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COMMENTS: Larry was up at 5:30 AM and headed down the dock with Ziggy. It’s lightly raining and kind of gloomy out. I hear Bill up now. I better get up too and put some coffee on and get some breakfast cereals out as we’ve got a big day today. Soon, Larry and Zig are back and without delay, the engines are started and we are off, heading north to Haines. It’s about 80-85 miles from here, at the top of Lynn Canal but just south of Skagway. This will be the farthest point north that we will go this summer in Alaska. It’s kind of exciting to think about that and how far north we are. Imagine, almost to Skagway where the Klondikers departed to venture inland across the treacherous mountains looking for a quick fortune.
LYNN CANAL Bill and Larry trade shifts at the wheel. Of course, again, I’ve read too much about the Canal and our journey today, you know, the usual stuff about ship wrecks and treacherous seas. It’s a long channel or canal, with steep mountainous sides that funnel the wind frequently creating hazardous conditions. In the old days before weather reports, the mariners would row out to Point Lena from Auke Bay, near Juneau (and where we left from today) to see if the conditions were safe before they left heading north to Skagway. Sounds somewhat like risky business to me. Today it almost too simple as we have push button weather recordings at the dock office. What an easy life we have.
That grand old steamer, Princess Sophia, was one of those lost. It was lost during a strong northerly on Vanderbilt Reef, October 24, 1918 and is known as the northwest coast’s worst maritime disaster. It was a stormy night, and visibility was limited, hindered by a snow blizzard. The captain was barely able to make out the light of Elred Rock about midnight through the blowing snow. He had to rely on what they call “time and compass” as he continued that fateful journey south to the next hazardous rock. “The skipper would calculate from the engine revolutions how fast his vessel was traveling. Taking his course line from the chart and making allowances for the wind and the tidal currents, he would steer until his time ran out, that is, when he should be at the next point of reference.” Now that is navigating. Can you imagine having to figure that out in a blizzard no less? The next point of reference was Sentinel Island Light about 30 miles further down the canal.
As the captain was trying to search ahead in blinding conditions for Sentinel Island he ran her bottom, the whole length of her, aground on nearby Vanderbilt Reef at 2:00 AM in freezing blizzard like conditions. By morning daylight the rescue fleet was nearby but mistakenly thought the Sophia secure and safely stuck enough on the reef to wait until the weather lightened to make the rescue attempt. Unfortunately, that was a decision they would live to regret as by afternoon the weather didn’t get better but turned much for the worse. The rescue boats were forced to seek shelter in a nearby harbor, double anchoring and doing anchor watches during the night trying to stay secure in the strong winds. FOR GOD’S SAKE COME! WE ARE SINKING! During the night the winds became so strong they began to break Sophia apart and eventually forced her off the ledge into the deep water where she sunk into the dark depths taking all 343 passengers and the entire crew with her. The last that rescue team heard from her was one final request “For God’s sake come! We are sinking!” That fateful ship contained gold miners returning from Skagway, many with fortunes in their pockets and luggage looking forward to the good life once they returned home. We passed the cove where the rescue boats probably anchored for the night waiting for morning and by Sentinel Rock wondering about that tragic night. It gives you the chills.
PRINCESS MAY A few years earlier, another great steamer the Princess May, http://www.arcticwebsite.com/PrincessMay.html , went aground on Sentinel Light in 1910 but she had a happier story to tell as there was no loss of life nor injuries and the ship was refloated with minimal damage. PRINCESS KATHLEEN Of course, that’s not the end of it, another ship, the Princess Kathleen went aground at Lena Point in 1952, and she too had no casualties as the passengers and crew were able to climb down ladders to the rocks just in time to watch as the steamer slid off the rocks sinking into the water never to be seen again.
The eeriest story of all them all though and the one that stuck vividly in my imagination throughout the day is the one that occurred on Eldred Rock. I had not a moments rest the whole day’s journey until I knew we were safely past it. It is by far the most interesting sight along our trip today, except for the passing glaciers of course but they are becoming like gas stations passing along the highway there are so many. Eldred Rock has an unusual light house, Russian inspired with an octagonal in shape that is perched high on top. It’s the most unusual light house we have seen in all our cruising. It was here, “on a morning in 1908 that the light keepers were astonished to find part of the hull of the Clara Nevada that had been lost with 100 souls on a winter night a decade earlier. The seaweed-draped hull, still containing the bones of the many victims, had been lifted from the canal floor and deposited on the rock by the storm the night before.” Now if that story doesn’t make you weary nothing will. Bill and Larry though thought it a bit humorous as I worried about these rocks and reefs and was very relieved when I knew we had them all safely behind us.
