Day 11, Friday June 3, 2011    Sunset 11: 34PM

            Here I sit in the sunshine, sipping on a glass of pinot gris from Robert Mondavi, beside the rocky shores of Lake Kluane recounting the days events. 

   After a 5 am WAKE-UP CALL we board the Mv Malaspina.   This Alaska Marine HWY vessel loads sideways.   Now, here I need to insert that statement “the ideas and thoughts expressed on this blog are blah, blah blah, only my own “.

Entering from the side

 What idiot builds a ferry that loads SIDEWAYS? 

Manuevering to get out.

These people need to take a BC ferry to learn a thing or two.  Don’t get me wrong, they are very helpful and do a great job, given the vessel they have to work with.   Our trailer and truck are 55 feet LONG; IT cost us $267.00 US to cross from Skagway to Haines.
   

Driving out of side door

They need to load us early due to our size, so they get Henry to back out of the line up and on to the ramp.   Skilfully the 10 workers standing at different points guide us on.  Once through the ferry doors, Henry needs to make a sharp left turn to drive over all three still vacant lines, drive to the end of the ferry then make a sharp right turn to drive around on to the otherside of the ferry, then again using the three empty lanes, drive to the front of the ferry, where we finally stop.  They did an excellent job quiding us, but what a time consuming manuever,   every spot is thought out who parks where, so they can again unload.  We had two short motorhomes in front of us. Had they parked Henry there, there would not have been enough room for him to swing wide to make the turn to exit on the side.  Okay, enough of that. 

Leaving Skagway

Approaching Haines

            The ferry takes 60 minutes to arrive in Haines, Alaska.  Along the way we see whales in Lynn Canal and enjoy THE BEAUTIFUL scenery of the Lyn canal.  

We part ways with our friends Eric and Lynne as we embark and head to Haines Junction.  We are immediately impressed with how different the scenery is on this side of the lyn canal.  It is much flatter.  The ChillKoot River is wide and runoff strong.  Soon we come to the Alaska ChilkaBald Eagle  Preserve, which is the annual gathering site of 3,500 bald eagles eery October through December.  Unfortunately we do not see any bald eagles but we do see some of the huge nests that they build and return to each year.  The eagles are drawn here by the late run of the chum salmon.

As we enter BACK INTO British Columbia the elevation climbs steadily and the vegetation quickly changes to sub-artic tundra.  It IS LESS rock then the White Pass with more schrubs that still show no sign ofspring.  The platueau is relatively flat and barren with several feet of snow in spots. As we start our decent we enter back to the Yukon and arrive at haines Junction.  

            We are now backing on the Alaska hwy travelling adjacent to the Kluane National Park Reserve.  These snow peak mountains leave me lacking for words to describe.  The range parallels the highway. The peaks average $2440 metres, with Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain at 5959 metres is unfortunately not visible to us from the highway.  Kluane National Park Reserve in Yukon together with Tatshenshini-Alsek Park in BC and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska form a UNESCO  site. 

Most of these park lands are covered in Glaciers, best viewing is by plan but our budget does not allow for this.      The highway soon brings us to the shores of Kluane Lake, Yukon’s biggest lake.  The emerald water is our rest spot for the night. 

 

 

We ate meat for supper, no bite

While I write, Henry tries his luck at some fishing.  The lake still has ice on it and the breeze brings the ice to shore, the sound of the ice crashing to shoreline is laying a concert of bells.    

            As we eat our campfire cooked dinner and enjoy another glass of wine the sun is still shining brightly. 

I ponder the toil that the men and women who followed the gold rush trail encountered.  Theirs was not an easy life in search for wealth, many paying with their lives.  I draw comparisons on how we all still fall victim to gold fever but now we no longer labour form the dream of fortune, all we do is purchase a lottery ticket. ( I think I have had too much wine)