05/17/93
Off we go again and sure enough this was a smaller boat. This boat, the LeConte, is only 235 ft long by 55 ft in breadth and seats 300 passengers with accommodations for 47 vehicles. As on prior segments, this boat was well under capacity with only 54 passengers on board. The accommodations were just fine for a small boat. There were several recliner lounges in addition to a small bar and restaurant. Later in the trip it was evident why they take a small boat on the trip between Sitka and Juneau. For the first three hours we retraced the narrow channel from Sitka to the main channel for Juneau. Again there were whale sightings and breathtaking scenery. Later in the day the sunset behind snow covered mountains was a new highlight for us to see. During the cruise there were some very interesting documentaries shown on the closed circuit TV. Earlier I said that it was understandable why they choose a small boat for this segment. We pulled into Angoon, Tenakee & Hoonah prior to Juneau. These towns are as small as their names sound. Angoon was the large town with a population of about 800 followed by Tenakee with 150. Tenakee is so small that they don’t have any designated roads. They don’t need them since there are only two vehicles in town (fire truck & fuel truck). Then I got to thinking - Tenakee is 15 times larger than Coldfoot -
Oh yes about sleeping on board the small boat. Well we did sleep, at least a few hours. I guess that it wasn’t any worse than taking a coast to coast Jet trip and we could walk around.
05/18/93
Juneau is often called “a little San Francisco”. It is nestled at the foot and on the side of Mount Juneau. We are now is the third largest city in Alaska with a population of 29,000. As with Sitka, Juneau is at sea level with a mild wet climate. Again, however, the weather was cooperative for our visit with clear sky's and mild temperature. Much like Washington D.C., the federal, state & local government comprises an estimated half of the total basic industry (if you can call government, industry). We took the advise of locals and parked our truck and did most of our town sightseeing via foot. The distances are not great and the streets are narrow & congested. Juneau is a pretty town with mostly modern buildings. Many of the structures in Juneau are federal or state offices. Since tourism is also very strong in Juneau there were plenty of places available to sell you things. One of the large cruise ships was in town today with a deluge of tourists walking the streets. After walking around we went into the “Red Dog Saloon” for a refreshment.
As you know the Mendenhall Glacier is just outside the city of Juneau. The Mendenhall Glacier was formed during the “little ice age” which began about 3000 years ago. This glacier is fed by several other smaller glaciers in the Juneau ice field. We hiked a 3.5 mile loop with excellent views of the glacier, dense wooded areas and new growth forest where the glacier had covered in earlier years. At the face, the Mendenhall Glacier is 1.5 miles from side to side with a depth of 300 feet of ice. The best way to describe a glacier is to think of it as a “river of ice”. The average flow rate of this glacier is 2 feet per day with an average recession of 25 feet annually. After our walking tour of the glacier we boarded a helicopter and flew over the Mendenhall and feeder glaciers. The highlight of this trip was a landing on the Mendenhall glacier and walking on this slow moving ice mass. I took some photos of the deep crevices, gushing water flows and seemingly static creases in the ice. There were blue ponds formed by the melting ice and beautiful blue creases where the ice was cracking. Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed the helicopter ride, the glacier walk and the sights. Tomorrow will be our last day for the inside passage with our arrival in Haines.
05/19/93
The boat was an hour late leaving Juneau today due to it’s late arrival and the time it took to load all of the RV’s, 18 wheelers, trucks & cars. The boat was fully packed with vehicles and several hundred people. Since the only way in & out of Juneau is by boat or plane this accounts for the heavy load. Juneau is the only capital city in the continental U.S. than you can’t drive to. The trip to Haines was relatively short, only 4 hours. We are staying at the Eagles Nest motel which is near the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. Each year thousands of eagles gather in this area to feed on salmon. We have a beautiful view of a snow covered mountain outside our motel window. As a matter of fact it would be hard to find a room here that didn’t have a beautiful mountain view. Would you believe that on both AM & FM I can receive only one radio station and it is a PBS station. Thank goodness for satellites else there would be no TV in most towns in Alaska.
Haines is located in the northern part of southeastern Alaska (80 air miles northwest of Juneau). By water, Haines is only 13 miles from Skagway. By highway you must travel 359 miles to reach Skagway. Greater Haines (the Chilkat Valley) has a population of a little over two thousand.
After a good fish dinner this evening we strolled through town. It took about 15 minutes to look in every store window in town. Everything but two restaurants was closed at the time of our walk. Things close down early here. Tomorrow we will drag main street again and hit the stores. We looked around Fort Steward which is located just a few blocks from the downtown area. Fort William H. Steward is now a historical site. It was established in the early 1900’s and for the first 20 years was the only Army post in the Territory of Alaska.