Of course, the day was brightened by lots of whale and dolphin sightings, mostly at great distances from the boat but it kept our minds busy watching for their blows.
APPROACH TO HAINES We start to see some houses on the portside shore as we near the approach to Haines. We round the point to Haines and the first sight are oil drums and some pretty institutional looking buildings on the hillside, making for a pretty drab first appearance. It was a bit disappointing to see something looking so industrial so we were very glad to come around the bend farther to see the real Haines, a picturesque little settlement set within the valley. Old Fort Seward was obviously off to the left looking like a small New England village and the small harbor and other part of town was to the right. The small harbor is protected by a stone breakfront much like Sidney Harbor on Vancouver Island. Larry hails the Haines Harbor Master on the radio to get a dock assignment. He said he’ll get fuel first. The fuel dock is off to the left and a little hard to spot (not the normal Texaco sign or identifiable signs).
The Harbor Master says he’s on his lunch break but by the time we get fueled up he’ll be back and will give us our dock assignment then, about 1:30. We wait for a fishing boat to leave the fuel dock and Larry maneuvers in and turns around facing out. The fuel dock is almost flush to the water’s surface, a rickety old thing. We had to literally put the fenders on the water to protect the boat from the dock. It was a big jump for Bill to the dock to tie up. Once we were tied up there was no one was around to operate the pumps. We finally found a note tacked to the board that said you had to use the public phone and call the guy to come down. So we did and it wasn’t long before he arrived to fill our tanks.
He was a funny kind of middle aged guy with a handle bar mustache and long hair pulled back in a pony tail stuffed into his baseball cap. He was quiet and short with words and kind of stood back observing us while the pump was clicking away. Bonnie kind of opened him up though by asking where we could get crab. He had a wry sense of humor that became more obvious the more we talked to him. He said he’d been living here for about 22 years and wasn’t shy about giving Larry a pointer about punching a hole through the oil absorber cloth and putting the nozzle through the hole. It was a nifty and common sense way to catch the drips. It was a nice quiet harbor, not large but quaint. It has a beautiful view of the hills, the cottages, and the old Fort with gorgeous snowy mountains as a back drop. By now the weather had warmed up so much that we were all changing our clothes to get more comfortable. It wasn’t long before huge black horse flies greeted us at the fuel dock. Ziggy was keeping pretty busy chasing the horse flies off the boat and patrolling up and down the rickety dock.
As we left the fuel dock it was so low to the water that I was worried if Bill could get back on the boat after undoing the lines. I thought he might have to get on the swim step and climb up through the maze of lines and cords at the back that secure the dinghy but no problem for Bill as it is for me as he got back on just fine as usual. As we pulled away from the fuel dock and Larry called the harbor master again who we hoped was back from lunch by now since it was 1:30. He was and told us to tie up to the end of the first outer dock and came out to help us tie up. Bonnie threw him the stern line, he wrapped it around a big post on the dock and Larry turned the wheel nicely bringing the bow around and up to the dock using the tie up as leverage. Bill and I hopped off onto the dock and secured the rest of the lines.
LUNCH
LIGHTHOUSE RESTAURANT The Lighthouse Restaurant was pretty rustic. The sign out front boasted their newly remodeled interior bringing it back to the grandeur of its old days. We walked in and thought if this is the grandeur it must have been pretty bad before the remodel as this wasn’t grand at all. The interior walls were covered in cheap plywood paneling and the floors were dark brown shaggy carpet. Tacky light fixtures lined the walls and the decorations consisted of imitation Japanese fishing balls with corks and nets hanging from a ceiling covered in white acoustical tiles but hey we’re in Alaska in the wilderness. What could you expect? We opted for the enclosed patio area overlooking the harbor and Chilkoot Inlet and also, Ziggy, who was just outside the screen door, so we could keep an eye on him. The furniture was pretty tacky as well, just old captain chairs and masonite tables. We sat at the table that had a plastic “reserved” sign on it as there was not another soul in the place and what could it possible be reserved for? Soon a huge Eskimo-type waitress came over to give us our menus and get our drink orders. Bill and I ordered two Haines Eldred Ales thinking it was appropriate for all the worry I had today about that wretched rock. The food actually was pretty good, nothing fancy, just basic sandwiches, coleslaw, fries, BLTs and the like. The waitress was nice and friendly and probably more Tlinquit Indian than Eskimo.
