Haines, Alaska

Saturday, July 19th - OH OH Flat Tire, drive, drive and Haines

We woke up to the sad news of a flat rear passenger tire.  Thank the Lord above that we were in destruction bay and Chuck the tire guy and welder was two driveways down.  The tires are supposed to have 80 psi and it was at 27psi.  Mike filled her up and drove to Chuck.  The man at the gas station said “oh he gets going around 9:00”.  Well us good midwestern folks got there at 8:45.  At 9:15 we called Chuck and asked if he was opening – the Mrs. Said he was just sitting down to breakfast.  Chuck appeared at about 9:40 and what a gem.  He is 85 years old and the only reason he is still working is because he can’t get anyone else to do it.  He is half Kluane and half Norwegian.  His Mom cam over from Norway in 1910.  His Dad was a Kluane 1st Nation.  What an amazing man.  Of course Mike got right in there and helped him out and the tire was changed and we were on the road buy 10:30.  We headed into Haines Junction then off to Haines. His shop totally reminded me of Grandpa Jones’ Union 76 Station.

As we left Destruction Bay we stopped to make sure the tire was holding and we were graced by a walk through of our first Coastal Brown Bear :). There are no grizzlies here, but big Brown Bears and there are several diffierent species depending on the local. We continued on to Haines Junction and then turned south to Haines. With that brought some of the most beautiful scenery yet.  We stopped at Million Dollar Falls in the Yukon and then went over a pass that the Tlinglet people guarded and drove off the Europeans during the gold rush.  But, to no avail, they still came.  We crossed back into Alaska with a question of what did you buy?  I said 3 earrings.  Value – 85 bucks – OK bye. 

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We came into Haines and it was even more magical than Valdez.  There were eagles all over and our campsite was right on the Chilkoot Bay.  Oceanside RV was the best camping spot ever. We enjoyed meeting our neighbors and met a fellow Northern Lite couple (Cliff and Michelle). We hadn’t showered since Wednesday so did laundry and cleaned up and called it a day!

Sunday – July 20 – Bike Riding – Chilkat Fishing – Fog Cutter Saloon and more Halibut

We started our day by riding up to the Marine Ferry (about a 8 mile round trip) and got squared away with the ferry people for our trip to Juneau.  After lunch Mike headed back up the road to the Chilkat State Rec area in search of the illusive salmon.  The sky was bluebird clear and hot.  The weir only had 5 fish go through and there were fisher people everywhere – no bites for Mike.  I went on a historical walking tour of Haines and met the founder of the golf course.  A wonderful man who took me into the Prespeteryan church and showed me the history of Haines.  In a nut shell – Haines is on a peninsula between the Chilkat and Chilkoot rivers – each had there own tribe and the tribes deemed this area to be a Presbyterian mission in the 1870’s.  The church stands on the old mission site.  Haines got its name for a very well known Prespeterian lady – Mrs. Haines.  The land around Haines was all owned by the mission because one of the ministers loaned Shady Joe (I am not kidding) 100 bucks to start a donut business in Juneau.  Shady Joe never came back and the minister went to Haines to get his appendix out.  Shady Joe visited him and told him he gambled the money back, but would he take the 80 acres surrounding the mission in exchange for the debt.  The minster said sure and there you have it – that is how Haines came to be.  Once Mike got back we took a bike ride up to Fort Seward in Haines.  The fort was built on land purchased from the church and was the first fort in Alaska.  It was used to monitor the gold rush as well as keep the peace with the natives.  Really cool history. 

Fort Seward was the first military outpost in the Alaskan Territory

We ended the day by stopping at the Fog Cutter bar and meeting some local people and had a nice chat. We then came back to the campground and hung out with Cliff and Michelle - they both were officers with NOAA - very interesting people.

It was an amazing day.

Monday, July 21st - Chilkat State Park, Hammer Museum, Haines Brewery & 50 Fathoms Distillery

We began the day by going back up to the Chilkoot river in search of Salmon. There were only 8 salmon that went through the weir yesterday. Mike tried again and a local said to go to the Chilkat State Park as it is nearer the ocean. So off we went - but to no avail. He really tried. the Chilkat State Park is gorgeous. We saw a glacier that had slid and produced two waterfalls. The vistas were grand and beautiful and there were tons of wildflowers. It was a great morning.

In the afternoon we mounted the trusted bikes and headed on a bike about town. We began our journey at the Hammer Museum. This little Museum houses over 10,000 hammers and has thousands more in the back. Each hammer is identified and has a brief description about them and when they were patented. It was a funky museum but so well done.

The first multi-tool is over 100 years old :)

After that we headed to the Haines Brewery and had a Spruce Tip Beer - this by far was the best beer I have ever had and I don’t even like beer. Of course we can only get it here so we enjoyed it and moved on. We biked around and found were we were to grab the ferry tomorrow and ended at hte 50 Fathoms Distillery. They make a wicked Spruce Tip Gin and we enjoyed a cocktail and headed back to the camper to pack up. Cliff showed us his custom Northern Lite - it is fully equipped for anything. They are going to the Northwest Territories and comping on the Arctic Ocean.

Haines - you are the best :)