Alaska trip

Son of bear?









We were taking a break on the side of the road on our way to Haines, Alaska and this fellow in a truck pulled up with a smile on his face....It was a fellow from Oregon, also freshly retired, he had chosen to sell everything, gave half his furniture to his daughter, half to his son....bought a truck and camper and said goodbye...didn't know where he was going, didn't know when he would be back....and having the time of his life....He stopped to talk because he saw Oliver behind my car and swore from a distance he looked like a bear cub....by the time he approached us he was smiling at his mistake....one that created quite the conversation at the side of the Alaska mountain.....a pleasure.... We also could have had a conversation with a grizzly and her cub if so inclined....on the side of the road, she obviously was very used to the paparazzi and ambled quietly to the opposite side when she was ready....















Our focus for this trip (other than having a great time) was to find some white fireweed. We had seen it in the books but could find none around the area....Photo in book said Alaska...so we were on the look and found it....Halfway between Haines Jnct. Yukon and Haines Alaska...





It was just a wave in amongst a bank of regular fireweed....beautiful...I stopped of course to get closer and smiled as someone else had already been there and trampled all the horsetail fern in front getting the perfect shot....I wasn't the first!!!!!








The road to Alaska against the Kluane park was my perfect highway drive...I felt like I had been there before...I couldn't put my finger on it....was it Hawaii?BC? or the top of Alberta somewhere? but I felt comfortable.....The weather was typical of this summer, started off cloudy and eventually rain for a full day....I at first thought I'm not seeing the peaks but the cloud was so low it was fascinating driving up to and through the cloud banks....visibility sometimes down to about 50'... I loved it....want to do it again.....
There was not a lot of traffic, a real
casual drive....It supposed to be a couple of hours drive....but we stopped in Haines Jct. for lunch and then arrived in Haines about 5:30 pm and of course had halibut fish & chips for supper.....
I stopped at a neat place along the way called Million Dollar Falls.....they had stairs built along the cliff side to get the best advantage point...rock face covered with twin flowers and Dog wood....



I constantly have to take a moment and remember where I am..in the middle of a vast expanse of very limited population. When I do see a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, I have to wonder what brings people to this isolation. They have picked a perfect spot.









Haines appeared to be flooding as are many areas in Canada are this year...The Chilkat River was right up to the road...The residents are gearing up for the salmon/smelts run with fishing camps and very unusual fishing gear tied to the guardrails on the side of the road. We saw eagles but were not as quick as they were and I walked away with no photos...
A few times in my visit to the Yukon I have wished for a motor home. The ideal way to see the country would be to travel with everything you need and stop whenever an opportunity arose. One of those times was Haines. At either end of the Chillkoot trail were my ideal spots to hide for a few days. Tomorrow I will share.