Haines Junction, YT to Haines, AK (7/12/2017)

Day 29
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
We departed from Haines Junction, YT to head to Haines, AK. In order to get from Tok, AK to Haines, also in Alaska, we would have to drive through the Yukon Territory and British Columbia.
Today we headed west on Haines Highway/YT-3.

Dezadeash Lake, a shallow lake where temperatures can reach 18℃/64 ℉, too warm for the comfort of the lake trout

A short detour to the Native village of Klukshu, YT.

Typical dwelling in Klukshu, YT

A meat cache and fish drying shed in Klukshu

It was not fishing season, so thing were very quiet in Klukshu.

View of the Kluane Range of mountains

Another detour, this time to Takhanne Falls at Million Dollar Falls Campground.

The Takhanne River has to squeeze through
a narrow gorge, resulting in powerful falls

View from above the Takhanne Falls

We entered British Columbia, and were on Highway BC-3.

At the Haines Highway Summit (1,070 m/3,510') at Chilkat Pass
there is usually a constant wind, but not today

Spermophilus parryii/Arctic Ground Squirrel

Glaciated mountains, probably of the Kluane Range

We crossed the Canada-USA border.

Dalton Trail Post (1898) of the Northwest Mounted Police (NWMP);
in 1900 the border was redefined and the cabin ended up in the United States

Welcome to Alaska, again

A short detour to the Chilkat Native village of Klukwan.

Jilkaat Kwaan Cultural Heritage and Bald Eagle Preserve
Visitor Center (2016)

For a fee you were allowed to enter the museum, with a personal escort who was really there to safeguard the few treasures that were definitely originals. Our young escort readily answered questions, and we learned quite a bit. Again there was talk of before and after the non-Natives arrived. We knew that the Native society was matrilineal; that a person's identity was through his mother's lineage. When the missionaries arrived, they apparently gave the Natives last names and confused the issue with patrilineal family names. The Natives were identified through their mother's clan, and they still do so today. Tlingits and Haidas are divided into two major groups; the Raven and Eagle/Wolf. Under each group, there are many clans, thus a person might be a Raven/Beaver clan. Under the Raven, there are about 40 known clans, and each takes an animal for its crest. Under the Eagle (sometimes called Wolf) there are about 36 known clans. Often several clans have the same animal symbol. To add to the confusion, extended families within a clan will have an animal crest. The Native people traditionally marry someone from the opposite group, Raven or Eagle/Wolf.

At the eagle viewing window, our escort was able to spot eagles with
her bare eyes, then she aimed the scopes so we could have a look;
there are eagles and eagle nests over there in the trees across the river!

Kent found an eagle a little closer to us (KSS)

We continued on Haines Highway/AK-7.

A fishwheel on the Chilkat River

A pair of welcome totems (1967) in Haines, AK; on the left is the
Raven pole (designed by Edwin Kasko, an Eagle) and on the right
is the Eagle pole (designed by Leo Jacobs, a Raven)

We had lunch at the Lighthouse Restaurant, with a view of the harbor. We had arrived earlier in Haines than expected, and we were to meet Jan & Kirby here. We left a text message, but also kept an eye out for the motel where they were staying.

Haines Small Boat Harbor, harbormaster office, and a cruise ship;
the tide difference can be up to 5 m/16'

Tamiko with a sculpture (placed 2016) titled "Marble
Carving by Judd," of two sea lions by Judd Mullady (KSS)

We purchased a combo ticket to see the three museums of Haines. First the Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center (1980).

These are the "Russian trunks" (actually made in China of camphor wood
and filled with tea to send to Russia, then Russia covered the chests with
painted vellum and filled them with items to trade with the Tlingits for furs)
that the Tlingits appreciated for their decoration

Jack Dalton's sawed-off shotgun used to convince travelers to pay his toll

Jack Dalton was an adventurer with negotiating and practical skills that made him a valuable addition to expeditions into Alaska. Eventually he was to start a freighting business, carrying supplies to interior mining operations. Based in Haines, Dalton developed the Dalton Trail (now the Haines Highway) in 1895, which had the first cattle drive in 1896. The trail became busy after gold was discovered in the Klondike and Dalton was given government permission to charge a toll. Dalton also surveyed the route that would be used by the Copper River and Northwestern Railway that ran from McCarthy to Cordova to carry copper ore from Kennecott Mine.