After lunch Bonnie and I
decided to walk around town while the guys cleaned the boat. We walked
into a little store called the “Bear Den”. They sold the typical tacky
tourist stuff that you see everywhere but we had fun talking to the girl
working in the store. She was curious about us, wanting to know where we
were from and how we got here. When we told her that we came in our boat
she asked if we saw all the whales and sea lions out on the point. We
said we didn’t know about the point. Apparently at the end of Chilkat
Peninsula and by the Chilkat Islands the sea lions hang out in mass on the
rocks and in the water are several pods of whales that you can be
guaranteed to see. She said if you turn your engine off the whales
sometimes will swim right up to your boat. She said sometimes they will
even gently bump the boat and swim right under you. We were excited to
take that information back to the guys.
IPG We walked further up the street poking into some of the other little stores. There was not much here in the way of “Bonnie shopping” so we headed back but not without a stop at the local IPG or grocery store. It’s a pretty well stocked store considering what we’ve come across on this trip north and we picked up some rare tomatoes and avocados, and some pretzels and hot chocolate mix.
BILL WAS TIRED OUT That night Bill crashed right on the settee in the salon after dinner. He fell asleep and never got up until the next morning. He was totally oblivious to whatever was going on round him that evening. He never moved just slept the entire night there with Ziggy snuggled up right between his legs. Larry finally put a blanket on him in the middle of the night. Later that evening, Larry and I walked down to the ferry terminal across from the Fort to see what we could find out about the ferry schedules to Skagway. We got to the ferry landing just as the 9:00 PM ferry got in but the crew said to call back in the morning at 7:00 AM. We were hoping to find out whether Ziggy would be able to go on the ferry as that would pose a big problem for us if he could not and also we were hoping to find out what the other available times the ferry runs. DATE: 6-25-02 COMMENTS:
During our stay in Haines, just down the dock from us, was the cutest tug I’ve ever seen. Doug owned it and lived on it. He was a dentist, he said, and he travels all over SE Alaska doing dental work in the Indian villages. Inside the tug is his dental office and home. It’s lovingly taken care of and the outside is painted a cheery gold with beige and rust colored accents. There is a wonderful yellow and beige broad striped canvas tarp stretched over the back deck. His fenders are traditional old looking bumpers made of jute, braided into rope and what he called a “pudding” on the front bow made of the same material. They were wonderful. Doug is a very interesting and friendly guy. He said the tug was made in 1890 and has spent its career in Puget sound. It runs 9 knots and he said it came up the Inside Passage beautifully. Those fancy jute bumpers were braided by the Boy Scouts at the Maritime Museum in San Pedro, California. He said a friend of his that volunteers at the museum still believes in teaching the young the old art and craft of nautical rope designs and hopes by teaching the boy scouts that the tradition it will not be lost but carried on. I hope it won’t be lost either as it is a thing of beauty and apparently very serviceable.
