June 4 Day 26

Chuck awakes at 8:00, while Pat sleeps in to 9:00 as it is still raining which is normal for Portage. After breakfast we head to the Portage Visitor center. Walking from the RV to the entrance doors is a challenge in the blowing wind and rain. This is really our first day of bad weather on the entire trip.

We take our time visit the Portage visitor center, and when we exit the rain and wind have stopped. We then head to the Portage Lodge for a short visit following which we drive toward Anchorage and stop at Girdwood. As we enter Girdwood, we first stop at the Chugach National Forest Headquarters, as we have always past by the visitor’s center but never stopped in.

We pick up some literature and then continue on to the Alyeska Lodge. We tour the grounds and then head over to the Art Gallery that we enjoy, before heading to Anchorage.

The drive to Anchorage is along Turnagain Arm, with a twisting road that has great views as the sun is out and we watch the tide going our. We arrive at our friend Karen’s house were we will be staying until we depart on Monday.  We have activities planned with Karen and also with Brenna and Zach for the remainder of our trip. The RV gets turned in on Thursday morning, so Chuck will clean out the RV on Wednesday.

This basically ends the blog, and hope you have enjoyed reading our experiences

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 74 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4600

Total miles traveled 5503

Total RV travel time 3 hours

June 3 Day 25

 

We arise around 10:00a, make coffee, breakfast and a campfire. Before heading out we introduce Zach to the game of Mille Bourne. After lunch and our game of Mille Bourne, which Pat and Zach won as partners, we start our journey towards Anchorage as Brenna and Zach need to be at work tomorrow.

Our first stop is Summit Lake Lodge, where we have coffee and ice cream while walking around the grounds. Brenna and Zach had camped out here in an RV during one of their bike races several years ago.

Next on our agenda is a stop at Hope, which is a funking little town across the inlet from Anchorage. Before the 1964 earthquake there was about 3,000 people; today living in Hope, now there are maybe 200 people scattered about. The National Park Service just finished redoing the campground there, so we drive through it to see the upgrades and while going through it we see a mother moose and her baby. Back in Hope we walk part of the old village and visit several artist galleries that are open.

We then head to Girdwood for dinner. Our favorite restaurant is the Double Muskie, but it is closed on Mondays so Zach suggests we go to Chair 5 restaurant. After a relaxing dinner and good conversation, we say our good-byes as Brenna and Zach head back to Anchorage and we head to Portage for our last night in the RV.

Well as we get closer to Portage, the weather changes and we enter a wind and rain storm. So no last night fire, so the inside warmth of the RV

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 74 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4526

Total miles traveled 5429

Total RV travel time 4 hours

June 2 Day 24

We sleep in till 10:30, get up make coffee and light brunch. After dishes are done, Chuck and Zach take RV to dump the holding tanks and fill up the fresh water tank.

We then head off to Seward, which is about an hour away. We stop at the commercial district by the boat harbor and have a few appetizers and light lunch, also with a few local beers.

Walking around the upper deck boardwalk, we see the various fish charters returning, and survey the various catches. One young woman has caught a 75 pound Halibut, with all of the others in the 10-20 lbs. range. After which we head to the old downtown area to walk around.

Zach and Chuck decide to try the new local brewery while Brenna and Pat go window shopping. Zach and Chuck’s opinion of the brewery is that they have the atmosphere correct but seriously need a new brewer. We then continue looking at various shops in the downtown area, before heading back to the RV.

On the way back we stop at the Exit Glacier lookout point, and enjoy our drive back to the Quartz Creek campground, spotting an occasional moose along the way. We get back and Pat and Brenna cook dinner; fresh Halibut, pasta, spinach and fresh shrimp.

After dinner we settle down around the campfire, before calling it an evening at 11:30pm

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

June 1 Day 23

 

We arise around 10:00 am, make coffee, start a campfire and fix brunch. Weather is a bit cloudy with a few rains drops that start to wear off around noon.

After brunch, we take a short hike up to the trading post and restaurant at the top of the highway and visit the one vendor who offers horseback rides.

We then pack up fresh clothes and shower materials and head off to Brenna’s friends Sarah, who just moved to Kenai in March, has a lovely home and is about 1 hour south of our campground. We bring along fresh crap dip, smoked salmon and wine, with the food all being gone by the time we all take our showers.

He then head over to the local Kenai Brewery call Kassiks to try their wares and talk to the owner. After which we head to dinner at the Duck Inn. Sarah takes us for a short drive around the area and we see moose and caribou.

After dropping Sarah off at home, we then head back to our campground.

We do a small fire and then call it a night around 11:30pm.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

Total RV travel time 0 hours

May 31 Day 22

We arise about 10:30 as we were all tired. Coffee gets made, campfire started and then Chuck fixes a brunch. Brenna spots Mountain Goats and Sheep up on the one mountain.

After brunch and dishes being cleaned, we decide to take a drive to view some trails that Zach and Brenna know about that are in the area. We drive back the first one to Upper Russian Lake and get 3/4 the way back before our journey is stopped short as the upper road is still all covered in snow.

