It was July 29th when we got off the Malaspina ferry in Haines, Alaska, headed back towards Canada.
Right along the road there was a fish trap operating. likely for research purposes?
It had that 'official' look about it! It is powered by the water current flowing past it.And, a short video of it in operation.


This area is also seasonally home to a large concentration of bald eagles, though there were few in evidence during our visit.
Once again, we approached the US/Canada border.
And came to the Canada customs station where the customs officer was standing out on the pavement - with just a small table. Once again, we entered the province of British Columbia.
And headed up in to some scenic tundra areas.I was glad we had filled up the fuel tank in Haines!
Eventually, we climbed from sea level, to the Haines Highway Summit at over 3000'.
The beautiful scenery continued on all sides.
Then once again, we crossed back into the Yukon from B.C.
In lower elevation areas, the trees showed up again as we approached Dezadeah, and the lake of the same name.
Of course there was road construction ...
And pilot cars ...
Before long, we reached the southern parts of Kluane National Park.

We boarded the Malaspina ferry at 0600 on our way to Haines, Alaska from Skagway.
Nearby cruise ship from the window of the Malaspina.


Leaving Skagway in our wake.

Perhaps that is Haines, coming in to view in the distance.


Pulling up alongside the dock in Haines.
Crew using big winches to snug us up to the dock for unloading.
Very short video of docking.



On solid ground again, and a waterfront break for a late breakfast and to let the cat out for a stroll.
Rolling into Haines, where the fuel tanks were topped off again as a precaution - not knowing exactly where the next opportunity to get fuel would be ...

Eight miles after crossing the US border into Alaska, and down a long hill towards the coast, we finally came across the US customs station. There is only another very few miles till you run out of road at the port city of Skagway, Alaska.Across the valley, we could see the White Pass & Yukon railroad train also headed for Skagway.

Downtown Skagway, the streets were bustling with cruise ship visitors, all wearing name tags! The cruise ship appears to be parked right on the street!
Downtown buildings are mostly original maintained and restored from the gold rush era at the turn of the last century. Sometimes, you are not sure if the signs are real or historic.
We walked down to the ferry terminal to book passage to Haines, Alaska for the next day.
There were five or six cruise ships all in port at one time.
I suspect each ship may have had a passenger count higher than the population of Skagway?
Towards evening, all the cruise shippers headed back to their boats, and all of them left port later on in the evening.
We decided to eat at the Red Onion Saloon, which served as a bordello during the gold rush. The building has quite a history, and was even moved across town at one time. It has been restored, and there are tours available.
We were not sure if camping would be permitted at the ferry terminal parking lot, and at any rate it would have been somewhat noisy, so we found a gravel road over to Dyea, which was also an important landing area for the gold rush miners. Unlike Skagway however, it is almost totally gone and you have to look fairly hard to find the few remaining traces of what was once a bustling community a hundred years ago.

A view of Skagway from the road towards Dyea.
Dyea is also the start of the world famous Chilkoot Trail, over the pass of that name. It was one of the main gold rush routes over the mountains leading to the Klondike.
We found a quiet roadside spot to camp with an ocean view near Dyea. In the morning we had to be at the ferry terminal by 0530, and now the streets were really deserted.
But overnight, a new fleet of cruise ships had arrived, or were just pulling in to port.
We were among the first to board the ferry to Haines.
Two more cruise ships pulling in to port as we prepared to depart.
Check out this link for a quick video on the history and scenery of the Skagway area.
We finally pushed back - and were on the short leg to Haines, Alaska!

Disclaimer: This expedition ran from July 24th till August 17th, 2009, but is being blogged somewhat after the fact!
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South of Bennett Lake, on the road from Carcross, Yukon to Skagway, Alaska, the scenery takes on a whole new look. This far north, the 'tundra' look is not totally unexpected, but here it is almost reversed!Normally, treeline is somewhat elevation based - the higher you go, the less trees. But in this particular valley, there are almost no trees in the valley bottom, but there are trees on the slopes above.
In the bottom of this photo you can see tracks of the White Pass & Yukon railroad.

Fraser is the 'town' at the border crossing. Well, actually it is not at the border, but it is where the Canadian Customs offices are located. I am used to seeing customs stations of respective countries within a stone's throw of each other. Well, not here! Canadian customs are several kilometers on the Canadian side of the border, and the US customs are 8 miles on the US side!
We had several views of the WP&Y trains parallel to the highway.

At the summit of the pass, we entered Alaska! The first time for me!
But this was all there was at the border. Just a sign and a request to check in 8 miles ahead!

Of course, there was a video camera watching - just in case we tried to smuggle the wrong brand of apples into the Skagway orchards!
At the border, looking down into Alaska.

There was more than one back seat driver; er navigator.
A pretty neat, one sided suspension bridge, apparently constructed almost entirely from one side of the canyon it crosses.
Ok, next post we really will reach Skagway!