WOKE UP TO RAIN AND WIND This morning we woke up to rain and wind, so much so that we couldn’t take the ferry to Skagway. We would have to stay in Haines today. We talked about renting a car and seeing the Chilkat Valley but since it was so rainy we thought we might not be able to see much so decided it would be a laundry day. But first thought we’d start the day by walking up that steep ramp again to the Lighthouse Restaurant and having a big greasy breakfast. We sat at the same table again, the one that still had the “reserved “ sign on it and as we sat there looking out over the harbor we saw a beautiful old sloop come in from Chilkoot Inlet. We watched as they docked and soon the group aboard the sloop came up the dock ramp and into the restaurant. They sat at the table next to us. They were all dressed in their foul weather gear, wet and cold. There were two guys, a girl and two small kids. SLOOP FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD We were curious about their boat and asked about it. They said it was over 90 years old and they and the boat are from Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts! They spend their summers on the boat each year and this is their second year in Alaska. They brought the boat all the way from Martha’s Vineyard through the canal to here by way of Hawaii. What an amazing thing to bring a 100 year old sailboat that far. The kids went the journey too! I imagine they don’t have too many comforts on that boat but they seem happy and content. What an amazing thing, a rarity in this day and age. LAUNDRY
The walls of the outfitters were covered with heads of stuffed game including bear, zebra, wolf and so on unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I found Larry some nice jeans and a great Alaskan belt there while we were doing laundry. OLD ELDRED ROCK AT IT AGAIN Bill had been out exploring the area too in between loads and came to tell us that he heard from the locals that there was a shipwreck on Eldred rock. Apparently the express ferry to Juneau grounded itself on it. The Spirit of 98 who we saw earlier at the ferry dock went to help and another ferry hung out nearby to see if they needed assistance. The Chilkat Ferry has 50 passengers on board and apparently the captain was distracted watching eagles when he grounded or so the word was going around. See, what did I tell everyone about that dreadful Eldred Rock?! EXPLORING ON BIKE
We brought the laundry back and Bill and I were the only ones that wanted to take the bikes out and see the town so off we went. We rode up to Fort Seward first. It looks much like a little New England village perched on a hill. It’s very picturesque with turn of the century white buildings. The Fort is really not a fort as I imagine the word but a grouping of wonderful old white buildings built symmetrically around a large green square which served as their marching field. It is perched up on the hill overlooking Chilkoot Inlet and Portage Cove. It was built around 1900 and when it was decommissioned after WWII, it was purchase by “a handful of veterans and their families to pursue their dream of a planned community”. The New England type houses were built to serve as officers and commanders quarters and the other larger buildings served various purposes such as the barracks, dining room and other services. Some of the old buildings have now been converted into various uses; one as a small hotel and restaurant and others divided into condos or offices. One unit had a Chiropractor’s sign out front and another, one of the larger buildings that used to be the hospital, has now been converted into the tribal center for the Tlinquit people where there is a nice art gallery and a large workshop set up for carving and other such native talents. We poked into one room and talked to a Tlinquit man who was carving a large totem. I must say they are making great use of these charming old buildings.
We then rode down one street to the Iris Gallery. They had a wonderful garden out front with a whole slew of vegetables growing nicely and quickly in these long sun lit days. The little shop had some nice graphics and jewelry for sale. The Iris Gallery building was located in an area that they used to refer to as “Soapsuds Alley”. It’s where the wives of non commissioned officers took on officer’s laundry for extra money giving their neighborhood the name. Another gallery, call the Fireweed Gallery is in the old commissary building. The whole area within the fort is beautiful and has so much history still in visibly in tack. It would be wonderful if they continue to restore and preserve all these buildings. Many people we heard are buying the officers houses, restoring them and putting their personal touches on them. It’s becoming a little community in itself. We also found a little smoked fish place which was very cute. This is a great place and really deserves so much more investigating as it seems just around every corner we continue to discover something else.
WHITE FANG STAGE SET We were beginning to head back when I remembered reading that there was an old stage set left over from the movie “White Fang” somewhere outside of town. We stopped at the liquor store and asked the store keeper if he knew where it was. He said it was right up the road from the school and back into the fairgrounds. So we took another little jaunt about a ½ mile ride. We found the little miniature town or stage set. After the movie was completed the buildings were just left, empty buildings, but now they have been taken over and rented by several creative people like carpenters, artists, craftsmen and other interesting shop keepers, including a small two man sized brewery. They even had a community garden with all sorts of vegetables growing in neat little tidy rows. HAINES BREWERY We couldn’t resist stopping in at the little Haines Brewery there and trying out a few tastes of their brew. Mmm, it was delicious beer. One was even made from birch. I wanted to buy a souvenir, a T-shirt, and some