Day 19 – Haines, Alaska to Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada

Another glorious day, eventually, and a magnificent drive among the glaciers and awesome scenery into the Yukon.

Bear country but no bears last night

Best I could do was a squirrel and a flower

We started the day today in a hot tub with a magnificent view. It was 10C outside but lovely and warm in the tub. A perfect way to start the day specially with that view.

We had a look at Fort Seyward, an army base until the 1950’s, in Haines before we left. Not a lot to see but their housing was very classy.

Then we headed off towards Haines Junction. For most of the road we travel along the edge of the Kluane National Park, one of many national parks that really deserve several weeks to explore. Kluane is famous for its glaciers.

This was every bit as spectacular as the boat trip yesterday. Again so many photos but I will try to convey the majesty of the vistas that kept opening up before us.

We started by following the Chilkat river, mostly glacier water, full of salmon and a home to the bald eagle, neither of which we saw but what’s new.

This last image had the quilters in awe.

We stopped at a cultural centre and the girls found a crafty person to talk to.

Carving tools of the original people. This type of carving work was only started when metals were introduced by the Russians in the late 1700’s.

Some beautiful beautiful bead work done on moose hide.

Easiest bear yet found

The road wound along an old glacier path with mountains rising both sides.

Note the snow markers, about 2m high

From Alaska we entered Canada again into British Columbia. 90km down the track we entered Yukon and the landscape changed. We climbed quite high and the mountains lost their heavily wooded cover and became studded grasslands.

A serious warning but not this time of year thankfully

We stopped for a late lunch at Million Dollar Falls. It was a bit of a drive off the highway and then a boardwalk but worth the effort. Not surprisingly the only people we met on the boardwalk were a couple of Aussies from Brisbane.

The volume of water over the falls was deafening

Lunch. Note the fireplace kindly provided for both heating and cooking. Fortunately not required today although it was only 8C.

Just outside Haines Junction Collette spotted a black bear so we did a quick U turn and stopped to take some photos. Within 60 seconds, from a previously deserted road, we had two cars stopped and pushing in on our viewpoint.

A bear arse

Haines Junction is a small town of 800 people. It was built in 1942 during the construction of the Alaska Highway. It does have an amazingly comprehensive and helpful visitors centre and a few good places to eat.

The most interesting building is the Catholic Church, built in 1954 from a disused Quonset hut. It is quite beautiful and very unique.

Our lodgings for the night are 10km outside town so we checked in and dragged our bags upstairs. It is 2 bedroom loft with full kitchen and lounge downstairs. Run by a French woman who knows how to cook, we look forward to breakfast tomorrow. The lodge comes complete with dogs, very friendly cat, and 2 goats.