The inside passage to Haines was our last boat segment. Tomorrow afternoon we will leave Haines via the Haines Highway heading for the Yukon Territory. We will connect with the Alaska/Canada Highway (ALCAN) at Haines Junction in the Yukon. The Haines Highway was constructed during World War Two days as a second passage (2nd to the ALCAN highway) and possible evacuation road to the sea should the U.S. become engaged in a land war with Japan. Japan captured two islands in the western reaches of the Territory of Alaska in 1942.
05/20/03
Here we are settled in at Beaver Creek in the Canadian Yukon. It is now ten thirty and completely light outside. Looks like we are getting further north where the sun doesn’t set. Todays trip was very enjoyable and again the varied scenery was new and beautiful. The Haines highway took us through mostly snow laced mountainous terrain with many rivers, streams & creeks fed by glaciers & melting snow. The Kluane National Park and the St. Elias Mountains were beautiful. By the way we are now in Pacific Time again, at least until tomorrow morning. Beaver Creek is about 30 miles from the Alaska (USA) border. Although Beaver Creek is a town with a population of 106 it has a Westmark Hotel. The choice here was between the Westmark and Ida’s motel & cafe which is advertised as a place with a “homey atmosphere”. Well we looked at Ida’s and it appeared to be a bit too “homey” so we checked into the Westmark. The room is very nice with the “standard” things a Westmark offers - except -. Can you believe, there are no TV’s here except in the cocktail lounge. So here we sit listening to the radio with me pecking on the keyboard and Marian reading a book. If we had arrived an hour earlier we could have gone to the dinner theater here at the Westmark. There is a tour bus here on it’s way up north so I guess they were putting on some extras for them.
Tomorrow will be a light travel day for us. Our current plans are to spend two nights in Tok, AK which is about 125 travel miles from here. Tok is a large city with a population of nearly a thousand. We will meet with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) people in Tok about the possibility of a volunteer position on the forty-mile river outside the town of Chicken, AK (next year). Well I guess that it would be better to wait until tomorrow to say any more about this.
Just a comment - Its now 1145 and still completely light out -. We just went out to the truck to get something and were attacked by mosquitoes. We are in wet tundra country.
05/21/93
When we awoke this morning it was light so I can’t say when it got dark last night. We had some good blackout curtains on the windows so who cares anyway. With the short travel distance today we made it to Tok shortly before noon. Since the BLM office was just off the highway coming into town we decided to stop off before checking into a hotel. We had a nice visit with Kathy O’Riley Doyle who is responsible for the volunteer position/s in Chicken. The job sounded interesting. We would live in a trailer at Chicken (wide spot in the road) and run patrols on the forty-mile river putting-in/taking-out at various launch sites along the river. Tomorrow Marian and I will drive out to Chicken and the surrounding area. Chicken is reached via the Taylor Highway. The next large town after Chicken is Eagle, AK on the Yukon river & eventually to Dawson City in the Yukon via the Top of the World Highway. (Comment: These highways, we are told, are not akin to the lower 48 interstates) This trip will probably take most of the day. At least this will give us a chance to survey the situation before seriously considering the job for next year. You may wonder where Chicken got it’s name. In the late 1800’s Ptarmigan was suggested for the town name because there were many of these chicken-like birds in the vicinity. Since no one could spell Ptarmigan, someone suggested calling the town Chicken. As you probably know the Ptarmigan is now the Alaska State bird. You pronounce Ptarmigan (tar-my-gan).
A word about driving the ALCAN. The ALCAN highway in the Yukon Territory isn’t too great. There are frost heaves resulting from the permafrost. Most of the highway is underlain by permafrost and there are many streams and rivers which are continually changing their course. This made construction of this highway very difficult and keeping it up is a continuous challenge. The frost heaves cause subtle to drastic ripples (drop outs) on the highway surface. Also there are places where the surface has cracked to the point that it was just gravel. When we got into the state of Alaska the highway was much better to excellent. Even there one has to be continually aware of a possible break in the surface, ripples or holes. All in all I guess it was much better than my original expectations. It is required by law that one drive with their headlights on all of the time. We still have a distance to go on the ALCAN after leaving Tok and before getting to Fairbanks.
Oh yes, we are now back in Alaska time (-4 hours from Washington D.C.). Here in Tok we are staying at the Westmark. Since the main tourist season doesn’t start for another week or so the rates are reasonable. A word about Tok. Tok originated as an Alaska Road Commission Camp for the construction of the ALCAN & Glenn highways. Tok is known as “The Dog Capitol of Alaska”. The Tok Race of Champions Sled Dog Race, one of the oldest in the State, is held each March. Tok is the junction for roads leading to Fairbanks or Anchorage. There is one local TV station and the only channel available here in the hotel (guess they are not into satellites yet). Well you know all about Tok now, except. Some say Tok got it’s name from Tokyo with the “yo” left off.
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