glasses and a large brown bottle of beer but he took no credit cards. Bill had $85 in cash so we settled on one large brown bottle of beer to take back and 4 glasses as mementos. We had a good talk with the owner. He said because he’s such a small operation he can only afford to export his beer to Juneau and Skagway. It sure was tasty though and glad we had the chance to taste it because of its very limited exposure. We packed everything in the bike baskets and headed back to town. BAMBOO ROOM We rode back through the center of town and just had to stop and check out the famous Bamboo Room which Charles Kerault made famous on one of his road trips across the country. We decided it would be a great place to come to for dinner tonight and that’s just what we all did. Larry and I had fresh halibut. Bill had Dungeness crab and Bonnie a steak sandwich. It’s nothing special really, just a rustic little place with red vinyl booths but was busy and fun and has been functioning successfully since the beginning of the town. What a great day! DATE: 6-24-02 COMMENTS: TRIP TO SKAGWAY
Larry called the Ferry Express at 7:00 AM this morning to see if we could catch the ferry at a different time than their published time. Several locals say there are more ferry times than listed. They advertise 7:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM. They told him there was a 9:00 AM ferry that we could take so he got us all up. We each grabbed something to eat on our own, got dressed and walked down the long road to the ferry. We had time to check out the little gift shop at the ferry terminal. I saw some really cute hand made felt Alaskan Christmas ornaments that I planned to buy on the way back. WILDERNESS ADVENTURES Haines, in case you are wondering as I did, is a popular outpost for adventure travelers. There are lots of outfitters here that will take you on all sorts of adventures. It was also until just recently the only place in all of SE Alaska waterway that can be reached by road. There has in recent years though been an extension from the famous Alaskan Highway that allows a road to reach Skagway now too. Haines is mainly known for the tremendous fall migration of bald eagles that come here to feed on the plentiful salmon that return to lay their eggs up the Chilkat River. There are adventure tours of all types available here; river trips, wilderness camping, hunting, fishing and whale watching. Many of these adventures are day trips arranged for those on cruise ships docked at Skagway. So the ferry was full when it arrived with people from the cruise ships excited about heading out on a days adventure excursion
The ferry was packed when it arrived but when we boarded to head to Skagway it was almost empty. Ziggy wasn’t allowed inside. We were supposed to tie him out on the upper outer deck. I wonder how that works when it’s cold and rainy. No way were we going to leave him out there alone so Larry and I sat out there with Zig. Bill joined us for awhile. As we got nearer to Skagway we saw a trawler going by, heading south towards Lynn Canal. We couldn’t believe our eyes as it was Canadians that we rafted to in Wrangell. They went teeter tottering in the choppy sea with their dinghy hanging so low off the back that their boat looked a little like the swim step was under water. He has his name printed right across the bottom of the dinghy so couldn’t miss them. We wondered if they were headed to Haines. We pulled into the ferry landing at Skagway. The marina for boats like ours is very small and surrounded by a large tall rock breakwater. On the outer side of the break water were two huge cruise ships that tower over the small harbor like large office buildings. I’m glad now that we didn’t come up here as I don’t think we’d be very happy in this harbor.
We walked into town and it was filled to the brim with masses of people from the cruise ships. Buses were coming and going picking them all up at the ships and driving them around dropping them off in town as if they couldn’t walk and others filling the streets walking around looking into the stores. We passed an RV park too. Remember, Skagway is now connected by a highway to the old Alaskan Highway and people can drive in here now, so guess they soon had a need for an RV park. The road curves into town as you cross over the railroad tracts from the harbor. WHITE PASS & YUKON RAILROAD We came to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad Station first. Larry rushed in to see if we could get on the train. It takes you up, the easy way, to see the pass where the Klondikers climbed over the mountains in the dead of winter with 1500 lb packs in search of gold and riches. We had no reservations for the train and everything we had read said you should get prior reservations. Since we didn’t know for sure when we would be able to get here we didn’t have them. Larry is like a kid when it comes to trains. He loves them. He rushed up to get in line at the ticket window. It was a cute train station. It was modeled after an old train station of course and had wooden benches and a little store carrying their tourist shirts and mugs, all with the great White Pass & Yukon Railroad logo on them. I loved the architecture of the station and thought they had done a very nice job. Larry finally got to the window after waiting in line a long time and sadly they said they were completely sold out. I told him to try to just get one ticket so he can go as the rest of us didn’t care as much as we all could tell that Larry really wanted to go. Bill even offered to stay with Ziggy if there wasn’t enough for four or even three so the rest of us could go. We weren’t sure whether Ziggy could go but were thinking positive and figured we’d solve that problem when and if it arose. I guess Larry’s persistence and the kindness of the ticket agents paid off as someone in the back room pulled some strings and somehow got tickets for all four of us. ZIG CAN’T GO, WHAT DO WE DO? I asked the girl if we could take Zig but she apologized and said