lots of rain during the night so packing up in the morning was discouraging. We went into town for supplies before heading to the Yukon Brewing Company. The tour was much the same as three years ago when Ken and I first went. The tour was a simple affair with a brief tour and explanation of how the Yukon Brewery operates. Ken picked up a ’24′ of our favourite Cranberry Wheat Ale. The free samples were appreciated even though it was only 11:30 am – but close enough to noon for us.

After the tour we went to the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, then for a hike at Miles Canyon – in the sun even. We discovered that you can hike to Canyon City, an historic site that was a stopping place on route to Dawson City during the gold rush. Much like Canyon City on the Chilkoot Trail, this Canyon City had lots of artifacts still rusting in place. Our intention was to stop and camp in Watson lake again however, shortly after our hike the skies opened up and the rain continued to follow us without letting up.  We decided to keep on driving until 11 pm when we finally had to pull over and camp at Muncho Lake Campground and sleep.  In the Landrover. We were too tired to properly set up the camping gear and were not looking forward to getting soaked in the process. I shall always remember that stop as Camp Sardine. Me in the back, Ken half in front and half on Steve, Steve in the front passenger seat. And it poured, and poured, continuing into the morning and well after we hit Fort St. James.

At this point we decided to cut the camping short and make for home. No rain but the skies are threatening and cloud cover continues to follow us.

Highlight of the day:

Steve – the brewery tour;

Ken – seeing our Land Rover in the local paper;

Cameo – buying a Jack London book in the true north and watching a coyote on the way out of Whitehorse.

In all, although the weather sucked, the vacation was fun and a most amazing experience for all of us.

Read Chilkoot Trail Part 1

Read Chilkoot Trail Part 2



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