One of a about 10 versions of Native American
Barbie, this one is Northwest Coast (1999) who
is wearing a Chilkat blanket, but in the wrong colors

Chilkat blankets using wool of mountain goat fur dyed dark brown
(hemlock bark), yellow (wolf moss lichen), and blue-green (oxidized copper)

Parts of the first snow machine  (1938. by Felix Hakkinen) in Haines,
and the dog sled used in the 1990 filming of the movie White Fang

Second, the Hammer Museum, the world's first, and perhaps only, hammer museum. The founder, David Pahl, moved to Alaska in 1973 to live a more self-sufficient life. Restoring old tools became something of a hobby and led to collecting hammers, especially during visits to the lower-48 states.

The Hammer Museum (2002)

Over 2,000 hammers are on display, with more
types of hammers than one could imagine

In a 2002 visit to Washington, DC, Pahl was able to view the hammer collection, which was in storage, of the Smithsonian Museum of American History. There were also display mannequins that had been in storage since the 1970s and were no longer needed, which were donated to the Hammer Museum.
Third and last, the American Bald Eagle Foundation Raptor Center and Natural History Museum (1994).

The wildlife gallery

A comfortable grizzly

A noisy juvenile Falco peregrinus/Peregrine Falcon

The Raptor Center takes in injured birds and whenever possible, returns them to the wild.
We drove out to the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds.

One entrance to the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds

The fairgrounds are home to Dalton City,
the movie set for the film White Fang (1991)

Poster for the movie White Fang (KSS)

Also the Haines Community Garden (KSS)

Next, Fort William H Seward (1902-1904, decommissioned in 1947), was built to provide law and order among gold seekers, but was also a presence during the border dispute with Canada.

Former Fort Seward Firehouse

Former Fort Seward Barracks

Ruins of the barracks that burned down in 1981 (KSS)

The barracks ruins is to become an outdoor sculpture garden;
Tide Up (2016, by John Svenson) (KSS)

Former Fort Seward hospital on the right, now home to the Alaska Indian
Arts, dedicated to the preservation and continuation of traditional
native craft and culture of the Northwest Coast Native Tribes

Sort of the spare bedroom of the organization

Officers Row of homes and the parade grounds (KSS)

In 1984, Kent's parents visited Alaska, starting out in Vancouver, BC on Holland America's newest ship, the Noordam. The cruise took them to Ketchikan and Juneau, where they transferred to the land portion of the trip. (They did not go to Haines.)

Here is the Holland America Noordam in Haines, AK;
however, this is actually the fourth Noordam, and was christened in 2006

We took another drive around town, looking for the Captain's Choice Motel, but even better, we found Jan & Kirby walking from Front Street to Main Street! They were headed to their motel (Captain's Choice) and we arranged to meet later.

Our AirBnB accommodation called "The Nest"

Inside "The Nest"

View from "The Nest" of Mud Bay

We drove to pick up Jan & Kirby and went to dinner at the Pilot Light Restaurant. Afterwards we drove to "The Nest" to show Jan & Kirby. Then we headed farther south on Mud Bay Road.

Mud Bay with Haines Cannery on the right side, and Chilkat Range

Once we decided the road would not lead us to the city of Haines (we were in fact on a peninsula), we turned around.

Sun rays through the clouds above Mud Bay

Jan & Kirby had learned there was prime real estate in Mud Bay, and that some lots were accessible by foot at low tide and by boat at high tide.

The view from Captain's Choice Motel, where we saw several bald eagles

Jan & Kirby had arrived in Haines yesterday from Juneau by a fast ferry on Alaska Fjordlines. They are leaving first thing tomorrow to return to Juneau on Alaska Fjordlines.