no dogs are allowed. I asked if she knew of a kennel or dog sitter in town that could watch him while we go on the train. She said the Garden RV park will dog sit. She said it was on State Street, 10th or 11th. I assumed that meant the address. We were supposed to meet back at the station at 12:40 so we didn’t have much time. So we left Bill and Bonnie to explore the town while we searched for a dog sitter. We said we’d meet at the Train Station at 12:30 or sooner if we saw each other on the street. We took off in search of the RV park and we walked and walked and we walked. What she meant when she said 10th or 11th was the street, not the address but the 10th or 11th block. It actually turned out to be 15th block. It was 15 blocks from where we were. EUROPEANS WANT TO BE NEXT TO THE TOILETS We rushed into the little RV office and the manager was helping some Europeans. We patiently waited while they asked what seemed like a million meaningless questions. We were anxious not only about leaving Ziggy with strangers but about the shortness of time. Finally, the Europeans were done asking questions and insisting on all sorts of things that were very tedious. They were insistent on being parked right next to the restrooms and all sorts of other requests. If you ask me I’d like to be as far as possible from the restrooms. There was no pleasing these people. Good grief! The man working the desk just kept assuring them, nodding his head over and over and had more patience than anyone I’d ever seen. NO LOVE MATCH When I finally got a chance to ask him about Ziggy he said they only do dog sitting for their RV customers. He had a huge gut and glasses that perched on the end of his nose. Gee, he was so accommodating to those foreigners but when it came to us he wouldn’t budge. He was wearing a checked flannel shirt with suspenders and his hair was kind of wispy with his bald head showing through and a big sprig of it hanging down across his forehead. I began to dislike him right away when he said that but then he said if we could wait a minute he might have an idea. So we watched and waited as he put the Europeans in their dirt square next to the toilets and they looked happy as clams now. The manager came back in the office and began to make a phone call to someone but had to stop first to light a cigarette. I’m thinking we’re losing precious time here. He said he was trying to call his daughter to see if she might be interested but there was no answer. By now I just wanted to get going to see what I could figure out about Ziggy as nothing was going anywhere here and I wasn’t so sure I wanted Ziggy staying with the likes of him anyway. He’d probably tie him up and stuff him in a closet out or something to keep him out of the way. I also didn’t like the sneer he gave Ziggy when we first walked into the office either. It was obvious, there was no love match here. Finally, I got frustrated with him and said we had to go. He said if I we see some girls on the horse carriages to ask them. One of them is his daughter and she might do it. I was pissed at that darn girl in the train station that sent us all the way up here on a wild goose chase. We wasted so much time and now what were we to do? As we walked back as fast as we could I kept looking around to see if there was any stranger, a local, that looked nice that may want to dog sit with Ziggy for 3 hours while we took the train. I’m thinking this is about the craziest thing we’ve ever considered yet. MAYBE THE VISITORS CENTER WILL HELP We finally got back to the center of town and thought we’d try the visitor’s center. Maybe they could recommend someone. They are supposed to be helpful, right? We walked in and went up to the counter to the girl in a ranger uniform. I smiled and explained the situation and asked if she knew anyone that could take care of our dog while we were on the train. She said she knew of no one in town and by the way was our dog on a leash? (She couldn’t see over the counter as Zig was sitting right at our feet.) I said “Yes”. She said I’d have to take him out of the building immediately as no dogs were allowed in the building. I guess I looked startled (and I was) so she said the building was a historic building, over 100 years old, and they can’t allow animals to come in and ruin it. Wow, she wasn’t friendly at all. I thought to myself, hmmm, but yet they can allow fifty thousand cruise ship passengers to walk in and out of here on their “old wooden floors” on a daily basis but poor little Zig had to get out. By now I’m really getting disgusted with this town. I told Bonnie & Bill and Larry that I’ll just stay with Ziggy while they take the train trip. I really don’t mind and the train trip is not a big deal to me. Everybody’s concerned about me staying here by myself but I don’t really care anymore. I think to myself, once you’ve seen one train trip you’ve seen them all. Then, suddenly, I see a horse drawn carriage going down the main street. There are two girls dressed in Victorian garb and one with a black velvet hat with a tall feathered sticking out in the driver’s seat. I decide once again to bite the bullet and give it one more try. I run down main street a couple blocks and catch up with them.
“Miss, miss! I say. She stops the carriage and I introduce myself. Yes, they are his daughters she says. I explain that their dad said one of them might be able to watch Zig for us. The one girl said she could. She said she had three kids who could play with him. I told her I didn’t know if that would work. I said he’s good with our grand kids but in general I told her all about his little idiosyncrasies. She said they were pretty dog savvy and she didn’t think it would be a problem. I liked her positive attitude right away and just felt in my gut that Zig would be OK with her.
So now we could relax, grab a quick bite of food and get to the train just in time. I’ve never done anything like that in my life but I think up here you feel totally safe with the people. I would never do that back home.