After reaching the main road we drive down further to the Siklak road. There is a flashing sign that says 4 wheel drive wheels only due to soft road conditions, but we decide to press on anyways. We soon find out what the soft road conditions mean but Zach is able to maneuver the car through the various spots and we continue along to the Hidden Lake campground. The campground has all paved roads and sits on a Hidden Lake. Continuing our journey on Siklak Road we can only go another mile before the road conditions prevent us from going any further so we turn around and head to the main road.

On the way back to camp we stop at the Princess Lodge at Cooper Landing, have a drink and a small bit to eat. We return to our campsite for a dinner of fresh Copper River King Salmon, Scallops, and shrimp cocktail. After dinner we play a game of Scrabble while the campfire glows.

Temperature starts to drop, so we go inside the RV

We finally call it an evening at 11:00pm

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

 

May 30 Day 21

We awake at 5:00AM to full sun and blue skies. Mountains are all snow covered and glistening in the sunlight.

Today is catching the ferry out of Valdez to Whittier, and we need to be at the ferry dock by 6:00am. We quickly take showers, have some coffee and pack things up.

After we board the ferry with our RV, we head to the back deck to take some pictures of Valdez as it glistens in the morning sunlight. As the ferry departs Valdez, we notice a fog bank rolling in at the far end of the Valdez inlet. Within a short time we enter the fog bank, saying goodbye to the sunshine, and feel the temperatures drop dramatically. 

We brave the outside deck under cover, and see sea otters, bald eagles and a few stellar seals. Then the Columbia Glacier ice field comes into view. We cannot see the glacier, just the ice field created by recent calving, so there are lots of Kodak moments. In this area the snow is still down to the water, temperature drops further and it starts to rain so we head back inside to have some breakfast.

We place our order and when it arrives, we forgot about the generous food portions that are given on the Alaska State Ferry system. After breakfast we go back to the outside deck to see if the weather has changed but it hasn’t. A small pod of Orcas comes by the ship which offers more Kodak moment opportunities. We decide to go back inside and settle down in the front viewing area.

Around College Fiord area the skies start to clear up and we go back to the outside deck. The sun comes through and the temperatures jump by about 30 degrees as we leave the fog bank, and the tide water glaciers of the College Fiord are off in the distance.  Other passengers come out to the back deck to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine, and we all migrate to the front bow of the ship to watch our entry into Whittier. The hillside around Whittier is glistening with the large snow cover.

After we get off the ferry we stop to turn our propane gas back on and to walk around. We take the underground tunnel to “Downtown Whittier” and stop in the Grocery/Hardware store and the Anchor Inn. We walk back to the stores by the waterfront, enjoy a beer at the Hotel and take a leisure walk back to the RV, as it is now time to drive through the railroad tunnel and out to Portage.

We arrive at Portage in brilliant sunshine and check out the campgrounds since we will be staying here on Monday night. We then decide to drive up to Girdwood, since the weather is nice, and along the way we watch people dip netting for hooligan. At Girdwood we stop at the Jade shop but it is closed, and drive up to an artist shop that Pat likes.

After the art shop visit we head back down Turnagain Arm to our campground at Quartz Creek, where we will meet up with Brenna and Zach for the next 4 days. We setup camp, and while Pat fixes part of the dinner, Chuck gets the awning up over the picnic table and starts a fire. We have dinner ready for Brenna and Zach when they arrive at 8:30pm.

We enjoy their company at dinner, and then sit around a campfire talking till 11:30pm we are all tired so it is off to bed with no set agenda for tomorrow.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 92 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

Total RV travel time 3 hours

Total Ferry Travel Time 6 hours

May 29 Day 20

 

We awake at 6:30AM to full sun and blue skies. Mountains are all snow covered and glistening in the sunlight. Sunrise is at 4:30 with Sunset at 11:00pm, so days are getting longer.

Today is community cleanup day in Valdez, as the city and citizens attempt to clear the dust and dirt from the winter off the streets and sidewalks.

After picking up what we thought was the final groceries, we head over to the Halibut House for a lunch of Halibut, Shrimp and Rock Fish. All fresh of course.  We drive back up the Thompson pass, stopping to take pictures and videos of the various waterfalls. They are all in full force and a different view fro when we drove in.

We come back into Valdez, Fill up the RV at the gas station and head to back to te campground, we are in a new spot tonight. We then go for a walk over to the local fish processing plant, and pick up some fresh Copper River King Salmon, crap meat, and smoked salmon. On the way over we spot our first otter.

When we get back to the RV, it is back to the grocery store for Chuck, only a short walk of 4 blocks to pick up some additional items. It is a peasant walk but not the last one to the store for tonight, for after talking to Brenna, Chuck has to go back for 2 more items

Dinner tonight will be fresh Copper River King Salmon with cauliflower. Then it will be showers, as we have to get up at 5:00am to be at the ferry terminal no later than 6:00am.

We will be camping for the next 4 days with Brenna and Zach, and then a single day of camping by ourselves at Portage before heading to Anchorage. So there will be no new posts until we reach Anchorage.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 50 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4363

Total miles traveled 5293

Total RV travel time 1 hours

May 28 Day 19

We sleep in today and awake at 7:30AM to full sun and blue skies. Mountains are all snow covered, and snow piles around the RV campground are melting.

