Ok, lots of pictures today. Day 22, Burwash Landing to Haines / Skagway. This destination has been on and off our route several times. A couple weeks back when we divided things up again it was put back in.
From here to Haines Jct. we stay in the lowlands. The weather is cold, cloudy, rainy and windy. And beautiful.
We’ve seen alot of snow on the mountains, but now we’re getting that line where it’s ALL white above and green below.
This fella was in the middle of the road when we came around a corner. I think he startled us as much as we startled him. We’ve seen alot of bears, but not in the middle of the damn road.
We found a flaw in our travel planning. Using computer maps and books is all fine and good, but we never took the 3′rd dimension into consideration much. What we did know were the basics, it was 225 miles to Haines. What we didn’t realize was we had to cross a mountain range to get there. So far we hadn’t really had to climb many mountains, and the ones we did we knew about. How we spaced this one out I don’t know. The next 150 miles are up thru these mountains we’ve been looking at. If you thought they looked cold, you’re right. I was wearing everything I owned and was still freezing my ass off.
The good part is the road was excellent. Perfect pavement and lots of curves. But the wind was so bad you couldn’t really enjoy it. It was a constant struggle to stay on the road. I hate sidewinds.
About halfway across we had to stop. We were above the snowline, the wind was howling, and it had to be in the 30′s. We took refuge behind a 2 story maintenance building to get out of the wind. I can’t remember ever being this cold. I can’t feel my feet. And it’s at least another hour before we get to ANYTHING. It was another one of those moments when you realize how out there you are. People die in places like this. We’ve seen maybe 2 cars since turning off at the junction.
I mean look at this place..
Barren…
Cold…
not a sign of life or civilization.
After we get back on the bikes and head off again, I feel better. I guess I just needed an attitude adjustment. Instead of freaking out on how bad it is, and how unexpected this was, I decided to just laugh. What can you do? Just say to yourself “alright, what else you got? What could make this worse? Rain?” I told Dan to pull over if there was a snow patch close to the road. I wanted a damn snowball.
I think this one is the shot of the day. You have to look at this one full size to see how impressive it is. You can almost reach out and touch the mountain.
Finally, back into the lowlands and relative warmth. This is the Chilkat River I believe.
This is bald eagle alley. We’re here on a bad day, visibility is crap and it’s raining. I think Dan saw one but I couldn’t find it in the sky.
We get to Haines and head for the ferry terminal. It’s an hour long ride to Skagway, our destination for the day. This is also the reason we vasilated about coming here, being dependant on a ferry ride. But Dan had solid information that there were ferries running all the time. Which is true, but there’s only 1 car ferry a day we find out. And it doesn’t run until 10:00 p.m. Crap!! That’s not the info Dan got on the phone. So now we have about 8 hrs to kill. Since we’ll be getting into Skagway after 11:00, we bag on camping and reserve a hotel room.
Here’s a shot looking back towards the ferry terminal.
BAck up the inlet towards Haines
Dan just HAD to climb down there. I gave him a 50% chance of getting back up..
Looking back across the bay to Haines
We find a restaraunt / bar and set up base camp for the long wait. The waitress was very understanding, I’m sure they run into this all the time. Just outside the windows was this little marina
We eat, play pool, watch tv, just marking time. We go for a walk about town. I’m looking for a place where I can get some WARMER SOCKS!!!! And stickers of course. We’ve become quite the sticker whores. Well, trying anyway. We’re having lousy luck finding any.
We did find our first totem pole !
The sun breaks for a minute, a better shot of the harbor
Finally we head back to the ferry. It’s a big one!
Mind you, this is 10:00 P.M.
Ah, the lights of Skagway.
We haul ass off the ferry into town to try and beat the tour busses to the hotel, which we just manage.
What a day. Just when you think the adventure part is over it bitch slaps you. Never underestimate this place.
Tomorrow morning we get to check out Skagway!