Skagway is charming, well preserved but very gussied up for the cruise ships. Somehow it doesn’t seem real, more like Knott’s Berry Farm or Disneyland. You wonder if there are real residents here or if they are transplants just here for the summer job at the “amusement park”. Where do the people go when the cruise ship crowds go back on the boats as I don’t see a real town where real people live? I only see typical tourist stores, nothing like a real town, you know grocery stores, the hardware store, etc. but there are lots of interesting things to see. The town is mostly run by young kids, college age, dressed in period costumes of the gold rush days. Many are taking groups around town on walking tours and others standing on the street corners trying to sell tours and excursions. There’s nothing left of what the real town was per say just a gussied up version but I still liked it.
We headed for the train station. Larry’s getting all uptight again and doesn’t want to be late. As usual we are early. I decide to go in to the gift shop and buy a souvenir mug to add to our growing collection. Larry points his finger at me and tells me “You have exactly 4 minutes before the train leaves!” Okay, okay.
“All aboard” the conductor says. We climb aboard and get our seats and the steam engine chugs its way up the mountain. It’s a steep ride today on a narrow gauge railroad. The outside of the train is very cute and painted traditionally like you would imagine the old trains to look or better probably like Disneyland. Inside, the traditional theme falls a little short though. The seats are like upholstered benches and the backs flip to the opposite direction once you reach the top so you face forward on the trip back too. The walls are covered in plywood paneling which is a little tacky but the train trip itself is fun. There is a moderator that comes on occasionally over the speakers in each car that tells you about the highlights of the trip. There is also a brochure that tells you the same thing in case you missed something the moderator said. They have complimentary cokes, water and pretzels. The trip is about 3 hours. Once you make it all the way to the summit, then you turn your seats around and you head back down the mountains again. The view up there is breathtaking. FUNNY GROUP There was a funny collection of people in our car. The woman sitting with her husband across the aisle from me slept 90% of the trip. I swear she didn’t see or hear a thing. Up front were two very huge people, husband and wife who took up one bench each because they were so fat and had they no qualms about breaking out some smelly sandwiches and eating in front of everyone the whole trip. There was another husband and wife, Taiwanese, that had a load of kids and relatives with them including the elderly grandparents. The whole family couldn’t sit down for one minute or stop talking in their native tongue the whole 3 hours. The dad was constantly up and down filming everything while the kids were climbing over all the seats and running up and down the isles screaming and laughing. Larry and Bill spent much of the time on the outdoor platform taking pictures.
Overall though the train trip was well was worth taking because you don’t really grasp the tremendous feat the Klondikers undertook carrying their 1500 lb loads up this tremendous valley and steep icy mountain in the dead of winter. It’s hard to imagine until you actually come and see the trail they took. We had perfect weather for the trip but as got back into town, it was growing colder and windier. ZIGGY BEHAVED HIMSELF The minute we got to town we went to Ziggy’s sitter’s house and picked him up. She said Zig was no problem at all and got along with her kids just fine. We were so relieved and grateful to have lucked out with her. We then walked around town to see some of the shops before we had to get back on the ferry. As we walked around town it seemed all the shop keepers knew Ziggy. Many would come out their shops and say “Hi Ziggy”. I guess he must have met a lot of people while he rode around town on that carriage. I wish I could have seen that almost more than the train trip.
RIDE BACK ON THE FERRY It was time for the ferry to leave to take us back to Haines. By now it’s blowing a hoot. We sneak Ziggy inside the upper deck cabin hoping they won’t tell us we have to sit outside in the freezing cold with Ziggy. The captain was cool and didn’t say anything so we stayed inside nice and warm and Ziggy sat under the seat quiet as a mouse. We stopped at the little ferry terminal gift shop at Haines and I bought several of those cute Alaskan Christmas ornaments and Bonnie bought an illuminare for her porch back home on the Chesapeake. All in all it was a good trip. DINNER AT THE FIREWOOD BAKERY Once we got settled, we walked up to a little place in Fort Seward for dinner called the Firewood Bakery. It was recommended to us by the Bavarian diesel man. It was in the old commissary. It was definitely a local’s joint. There were lots of young people there, mostly the wilderness guides yakking about different people on their trips. Bonnie called it a “roots and bark” joint. The food was great but took about an hour to get. We were warned ahead though by the Bavarian to be patient.