We do a leisurely breakfast and then commence on doing laundry, which has hasn’t been done since we left Billings, MT. Chuck does some supply and grocery shopping while Pat goes on a hike around town to see what shops are open. Valdez is not visited by the cruise ships so shops are few and far apart. Many businesses cater to the fishing fleet, Coast Guard, Kayakers, and recreational fishing.

Rest of the day is spent recharging our batteries by just sitting in the sun, as it gets to be 72 degrees, with no clouds in the sky.

We go to dinner at the restaurant in the hotel by us. The people who ran “The Harbor Café” a.k.a. THC, are now running the restaurant there. They use to have a small eatery on Main Street which is now closed. Their food is excellent, and after dinner we go for a walk along the boat dock before retiring to our RV for the night.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 0 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4313

Total miles traveled 5243

Total RV travel time 0 hours

May 27 Day 18

 

We awake at 7:00AM to full sun and blue skies.  Where the ice had melted near shore on Kluane Lake there is a new slim layer of ice that has formed overnight. We start our travels by 8:30am and it will be a long day as we have decided to drive all the way to Valdez (~500 miles), where we will rest up for several days before taking the ferry to Whittier.

Our journey takes us along the Kluane Lake with snowcapped mountains on surrounding us. It is a late spring, and the full sun is starting to have a melting effect on the mountains which is evident by the water flow in the various streams. We pass through the towns of Destruction Bay and Burwash with no wildlife in sight, though we do see various signs of bear on the road. So, do bears shit in the woods? NO, they shit on the road!

After Burwash, the fun part of the drive commences for the next 125 miles, fun only if you like to ride roller coasters and other rides that toss you up and down and sideways as well. We stop frequently for photo opportunities as the St. Elias range is in full view on our right, and the Kluane River valley is on our left. Along the way we see another RV from the group that started in Iowa, so we have kept our streak going of seeing at least 1 of the 132 RVs that started from there every day.

When we cross over into the US/Alaska, we change our clocks again and gain back another hour. We will stay on Alaska Time until we depart for home in 2 weeks. We reach Tok, which is just short of the half-way point for our drive today with still no wildlife sighting but we have continuous views of the St. Elias range and stop for numerous photo ops. We gas up with both gasoline and propane, with the temperature in Tok in the 80’s. We call ahead to the RV park in Valdez and find out that their 1 campground by the small boat harbor is not open yet as they are still clearing it of snow, so we wonder what awaits us in Valdez.

We start the journey to Valdez, driving the stretch called the Tok cutoff.  Our drive is quickly interrupted, as a mother moose and her year-old yearling, decide they need to cross the road. Water is flowing out of the woods on both sides of the road as spring break-up has finally come to this area. No sooner than starting up again, but a bull moose decides to cross he needs to cross the road in front of us, unfortunately this is the last wildlife we see for the remainder of our drive to Valdez, but the view of the mountains in their full glory more than supplements those sightings.  We cross several rivers that feed into the Copper River which has just broken up as ice foes litter the river beds. Twenty miles outside of Glenallen, we come across an accident where 2 cars have gone off the side of the road, with one of them being on its side. We slow down but do not stop as the Alaskan Highway Patrol is on site and multiple other vehicles have stopped. Young drivers/passengers are sitting on stop of the cars as the area is also under water.

At Glenallen we turn south on the Richardson highway and head to Valdez, with the St. Elias Range still on our left. We stop at a turnout we found several years ago to take pictures of the Copper River valley and the St. Elias Range, and Pat notices to the North that we can see Mount Denali  and its surrounding mountains, something unexpected.

We drive into Copper Center and see the rebuilding of the historic lodge that burnt down in a fire, and swing by the Princess Lodge for more photo ops. Continuing down the highway to Valdez, we see more evidence of spring break-up but no wildlife. As we approach Valdez, the Worthington Glacier comes into view and we stop and take pictures. The main picture on our blog is of the Worthington Glacier taken 2 years ago, compare it to this year’s picture we took from the same location. The pictures were taken at roughly the same time of year. Spring is definitely late this year.

We reach the Thomason Pass Summit and the mountains on all sides are heavily covered in snow. We have been through this pass multiple times in the past , but the view this time is something to remember. On our decent into Valdez we see some kayakers attempting to ply their skills on the swollen creeks, but appears Mother Nature has won as we see them staying on shore and watch 2 kayaks floating down the swollen water way. Descending further we come upon multiple waterfalls and stop for more Kodak moments. While stopped by one, we hear a loud crash as we watch chunks of ice fall from the upper area of the water falls.

