Ferry Ride Skagway to Haines

 Cloudy, rainy, windy ferry ride from Skagway to Haines.  The ride was short and saved us many hours on the road.  I had hoped we would be able to spend some time in Haines, but the weather was miserable, so we headed up the road to Haines Junction.

Monday Mail Art - October 12

"The excursion is the same when you go 

looking for your sorrow as when you go

looking for your joy."      - Eudora Welty-

Cruise Ships at Skagway

 There were multiple enormous cruise ships docked at Skagway.  We were there for about 24 hours and saw several of them come and go.  They pulled in, tied up and people poured off the ships and out into the small historic town of Skagway.  The town is all set up for tourists with multiple train tours, bike rentals, and endless souvenir shopping, many restaurants....the atmosphere around town was very carnival-like for a while - then - suddenly - everyone would be heading back to the ships and the town would quiet down.

Driving to Skagway, AK

 Other than our time in Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada, this was one of our most spectacular drives on the trip.  The sky was somewhat clear so we could see the mountains.  The drop down into the gorge where Skagway is located is most dramatic and really takes the breath away.  Pictures cannot do it justice.  Scenic train tours are very popular in this area and now I understand why.

Carcross, BC

 Carcross, BC was to be our last stop in Canada for a while, and we enjoyed the gift shops here.  Loved their exterior paint jobs and much of the merchandise was along the same lines!

Jade City

 There are a number of jade mines in the Cassiar Mountains and various locations along the Cassiar Highway - in fact, this area reportedly produces about 1 million pounds of jade annually.  We had to stop to look over the shops along the roadside at what is called Jade City (not a city at all, just a roadside stop) - and yes, we did pick up some jade.

Boya Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia

We stopped for lunch at Boya Lake Provincial Park along the Cassiar Highway.  This lake is quite shallow and the water is very clear.  It appears blue because the bottom of the lake is lined with calcium carbonate - ancient seashells - giving it a white bottom so the water appears deep blue. 

Wolf Sighting on the Cassiar Highway

This picture is not very clear, but it is the best one I have showing we really did see a wolf on the road!  We'd just left the Meziadin Lake Provincial Park campground - it was probably 6 AM or maybe earlier.  I was so shocked.  I did not have my camera ready and it was gone so quickly.  It just happened to cross the road in front of our vehicle.  Such a large (but very thin) creature.

Monday Mail Art - October 5

"The word 'happiness' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness."

  - Carl Jung-

Meziadin Lake Campground, British Columbia

We had a really beautiful campsite for our third night of the road trip.  We stayed at Meziadin Lake near the Junction on the Cassiar Highway.  This photo was taken early in the morning before we hit the road.  We removed the seats in the Suburban and slept in a mattress in the back end of the car.  This was very comfortable and allowed us a lot of flexibility.  We would often roll out of bed very early and hit the road, stopping later to make breakfast on our camp stove.  This allowed us to see a lot of wildlife during those early morning hours. 

Our first Canadian Black Bear

 This bear was very near the road at the junction with the Cassiar Highway. 

Salmon Glacier

 We waited above the glacier for close to an hour, but the clouds never cleared.  Finally, we gave up and went down the road.  We did not even get 1 mile from the observation point when we saw that the clouds had briefly moved away from the head of the glacier.  We quickly turned around and drove back.  These are the pictures we got when we returned to the observation point!

Salmon Glacier, Alaska

 Driving up to the Salmon Glacier was not really in our plans, but the ranger at the Fish Creek Salmon viewing platform encouraged us to make the drive.  It was 21 miles up a gravel mining road that took us 3500 feet up the mountainside.  The road passed alongside the glacier, and if it had been clear - we could have seen the glacier off over the side of the road.  We did catch a few glimpses of it, along the way - and when we got to the top - the clouds were hanging low over the valley obscuring our view of the glacier.   We decided to eat dinner there in hopes the clouds would clear.

Hyder, Alaska

We did see a few other people (cars) in Hyder.  Nobody checked our passports when we crossed over into AK, but we were checked on the way back into Canada a few hours later.

Hyder Harbor, Alaska

Hyder, AK is just across the border from Stewart, BC.   The two towns are at the end of a long narrow saltwater fjord (called Portland Canal) that is 90 miles long!  It is possible to drive directly out onto the harbor.  There was virtually nobody around when we arrived.  It was gloomy and overcast during our time there, but we did spend some time exploring the area.

Above Hyder, there is a remarkable bear observatory - we followed road signs that led us to a wooden stand built high above the stream (Fish Creek) below.  Observers are safe from the bears who are feeding on the spawning salmon, and there is a ranger on duty there every day.  This particular southerly location has a late salmon spawn and we were told the viewing would be better in September or even October (than late June, when we were there).  I think this would be a worthwhile trip to make in September.  By then, the fall foliage would be colorful - and there are hundreds of miles of driving through deciduous forest with a lot of deciduous undergrowth.  This might be something we will do another time.

Monday Mail Art, September 28

 I've been making and mailing these mixed media postcards for the past two years, but have not been posting them to my blog consistently, so am now reviving the weekly postcard post.  Every Monday, I mail postcards to selected friends and family.  Currently, there are six people on my mailing list.

      

 Today's quote (these are added to the back of the postcard)

 "Every life has a measure of sorrow, and sometimes this is what awakens us." - Steven Tyler-

                                               

Bear Glacier, BC, Canada

Bear Glacier was our first glacier of our roadtrip through Canada and Alaska.  This was a short detour off the Cassier Highway.  We thought since we were so close, we would go to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK - neighboring (almost ghost towns) on the Alaska - Canada border. 

Old Totems at Gitwangak

Junction at Gitwangak

This sign is one of the few sights at Gitwangak - where the Yellowhead Highway junctions with the Cassiar Highway.  At this point, our westward travel shifted to northward travel. 

 

Farewell to Mount Robson

A last look at the mountain in the rearview mirror.  Our goal this day was to get as far down the road as possible.  The nice weather through Banff and Jasper National Parks slowed our progress significantly, but well worth it!