The food was great though. I had fresh shrimp and vegetable spring rolls and they were full of really fresh crunchy vegetables and a wonderful sauce to dip them in. Larry had grilled scallops in a soy sauce on white rice and some kind of sautéed kale on the side. Bill had vegetable ziti which looked good with a big huge hunk of fluffy cheese baked on top and Bonnie had a homemade fresh pizza. The food was healthy, hearty and very tasty. We had a nice walk back along the waterfront as the rain and wind let up just enough to get back to the boat. HEADING TO GLACIER BAY IN THE MORNING This would be our last night in Haines as tomorrow we head south on that unpredictable Lynn Canal and past that dreaded Eldred Rock to Glacier Bay. But what a great time we had here in Haines. It’s a great place! |
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DATE: 6-23-02
We’re about 2 hours into
the trip and it’s a pretty uneventful trip so far. We are surrounded on
all sides by steep snow covered mountains. We have passed at least four
glaciers so far, and who’s counting as the sight of them is almost
becoming amazingly and I hate to say, ho hum. We see many fishing boats
scattered about along the shores. I guess that’s where the fish are
today, feeding along the shelf and steeps sides of the shoreline. The sea
must be full of fish by the looks of it. We see some people camping on
the shore. Bonnie gets up and Larry makes toast from the bread he made
yesterday in the bread maker. That bread machine makes some tasty bread
the minute it comes out of the machine, but the next day, forget it, it’s
stale and the crumbs get all over everything. 
Ziggy is in his “Don’t Bug
Me” mood and Bonnie replies by sticking her tongue out at him. We laugh
at them both. 
PRINCESS SOPHIA
WHALES AND DOLPHINS
OUT TO LUNCH
FUEL DOCK
It took about a half an
hour to fill the tanks. We took on about 345 gallons and I said it must be
a big day for him and he said “Hardly, I’ve got that boat over there (that
he pointed to, a big fishing boat) waiting for 3000 gallons as soon as you
finish”. Our bill was a little more than $500 which I thought was a lot
but the fishing boat’s bill will have to total about $4500-5000. We
pumped him for local information and got a few recommendations on the
restaurants in town and you know the usual stuff. 
The guys were anxious to
wash the boat since we hadn’t been able to get water since we left
Petersburg and the boat was looking pretty grungy. Since we hadn’t had
lunch yet I pleaded to wait on the cleaning and insisted we have lunch on
shore in a restaurant for a change. All agreed and we went the very steep
dock ramp to the Lighthouse Restaurant at the top of the dock. We tied
Ziggy out on the back deck of the café out of the way. He was so tired
and hot he didn’t mind one bit being left outside on his own. He just sat
and waited quietly.
The guys were still
washing the boat by the time we got back but it looked like they were
enjoying themselves in this beautiful setting and the warm rare sunshine.
Bonnie and I were wiped out from the heat and the long boat ride and
immediately went inside and crashed for a couple hours. The guys were
pretty exhausted themselves when they finished. Don’t know how they had
the energy to do all that. Bill even went for a walk before dinner.
TRAVELING DENTIST
OFFICE IN A TUG
We headed back to the boat
after a hearty breakfast and gathered up our laundry in bundles wrapped
within our sheets. 
FORT SEWARD
We then rode our bikes
across the marching field and stopped in at a little shop next to the
Indian clan house where they perform Indian dances and salmon bakes. We
made a couple purchases there buying gifts for Bonnie’s birthday which was
coming up in a couple days. 
FERRY TO SKAGWAY
ZIGGY ALLOWED ON THE
FERRY
ZIGGY AND THE HORSE AND
BUGGY 
A LOT LIKE KNOTT’S
BERRY FARM OR DISNEYLAND
ALL ABOARD
The only bad thing was
that it was pouring rain out now and Ziggy had to sit outside under their
picnic tables on the deck which had such wide gaps between the planks he
still got wet. Bill repeatedly went outside to try to reposition our two
umbrellas on the table to protect him from the rain. I put Ziggy’s
raincoat on that my good friend Susie from Pasadena made for him. Who
would know that it would come in so handy? We also had to put his little
fabric muzzle on him because he was very grouchy and wasn’t very friendly
to those that came up to him wanting to pet him. He looked so pitiful out
there all wet and sad, with that dreadful muzzle and his Burberry-like
raincoat on, shivering. It was hard to be comfortable inside and enjoy
your food while he was suffering out there.