One last photo stop on our descent to take pictures of the river bed and how thick the snow pack is still alongside of it. We reach our campground which still has large piles of snow in various areas, hook up and eat dinner for the nite.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 495 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4313

Total miles traveled 5243

Total RV travel time 13 hours

May 26 Day 17

 

We awake at 7:30AM to full sun and blue skies.  There were some revelers around last night but not too bad.  It is a great Memorial weekend in Haines.  The town will clear out some today as the Canadians don’t have tomorrow off.  In fact they will lose an hour going home as they observe Pacific Time/Yukon Time and Alaska observes Alaska Time.  It’s a little confusing to keep track of these border differences.  We are old fashioned and lugging the home PC with us for blogging and paying bills.  A tablet would have been the way to go but we are slow to change.  Internet access is iffy at best.  A lot of campgrounds say they have it but sometimes only in theory.  In the more remote areas it is satellite and we are dependent on when the owner turns on and off their router.  Sometimes it is cable and just very slow.  We are just as likely to not have any access at all.  It’s okay, adventure vacation means not having everything like at home and shaking it up for new perspective.  Now to think of it we saw only few I phone/other at the fest and none walking around town on their cell phones etc.  What a shock.  They were actually talking to each other.  We have broken 4 pieces of the dish set the RV provided.  I have never seen Corelle ware shatter on impact as I have in this RV when it hits the floor.  At home our Corelle gets dropped on the wood and bounces around.  The floor seems relatively insulated with vinyl.  We think the cupboard door over the sink latch is not very tight.  The door swung open and dishes spilled out.  Corelle glass shards are deadly if they get into your skin, like razors.  So wherever we are when it happens we stop and do a thorough clean up.  Note to self:  no Corelle ware for us in a camper.  The RV owner recycles these dishes for years in his rentals maybe they are just old.  This Haines RV campground is basically a perfectly manicured lawn/parking lot with tables.  If you want the deep woods, a more primitive experience, you go to the state or national park.  We opt for water, electricity and sewer access.  There are options for cable TV hook-up but we never get it.  The TV stays off and we can barely get any radio stations.  We get some news through Internet and talking with people, what a concept.  The owners of the Hitch em Up campground obviously take pride in their place and are campers themselves.  This is a Good Sam approved campground.  They have hired retired people to work during the summer.  The new couple is from Texas.  The showers/restrooms are generous and clean as is the laundry room with lots of washing machines and driers that all work.   Doing laundry in a campground requires another manual and a plan.  Some small laundry projects are done in the RV sink.  They do not allow tent camping here, yet we have seen every kind of ‘camper’, people in vans and trailers so small they look like they are only big enough for a bed. Another hitch in RV campground is what people consider acceptable dress.  Almost anything can walk out of an RV first thing in the morning.  The things you see when you don’t have a gun.  Some think that as long as they have one piece of clothing on that is adequate. We use our blinds a lot in these close encounters of the half-dressed kind. We are mostly of the same age, it’s just not that interesting.  We thought about going to the Senior Citizen Center for the all you can eat waffle breakfast this morning but it is advertised as an antidote to beer blasting.  We will defer that experience although the call of waffles is tempting, served by clear eyed, bushy tailed seniors.  We’re heading to Kluane Park in the Yukon this morning and there will be no showers, flush toilets, potable water or Internet in the Congdon Creek Campground that we like.  So fill up water here before we leave.  Will have to get propane but service is not assured.  All fuels, sewer dumps and drinking water have to be planned.

        We stop at the Fireweed Restaurant to see if they have any to go items.  We have heard so much about it but we weren’t here long enough to try all the recommended spots.  It’s a funky old fishing type shack with a great deck overlooking the harbor.  They only pull Haines Brew.  No to go’s but at least we got to go inside and check it out.  We want to see Chilkoot River and Lake in the sun.  We drive out again and are not disappointed.  There are two workers at the weir looking at the small wild salmon.  The eagles greet us.  Oftentimes we hear them before we see them.  They have a high pitched screech and then look for the white golf ball head in the trees.  Haines is located just over the mountains from Glacier Bay on the Inside Passage.  We pass by the Tlingit Peace Rock once again, the place where they meet to settle differences and work out compromises.  I’m thinking our Congress could take a lesson from them.    We leave Haines via the Haines Hwy Rt 3 going north.  We follow the Chilkat River for several miles.  The Chilkat comes out of the Chilkat Glacier over 52 miles away in British Columbia.  It is high water and as a glacial river it braids its way through the valley.  We see blue Forget Me Nots bloomed on the rock faces blended with huge bunches of bright yellow dandelions.  At home they are weeds, here they are a welcome sight of bright color.  Blue and gold together, how Alaskan.  We enter a long stretch called the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, 48,000 acres.  In October until January more than 3000 eagles descend for the salmon runs.  You can bet there are lots of bears too. Most of the eagles in Alaska are in the southeast.  We spy some native fish wheels by the river.  This Chilkat Pass route is an old Tlingit trading route with the interior Athabaskan natives. John Dalton came and took it over to form the Dalton Trail leading to Dawson City for the gold rush; and history ensued. However, the Tlingits were very shrewd business people and pragmatists that made it work for them to a point.  Dalton is the third gold trail in the area, the others are White Pass and Chilkoot.   This ride is a feast for the eyes, the sun is full and the mountains are snowy.  We see the huge Saksaia glacier as well as the Jarvis Glacier (Pat’s maiden name).  We start climbing to the Chilkat Pass and come to Canadian Customs.  In a short drive we have passed into over the Canadian Border into BC from AK and lost an hour from Ak Time to Yukon Pacific Time.  The Canadian border guards are such happy campers. Bonjour!  Back to Km and Celcius, more math. Shortly we pass back into the Yukon.  We see Trumpeter Swans along the way.  These are young mountains with their sharp saw toothed peaks.  We see a couple blown out old volcano cones.  We enter the Chilkat Pass at 3200 plus feet.  It is snow covered and we are back to very early spring.  The Anchorage RV company dictates this schedule but coming in the spring does have many benefits.  You have the road almost to yourself and you witness the emerging spring.  Even though you must anticipate uneven open services, facilities and park programs.  And the bugs are still almost non-existent!  We see the put-in point for one of the premiere river water rafting locations.  People are biking the Pass, amazing.  There is no one living up here, it is completely wild except for road work stations.  A note about Al Can car dirt.  It is a badge of honor to collect enough dirt to be counted as a road warrior; a broken windshield is an uber honor.  It is tradition on the highway to have an RV wash at the end of the Alaska highway at Delta Junction but we aren’t going there so the dirt stays.

