Haines and Juneau, Alaska May 30-31

We left Whitehorse this morning with the plan to drive to Dawson City, 200+ miles northeast. Instead we decided to drive south to Haines, AK. How great to be able to change our mind on a whim! The drive to Haines was, again, awesome. Beautiful snow covered mountains were everywhere you looked. There was still snow on the ground at the higher altitudes.

Haines, AK is about 150 miles from Haines Junction in the Yukon at the end of the Haines Highway. It is a very picturesque little harbor town, surrounded by snow capped mountains.

We were fortunate to find a campsite on the Lynn Canal which goes from Juneau to Haines, then 15 miles further to Skagway. (Skagway is on the southern of the Klondike Highway, also a dead end.)

On Tuesday, May 31 we took the "fast ferry" Fjordland to Juneau, 90 miles west of Haines. Along the way we say sea lions, whales, harbor seals and lots of eagles. Haines is noted for its high concentration of eagles.

After our bus tour of Juneau, we grabbed a sandwich and ate on the dock in downtown Juneau. Juneau has 3 areas: downtown (self explanatory) the valley (airport and residential area) and "out the road". There are four roads going out of town and all are dead ends. If you aren't downtown or in the valley you are on one of these roads. There are only about 40 miles of roads in Juneau.

After lunch we walked up the hill to the State Capital Building and took a tour. The Alaska capital building does not have a dome as do most.
Our bus driver told us about when the first McDonald's opened in Juneau a few years ago. Traffic backed up for miles and they sold out (17,000 burgers) the first day they were opened! It took a week for more burgers to arrive by boat and they sold out in 2 days that time. After that, they have been able to keep enough food on hand.

We met our bus at the harbor and proceeded to the Mendenhall Glacier, then headed "out the road" to meet our catamaran back to Haines.

We enjoyed a bowl of smoked salmon chowder, roll, and a cookie for supper. Anna, the owners daughter was our hostess. She is in high school in Haines and plays volleyball and basketball. I asked her who they played as they are 150 miles from the nearest town. She said they pack a suitcase and go by ferry, often gone for a week at a time. They do their school work on the boat.

On the trip back (about 2 hours) we saw more whales and these harbor seals catching the last bit of the days sunshine on the rocks.

Awesome trip. I'd highly recommend it to anyone visiting Skagway or Haines.