Where do you go to get local info not just tourist info?  I went to the local gas station I left with a hand drawn map.  Small town friendly America is out here in Haines AK.  It started by me asking if he was a local and ended with me getting the directions to some of the mines featured on Gold Rush.  It turned out to be an awesome day of shopping and visiting museums in downtown Haines.  Check out the details of my visit to the hammer museum.  

We are planning the Gold Rush journey for tomorrow, and the next day I am taking a raft journey down the river through the Bald Eagle Preserve.  Today is the 4th of July and it’s small town parades, burgers, brats, dunk tanks, and rain.

Quick update from the 2nd, Roy and I ate lunch at a garden and tea room  interesting concept.   He humored me because it was also a glass blowing place. We then headed to the ferry dock to wait for our coach to arrive.  It did a little late but at least we wouldn’t be setting up in the dark because it doesn’t get dark until about 11pm.  The crossing itself was fairly quick under 45 minutes, now loading that took some doing.  If you were pulling a trailer you had to back onto the ramp and into your space just listening to the direction of the crew. For most not that easy the guy in front of us took 10 minutes and at least 3 tries.  I was impressed Roy did it in one shot, he is so AMAZING!

Once we checked in and got setup headed into town to grab grub.  I had my not cooked to death buffalo burger (in Canada they have to kill the meat when cooking), Roy had more seafood he is happy.

We then decided to go bear viewing and exploring drove up to Chilkoot Recreation Area saw some scat and other signs but no bears. Then as we are getting ready to head home we saw 3 camera shy cubs across the river.  The locals say there are three sows with a one cub, two cub, or 3 cub tail.  We never did see momma. Heading back to town coming round a curve we see a bear jump out in front of us he saw us at the same time so we avoided each other.  He by jumping back and us by slowing down.  The look on his face was ‘OMG HOOMANZ OH SH*T’ the look on our face was ‘OMG BEAR SH*T’.  We stopped and swung a uturn and waited for him to cross he did but was to quick for my camera.  Today we are going exploring the other side of town.  Gold Rush fever.

Open field running.  There is always a reason to put fcfs (first come first serve) nights in the trip plan.  We weren’t going to spend the night in Skagway because of all the cruise ships.  Changed our mind and we will be spending the night it’s only a three hour drive and we were able to get reservations.

Tonite we are in Teslin  Yukon, we have power so I can use the keurig.😆.  The propane coffee pot is a pain in the butt. I have to get it set just right so it drains had a mishap this morning so electric is good. In the morning before we take off we are having a geocaching meet and greet for Canada Day.  We have one other person attending. So it should be fun.

Animal count today was zero, unless you count the ravens.  I am surprised I haven’t seen any bald eagles yet.  SOON when we get to Haines. 

30 days down only 60 left going by way to quickly.

with no internet, or electricity, or our keurig. (True boondocking.)  We were suppose to camp outside of Watson Lake in the Provincial Park, with cottonwood trees and my breathing add mosquitos then a gravel road and soft mud we passed.  Drove up to the continental divide, I took another picture of the sign.

We had an abundance of wild life on the way up today.  Five bear, all black bears even though one was brown, the wood bison herd kinda small  there were two babies just starting to get horns.  Around Muncho Lake I saw 5 caribou swimming in the water must of missed them crossing the road by 5 minutes.  Right before we ran into construction we came round a corner and saw a porcupine scurry across the road scraggly little ‘prick’.  There were also a few bison here and there on the side of the road,

Amazing day of travel, soon we will be hitting Alaska

The morning of the 25th we had a send off from the local herd of elk.  They walked into the field by our campground in a herd then went to seperate corners to feed.  I of course missed the enterance but was able to get good shots.  In fact one of the cow elk was very prego I felt sorry for her.  She hung out behind our trailer for awhile then moved on, we saw the same herd on the side of the road on the way out of town to Prince George.  This journey we saw no animals except for a dead moose which was sad because it happened recently.

It was time for a Walmart run and Roy needed an oil change.  We decided to boondock in a parking lot just kinda a down night.  Got up early on the 26th to head to Moberly Lake Provincial Park.  We didn’t stay because there was so much cottonwood blowing around that I could not breathe even with a mask.  So it was a nice day and we just decided to drive until we got tired.  Things happen for a reason, because if we stayed it would of turned into a muddy mess.

We ended up a little north of Pink Mountain BC after driving through slush and rain, UGH. So two nights of real boondocking. On the way to Pink Mountain we saw two beavers. Got up and headed up to Fort Nelson unplanned stop but we are staying at the same place we did last year.  Through the rain we were lucky to see 2 camera shy black bears.  Tonight we are sitting here at Triple Gs and the rain has stopped so we are drying out.

Tomorrow we will be in Toad River Lodge and I will post pictures of the hat collection.

 

Anyone who knows me knows I am afraid of heights, sometimes I amaze myself.  I will say more about that later.  I was exhausted from a full day so I did not post on Friday.  The day started with a drive out to Patricia Lake which was so glassy smooth I practiced my reflection pictures and I do need practice.  We then went to Pyramid Lake which is just a swimming lake. We saw a few more lakes in the area and headed down to the Athabasca Glacier on the Columbia Icefields. This is the view from the visitors center and that is where we would be in a little while. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_Glacier

 Our journey begins. It is amazing how far the glacier has recede it but the cool thing is being able to step on it. Both of us did amazing.
I wonder if you can find me on the ice?

 I also drank from the glacier and was amazed at how much mineral taste it has and how good it tasted.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Icefield

For the grand finale I walked out and stood 918 feet above the earth with just a sheet of glass between me.  I had an awesome employee from the exhibit coax me out onto the bridge.  The thing that helped me was she said there was a mountain goat on the cliff.  I am glad she wasn’t fibbing.

 This was my reward, it was also how I felt clinging to the side. 

https://www.brewster.ca/attractions-sightseeing/glacier-skywalk/experience/

We headed home stopped at a restaurant with real  home cooking.  Almost a perfect end to a perfect day. On the way home from dinner we saw two bears and a deer now that was the PERFECT ending.