        We pass through a vast valley filled with huge aquamarine colored lakes that are still mostly frozen.  Mid point to Haines Junction we see the solid wall of mountains that form our western barrier.  There is a narrow trough, called the Duke Depression, between this mountain wall and the great coast mountains in the St. Elias/Wrangell range.  Just on the other side is Yakutat, Ak.  We sailed into their harbor two years ago on the ferry.  We have entered Kluane National Park Reserve. The mountain wall is impressive with only the rare valley opening between them.  This wall follows us to our campground.  This area was hit during the 90’s with spruce beetle and it devastated many of the trees.  Ak had the same thing happen.  We come to Kluane Lake, the largest in the Yukon, it has the Ruby Range on its eastern shore.  This lake had a strange natural event 400 years ago when the glacier that filled the valley shifted and changed the whole drainage system from Pacific Ocean to Bering Sea.  The scale of this land is so vast it is hard to get perspective.

        Kluane National Park Preserver along with Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park, Alaska’s Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St Elias National Park have collectively been assigned a joint UNESCO World Heritage Site.  To see this area on the map shows the incredible miles and acres it encompasses.  This is the wild of the wild.  We arrive at Congdon Creek Campground within the Park.  We stayed here 2 years ago.  We are able to get our same camp spot, old number 9 with our own foot path to the lake’s edge.  There are no services so we are ‘dry’ camping using the battery, propane and generator.  It’s sunny, cool and breezy.  The lake is still mostly frozen.  Two years ago it was breaking up with large cracks developing.  That has not happened yet.  This area is a dry zone with only 9 inches of rain a year and it shows in the plants.  There is a bear warning when we pull in.  This time instead of warning tent campers they have prohibited tent camping.  Don’t know what happened but we will be mindful.  Don’t know what they are eating in this barren place except tent tacos.  We don’t see any sign of moose at all and no fish are in for a while or the soapberries aren’t ripe till August.

        Re: potable water.  By now we have picked up water for the RV tank over 3000 miles.  At this time we have a mix of the original Iowa water with whatever else.  It tastes pretty good and we haven’t gotten sick.  In the future a filter might be a good idea.  You never know.  We got really bad tasting water at Devil’s tower (didn’t make us sick) and ended up having to buy store water until we got it diluted with other water.  It’s just one of those things we take for granted at home. 

        Only hear the sound of the wind in the trees.  So different from Haines.  We cook some of our dinner on the open fire and take a walk along the beach and around the campground.  The ‘beach’ has the shores of a glacial lake, meaning some sand but mostly stone and rock.  It’s difficult to walk on it. It’s getting cool so closing up for the night.  Haven’t broken our record, we have an AK RV in the campground tonight.  We last saw this couple in the Badlands.  Quiet night tonight!

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 225 Miles

Total RV Mileage 3818

Total miles traveled 4748

Total RV travel time 8 hours

May 25 Day16

 

