Haines

OK, so for some reason I thought that the roads were going to get better once we got into Canada. Not so much. The first section after entering the Yukon was worse than any in Alaska, with even more “diver-down” flags. However, I have yet to figure out exactly what criteria is used to determine the placement of those flags. I think they just load them up in a pick-up bed and then drive the road at 55 MPH, excuse me, at 90 KPH, and where they bounce out as the truck goes airborne, they come back and put them up. Trouble is, there are just as many frost-heaves that aren’t flagged, so they have limited value. I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad in a car, but in the Gray Whale it feels like we’re headed out of Resurrection Bay for halibut on 8 foot swells, or as the NOAA weather station puts it, “seas 8 feet.” Other than the need for Dramamine, we made it into Canada on September 9th without any trouble, and went as far as Haines Junction.

After the wonderful driving conditions, we were wondering whether heading down the side highway to Haines was a such a good idea, but now we’re thankful we did. The road condition was great, and the topography was really cool, at least what we could see of it. As we went over the Chilkat pass it was rainy and REALLY windy with the temp at the summit bottoming out at 38 degrees, but still worth it. After the pass, as we started down towards Haines, it was as though someone flipped a switch and the land which had been almost entirely treeless was suddenly thick, temperate rainforest.

We had planned only to spend the night before heading back out, but we’re still enjoying Haines, so we’re gonna stay an extra day. As Laura has mentioned in her blog, I’ve been embracing my German and Irish heritage, and have been enjoying visits to Alaska microbreweries for some quality brews (emphasis on quality as opposed to quantity). I’ve just about made it to all of them up here (OK, so maybe that isn’t quite such an amazing accomplishment, but I'll finish later in Skagway). I’ve taken to collecting growlers (half gallon jugs) from each of them, though I’m not sure where we’re going to store them as the trip continues.

Anyway, we made it to the Haines Brewing Company, which is in a little store front on the set that the movie White Fang was filmed. Good beer, especially their Spruce Tip Ale, which, as the name suggests, has spruce tips added during the brewing process. That flavor is actually much more subtle than I would have expected, given my previous experience with Alaskan Brewing Company’s Winter Ale, where you can clearly taste and smell the spruce. Laura’s been very patient with my little hobby, though I expect I’ll have to return the favor once we get to wine country. As we travel the country, if you have suggestions for good microbreweries, brew pubs, or wineries, please let us know, so we can visit them as well. At some point, I’ll probably talk a bit about Alaska’s microbreweries, as what we give up in sheer numbers we make up for in their quality, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Oh, yeah- the other cool thing about Haines is the bears: they are fattening up on the salmon in the waters between the bay and Chilkoot Lake, and the weir is pretty much an all you can eat buffet for them. Mom was trying to teach her cubs to fish, but they seemed more interested in watching her do all the work.

The light was pretty bad as I was taking these shots so hopefully I’ll be able to get some better ones today… With that said, we better go chase the bears, so I’ll write more later...