Back in the Yukon

July10, 2007

We got a late start today as usual. I feel we are leaving a good firend!!! I have really enjoyed Alaska and though we will be back in Alaska when we get to Haines, it is very different from the central part of the state.

I remember coming up and not liking the part through CA. I am afraid it has not changed!!! The one thing I have to admit is the scenery is much better. When we came through in May it was raining and snowing, today the sun is out and it is lovely. However, the Canadian part of the road is terrible. I guess what bothers me so much is this road is maintained by the US and Canada, we contribute to it’s maintainaance, but we see very little of it.

We stopped at a National Wildlife Preserve information center and when I walked in there was a sign on the door ‘Watch out for bear”. I thought they meant the large bear hide they had hanging on the wall and laughed. The range informed me that they had a bear that liked to walk right up the stairs and onto the observation deck. They kept the door to the cen ter closed because they were afraid it would walk in!!! If it had been up to me I would have spent the day and night there waiting for it!!!!

We also are finding that the parks are still closed. We thought it was because we were so early, but we are having to travel many miles to find some thing open.

The highlight of the day was we did get to see a bear!! It crossed the road just before we got there and was eating along side of the road. A car coming from the other direction stopped and got out of his car and scared it away. I don’t know why people do that! Fortunately I got a good picture of it before it ran off.

I don’t know what time we will stop tonight, we have passed two parks we had thought about staying in and they were both closed.

We stopped about 8pm at a very nice Provicial park, Cogdon Cr, We are right on the Kluane Lake. What a beautiful lake, but VERY windy. The waves are larger than some I have seen on the Gulf of Mexico!!! However, it sure is pretty right outside the RV windows.



July 11, 2007

Left the campground around 9am. I remember this part of the trip up, the road was so bad. The first part of it is better, but we are running into some serious construction. The scenery sure is better than it was on the way up. Hope to get close to Haines tonight. The weather is really nice cool and sunny.
Going through all the construction poor TT got so dirty Doug couldn’t stand it so we stopped along a stream so he could wash him.

Well, the highlight so far today – we saw a beautiful black wolf!! All that time in Alaska and we had to come back to the Yukon to see wildlife!!

What a great drive!!! The scenery was absolutely magnificent, and to top it all off, we saw a grizzly with her cub along side the road. She could not have been more than 30 feet from us. We sat for about 20 min. taking pictures and watching them eat. The baby just rolled around and played with it’s mother. It was so cute.

Then we stopped at Million Dollar falls campground and saw salmon swimming up stream. The water is falling with such force I can’t believe they are able to get over the falls. We are planning on stopping there again when we go back that way and maybe spending the night at the campground so we can watch the falls more.

The weather started off just great and was nice until we got into Haines. It is rainy and foggy. We stopped at the visitors center and the girl there told us that is is pretty much what we can expect for the next week.

We asked about getting to Glacier Nat. Park and she said the best way to get there is from Juneau!!!! We have this wonderful national park and no way to get there without spending days and MANY dollars to get there!!! We are so disappointed.. There really is not much to see here in Haines. However, if we had not taken the ride down we would not have seen the grizzly and her baby and would not know about the wonderful waterfalls and the scenery.

Tomorrow we plan on seeing the old cannery and the Bald Eagle Foundation and then start heading back north. We had really thought we would spend a few days here.

July 12, 2007

It rained all night and is still raining. We will do a few things here and then leave and go to the campground that had the beautiful waterfall.

Went to the cannery, very interesting and also to the Bald Eagle Federation and the Sheldon museum. A little more Alaska trivia: there are no snakes, no turtles and no poison ivy in Alaska!!!!

Headed back toward Haines Junction, and as soon as we got over the summit we were out of the rain!!

A couple of miles before we got to the campground we saw another grizzly bear. It was sleeping on a hill in the sun. Every once in a while it would raise its head and then go back to sleep!! We decided after a few minutes to go and set-up camp and then return to see if the bear was still there.

Believe it or not, about an hour later the bear was still along the road, but now walking and eating. We followed it for quite a while until it crossed the road right in front of our campground!! There was another couple that had been watching for a long time, they are camping here also. We had a good time talking with them.

We plan to stay here until Sunday and then go on to Whitehorse. We want to view the falls more, Doug wants to see if there are any more fish jumping. We also want to do a lot more bear watching!!

July 13, 2007

It is not a really nice day today, but I don’t think it will stop the bears!! We only saw a few more fish at the falls. Evidently these are just a few confused strays!!!

We drove the Haines Hwy. and we got to see two different black bear today. They are not as large or as cute as the grizzly!! They don’t seem to have the personality that the grizzly does. It is almost like the grizzly enjoys being looked at and puts on a show!!!

It was so cold and rainy we came back and both took a nap!! The other bear watcher, Gary and Linda, came over and we visited in the evening. Had a nice visit. They live in WA and we will try and see them when we get to that area.

July 14, 2007

Today looks like it will be a great day. The sun is shinning and we are going to look for bear!! Doug started a fire this morning and we cooked bacon and eggs outside.

We left the campsite and headed toward Haines, we didn’t get 7 miles down the road and there was a grizzly with her cub. We watched for more that an hour. A time she was not more that 10 feet from the car!! When she got that close we just rolled a little further down the road. She went back and forth across the road several times. Once the cub got too far away from her and she started calling it. When it ran back to her she sniffed it and then swatted it to let it know it had gotten too far away!!!! We watched for a bit longer and then she reared up, sniffed the air and ran off into the woods with the baby right behind. We have seen ads all over Alaska for bear viewing flight excursions for hundreds of dollars – you couldn’t get any better than this!!!

If you plan on a trip to Alaska, don’t miss Haines Hwy. through the YT. It has got to be the best bear viewing around.

Have been out of touch for several days now. Hope to be able to get on line soon. Have my cell phone turned off through Canada.