We awake at 9AM after our dinner last night.  It is sunny and warm, near 70.  We had intentions of walking the brew fest 5K but we didn’t.  We walk into town and visit the Visitors Center.  It’s not a good sign that the attendant on duty who grew up in Haines got lost hiking and almost didn’t make it home for her job.  She is unable to give us good directions in this tiny town.  We walk near the beach and find another tent area for the youngsters.  They are camped in all the in town campgrounds and on the beach.  We find the fish shack with outdoor picnic tables from the local cannery.  The halibut and local shrimp melt in the mouth.  We stroll back to the fairgrounds for the 1-5P brew fest tastings.  We get our tasting glass with special event decal and head to the various brewers’ tents.  It’s a mob trying to get to the taps.  Everyone is friendly but it’s a solid block of people in a sold out crowd of 1200.  The crowd is mostly 20 - 30 so we are the oldies.  Meet some folks our age from Naperville and Grand Junc. Co.  We run into the 2 women from Fairbanks who make the drive every year.  There is a very good band playing and they are selling food and t-shirts etc.  It’s good they have food and water because the beer is flowing freely.  We are located on the main street of the movie set built for White Fang.  So it’s fun to be surrounded by ‘historic’ buildings.  There is a high cloud cover but we stay warm with nice breeze.  Some of the past events have been so hot it was stifling or hard rain.  So this is good.  We try as many brewers as we can of the ones we don’t know.  Interesting that Fat Head from Ft. Collins Co and Sierra Nevada are here.  Hear they are distributed by Alaska Brewing, so that may be the reason. The Fat Head is good and Ohio is one of the 31 states that get it.  There are many of the beers we don’t care for and we water the plants with the remainder.  Kenai Brewing has a raspberry Lambic and other very different beer concoctions.  We try the Scottish and the raspberry.  Mostly we return to our old favorites; Alaskan Brewing is always consistent.  We only saw one Anchorage brewer, Glacier brew.  Not our favorite.  We missed the Anchorage group.  We decide after 2 hours there is only so much beer you can drink (shock and horror) especially at midday and fighting the crowd was not worth it.  We walk back to the RV and unplug and go for a drive up to the Haines Packing Company, an old historic cannery.  It’s not doing actual canning right now but processing fresh seafood.  We buy some shrimp, huge scallops and a piece of halibut.  They allow us to view the prep area but they are done for the day.  The cannery has been in operation since 1921.  We head out to Chilkat State Park.  The road is gravel and some snow on the sides.  We stop at the camp host cabin for an incredible view of the Chilkat Inlet.  Small islands, mountains rise, the Rainbow and Davidson Glaciers are clearly seen.  Active bear signs are out.  We then take the drive out past the Ak Ferry to Chilkoot Lake Campground (state).  We ride along the shoreline and there is a mountain wall with at least 8 waterfalls coming from snow melt.  We came to the Chilkoot River.  Incredibly beautiful, one of the all-time best we have ever seen.  It is clear why bear watching is so good here.  There are eagles everywhere.  We pass a fish weir where a Fish and Game person is dipping out the year old salmon fry and counting them.  The count is a best estimate and helps record the quality of this wild salmon run.  The river comes out of Chilkoot Lake and we are not disappointed by the grandeur of the sight.  A couple are fishing for Dolly Varden and not having any luck.  It begins a light drizzle, just in time for the end of the brewfest at 5PM.  By the time we start back into town it is clearing and the sun is coming out.  We decide to treat ourselves to dinner at the Halsingland Hotel which is one of the historic buildings at Fort Stewart.  This is a lovely place and we get the best table in the house.  A table in the corner window overlooking the old parade grounds and the harbor.  This is an incredible night for weather and views and the young people who are camping are getting a treat.  So far they are in good behavior mode even though the alcohol is still flowing.  The police are around to keep a watch.  We have shrimp, liver pate for starters and wine, enough beer.  Our entrees were fresh halibut sautéed with a potato pancake and fresh King salmon with an edamame succotash.  Heaven!  This chef should have done our dinner last night.  Finish with a shared cinnamon chai creme brulee.  Wonderful all around.  The sun is setting and we take a quick walk on the downtown pier.  Great pics.  Watching the tide come in.  Back at the RV and time for bed.  There’s a sign on the campground dumpster saying the bears are around so are locking it down at 10PM.  It’s probably not a good idea to sleep walk tonight. It’s been a great day but busy.  We leave for Kluane Lake tomorrow.  Leaving civilization for the great quiet wilderness.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 44 Miles

Total RV Mileage 3593

Total miles traveled 4523

Total RV travel time 1.5 hours

May 25 Day16

 

We awake at 9AM after our dinner last night.  It is sunny and warm, near 70.  We had intentions of walking the brew fest 5K but we didn’t.  We walk into town and visit the Visitors Center.  It’s not a good sign that the attendant on duty who grew up in Haines got lost hiking and almost didn’t make it home for her job.  She is unable to give us good directions in this tiny town.  We walk near the beach and find another tent area for the youngsters.  They are camped in all the in town campgrounds and on the beach.  We find the fish shack with outdoor picnic tables from the local cannery.  The halibut and local shrimp melt in the mouth.  We stroll back to the fairgrounds for the 1-5P brew fest tastings.  We get our tasting glass with special event decal and head to the various brewers’ tents.  It’s a mob trying to get to the taps.  Everyone is friendly but it’s a solid block of people in a sold out crowd of 1200.  The crowd is mostly 20 - 30 so we are the oldies.  Meet some folks our age from Naperville and Grand Junc. Co.  We run into the 2 women from Fairbanks who make the drive every year.  There is a very good band playing and they are selling food and t-shirts etc.  It’s good they have food and water because the beer is flowing freely.  We are located on the main street of the movie set built for White Fang.  So it’s fun to be surrounded by ‘historic’ buildings.  There is a high cloud cover but we stay warm with nice breeze.  Some of the past events have been so hot it was stifling or hard rain.  So this is good.  We try as many brewers as we can of the ones we don’t know.  Interesting that Fat Head from Ft. Collins Co and Sierra Nevada are here.  Hear they are distributed by Alaska Brewing, so that may be the reason. The Fat Head is good and Ohio is one of the 31 states that get it.  There are many of the beers we don’t care for and we water the plants with the remainder.  Kenai Brewing has a raspberry Lambic and other very different beer concoctions.  We try the Scottish and the raspberry.  Mostly we return to our old favorites; Alaskan Brewing is always consistent.  We only saw one Anchorage brewer, Glacier brew.  Not our favorite.  We missed the Anchorage group.  We decide after 2 hours there is only so much beer you can drink (shock and horror) especially at midday and fighting the crowd was not worth it.  We walk back to the RV and unplug and go for a drive up to the Haines Packing Company, an old historic cannery.  It’s not doing actual canning right now but processing fresh seafood.  We buy some shrimp, huge scallops and a piece of halibut.  They allow us to view the prep area but they are done for the day.  The cannery has been in operation since 1921.  We head out to Chilkat State Park.  The road is gravel and some snow on the sides.  We stop at the camp host cabin for an incredible view of the Chilkat Inlet.  Small islands, mountains rise, the Rainbow and Davidson Glaciers are clearly seen.  Active bear signs are out.  We then take the drive out past the Ak Ferry to Chilkoot Lake Campground (state).  We ride along the shoreline and there is a mountain wall with at least 8 waterfalls coming from snow melt.  We came to the Chilkoot River.  Incredibly beautiful, one of the all-time best we have ever seen.  It is clear why bear watching is so good here.  There are eagles everywhere.  We pass a fish weir where a Fish and Game person is dipping out the year old salmon fry and counting them.  The count is a best estimate and helps record the quality of this wild salmon run.  The river comes out of Chilkoot Lake and we are not disappointed by the grandeur of the sight.  A couple are fishing for Dolly Varden and not having any luck.  It begins a light drizzle, just in time for the end of the brewfest at 5PM.  By the time we start back into town it is clearing and the sun is coming out.  We decide to treat ourselves to dinner at the Halsingland Hotel which is one of the historic buildings at Fort Stewart.  This is a lovely place and we get the best table in the house.  A table in the corner window overlooking the old parade grounds and the harbor.  This is an incredible night for weather and views and the young people who are camping are getting a treat.  So far they are in good behavior mode even though the alcohol is still flowing.  The police are around to keep a watch.  We have shrimp, liver pate for starters and wine, enough beer.  Our entrees were fresh halibut sautéed with a potato pancake and fresh King salmon with an edamame succotash.  Heaven!  This chef should have done our dinner last night.  Finish with a shared cinnamon chai creme brulee.  Wonderful all around.  The sun is setting and we take a quick walk on the downtown pier.  Great pics.  Watching the tide come in.  Back at the RV and time for bed.  There’s a sign on the campground dumpster saying the bears are around so are locking it down at 10PM.  It’s probably not a good idea to sleep walk tonight. It’s been a great day but busy.  We leave for Kluane Lake tomorrow.  Leaving civilization for the great quiet wilderness.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 44 Miles

Total RV Mileage 3593

Total miles traveled 4523

Total RV travel time 1.5 hours

May 24 Day 15

 

Awake around 7AM to sun but high clouds moving in.  Warm with a nice breeze.  Four more cruise ships have docked since last night.  In descending size:  Princess, Carnival, Norwegian, Silver Seas.  The Silver seas is tiny by comparison, holding hundreds not thousands.  Can’t figure out who owns them.  Campground showers.  There should be a whole manual on them.  Some run with quarters and shut off midway, some are unlimited.  Some are no bigger than an airplane restroom.  Some have a good flow, some not.  Some give a good warm shower, some not. There may be several or one for the whole campground; the RV advertisements don’t lie, they just don’t expand or clarify. There are some showers that turn cold and lose pressure when others are turned on or a toilet is flushed.  Showers in a campground are always an adventure, especially when one must walk a distance to them.  Meaning camping requires ‘shower clothes and shoes’.  It requires a plan.  We have a shower in the RV but it is a small cubicle with a 4 gallon hot water capacity; we have no desire to see how much clean-up we have after.  Might try it before we turn in the RV.  Besides it has become our dirty laundry and beer storage area. The charm of harbor side camping is at an end.  The dredger starts at 7AM, the trains blow their whistles, and loud cruise ship announcements are heard.  The weather is changing and clouds are moving in.  The party group had their beer breakfast and have gone sightseeing.  We are readying for the Ak ferry trip today down to Haines.  Loading on the RV and then sit up top.  Looking forward to some Canal views, maybe some whale sightings?  We are going to the Alaska Craft Brewfest dinner tonight.  Hope the weather at least stays dry.

          We park in the hold of the ferry.  It is a finely orchestrated dance of cars, RVs, dump trucks, all kinds of vehicles in a confined area.  Set the parking break, turn off the propane and walk up to the top deck.  The ferry backs out and we get an uninterrupted view of Skagway and the valley, the cruise ships and see all the way to the end of the fjord to the tidal flats of Dyea.  Our short trip, just an hour, down the Canal to Haines is pretty with many waterfalls and steep sided mountains.  The only large animal wildlife we see is a male Mountain Goat grazing literally on a nearly 90 degree mountain side down to the water.  Amazing. By now the clouds are sending a light drizzle and it is gray.  Doesn’t interrupt the beauty.  Once we turn to Haines we can see the town but pass it for the ferry terminal about a mile and a half away.  The crowd is a mix of retired sightseers and beer fest crowd.  People are informal and friendly.  We meet a young couple, she from near Whitehorse, he from Haines Junction on their way to Juneau for a wedding.  It’s one thing to see the locations of towns on a map, another to realize that in this vast area it is a well-connected community including both sides of the border.  We drive into Haines.  This small town is nicely situated on the water and Ft. Seward is there on high ground.  Our campground is located on the edge of main downtown and we are surrounded by snow peaked mountains on all sides.  This is one of the neatest, well cared for campgrounds we have been in, the Hitch em Up RV camp.  The showers are incredible and close by.  There is a laundry room and a gift shop.  Pat can’t believe their prices.  It’s mostly tourist stuff but some very different things.  Shopping will be done here.  Changing our clothes into Alaska chic we walk the half mile to the specialty beer dinner.  The sky is gray but the rain has stopped, it fairly warm with no wind.  We are at the Southeast Alaska Fairgrounds.  Rustic but nice.  The movie set for the ‘White Fang’ movie serves as a main street with shops and the Haines brewery.  We are in an exhibition building for the 21st Great Alaska Craft Beer and Home Brew Festival.  The interior is nicely decorated and has a giant glitter salmon quilt on the wall.  We are greeted with our first beer Alaskan Freeride IPA, big brewers out of Juneau.  Followed by HooDoo Kolsch from HooDoo Brewing.  Freeride is excellent if you like hops, the Kolsch is German authentic recipe, not our fave.  The dinner progresses with beer pairings.  The menu is geared toward organic and sustainable products.  We finally get to eat fiddlehead ferns and a Japanese asparagus pancake, Okonomiyaki.  Loved the ferns, tastes like asparagus.  This course was paired with Epic Ales “Springy Beer”, used a moss in it?  Not our fave.  Soup course was a Miso with local prawns, pared with Barnof Island Brewing, Halibut Point Hefeweizen, out of Sitka.  Good for a Hef but not our fave.  Also served Denali Brewing’s Big Red’s Black Beer, out of Talkeetna, this beer was okay, tasted some honey in it.  We have been to Denali Brew on previous trip.  Fish course was very strange.  Local whole, tiny smelts, called Hooligan, stuffed with mashed potatoes and wrapped in ramps and a wasabi sauce.  First time eating this fish and ramps (wild garlic).  Difficult to eat a cute little fish that is staring at you.  Not bad, it was okay.  This course was paired with Yukon Brewing’s Boreal Forest Herbal Cream Ale, out of Whitehorse Canada.  It was okay not a fave.  Also served Alaskan Brewing’s Sentinel Rye Pale Ale, out of Juneau.  We like most of their beers from past experience.  This was very good.  A guest speaker, James Roberts, Dr. Fermento, is the beer blogger /writer for one of the Alaskan newspapers.  He gave a little review of how far brewing had come over the past 20 years in Alaska.  The Entrée Course was beef tender with rhubarb steak sauce and parsnip puree.  A good combination but the meat was just okay, loved the sauces.  Paired with Haines Brewing (only one in Haines) IPA, which we really liked.  And served with Sierra Nevada Porter.  Don’t know how SN got in this mix but this beer is dark and chocolate and coffee and totally dangerous.  Very good but only drink a reduced amount.  Dessert was a Spruce Tip Rice Pudding and was a total flop.  It was paired with Haines Black Fang.  Off the charts delicious dessert beer, deep black and totally dangerous.  Good thing we are walking back to our camp.  It’s still light out so there is hope we will make it.  The gourmet menu had rave reviews in past years.  We don’t think it was up to snuff this time around.

        The evening was emceed by some crazy woman out of Juneau.  The talk was risqué and bawdy, but fun.  The furthest traveling diners were a group of men from Sweden.  They were required to sing us a song.  They told us they don’t mess around with signing when beer is available, but they gave us a Swedish song anyway.  We all clap but we have no clue what they just sang.  We met two totally separate people from Cleveland area.  One said you’ll never know this tiny town, Columbia Station.  I said my friend in Anchorage is from there and I’ve been there a couple times.  Another woman is from Brunswick but born in Lakewood where Seth lives.  It was a lively evening of Canadian jokes; there were several Canadians in the crowd.  It was another clue how close these border communities are.  At our table we sat with a local Haines couple.  Couldn’t have been a better meeting.  They were full of ideas and suggestions about where to eat and what to see.  Ike was a local state trooper and Faith worked for Fish and Game; we heard a lot of stories and learned more about the local lifestyle.  Deciding where and how to get medical, dental services and where to shop usually in Juneau or Whitehorse.  One is by boat, one by car.  How they order through Costco in Juneau and have goods barged to them.  Their son currently works at the local cannery and we learned how to shop right there.  They lived in Nome and Anchorage.  We lived in Anchorage at the same time and had a good conversation about how things have changed.  We exchange emails.  Haines gets a few small cruise ships through.  It does not rival Skagway or Juneau (3 towns on the Lynn Canal) in any way.  It is interesting to hear about the economy and how people create jobs and change jobs as needed.  Working for the government is prized.  The native population is around 35%, Tlingit.  There is a native village not far from here.

        Tomorrow is the official beer tasting event at the fairgrounds.  It will be held on the main street surrounded by the White Fang movie set so hope there is good weather.

        Made it back to the camp without meeting up with a bear or moose.  We can check this experience off the bucket list.  Time for sleep.  Night!

Miles traveled by RV 6 Miles

Total RV Mileage 3549

Miles traveled Ferry 14, saved us 300 driving miles

Total miles traveled 4479

Total RV travel time 30 minutes