Some of the pretty scenery around Haines, AK

8/18/07 - Destruction Bay Area to Haines - 199 miles

When we left this morning we were in the Yukon Territory, crossed into British Columbia and then back into the U.S. We found a beautiful campground in Haines. Later in the day Joe & Hannah also pulled in. The first thing we did after getting settled was to head out to where they told us we would probably see bears and sure enough we did. Wildlife sightings today: 1 Coyote, 4 Eagles, Some type of duck with 9 little ones in training, 2 Grizzly Bears. If you want to see where we are currently (8/21/07) go to: http:map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=2430

More mountains....I never tire of their majesty and beauty!

We are starting to see some trees changing colors.

Chilkat River (another braided river)

Cody with one of his favorite toys and Addie being pretty comfy!

Don't know what kind of ducks these were but the mother had 9 little ones and she was training them to go back and forth across the river and swim through the current. Was fun to watch.

Chilkoot Lake with a lone canoe on a very cloudy day. There was a real nice state park campground (for smaller rigs) here.

Their was a narrow opening on this weir that the salmon were coming through and a couple of guys were netting some and putting them into this box-caged area. They tag the salmon & clip their tail and then release them to go upstream into Chilkoot Lake where they are trying to track them from the lake. We hadn't been stopped very long when this young grizzly came along the weir looking for salmon. It was pretty comical when he realized that there were a whole bunch in the caged area. He tried getting into the box before he was chased off, so he went back to catching his own.

8/17/07 - Beaver Creek to 16 miles south of Destruction Bay - 132 miles

Had some more rough roads today and unfortunately we took a rock into the windshield today..at least it didn't come clear through! We stopped at The Kluane Museum of National History in Burwash Landing and spent over an hour viewing the displays. I don't think we have every seen taxidermy work as well done as the many large & small animals displays here, then we were on our way to the campground with bears....hopefully! Wildlife sightings today: 4 Trumpter swans, 1 Grizzly Bear. If you want to see where we are at currently (8/21/07) go to: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=2430

Our Lady of Grace mission in Beaver Creek, YT. Built in 1961 from a salvaged Quonset hut left over from highway construction days.

Started seeing glacier capped mountains again today.

Our windshield took a hit from a baseall size rock today. It did not go clear through but we had a lot of small pieces on the inside dash. Pat put strapping tape on it and hopefully it will be our last until we get home to get the windshield replaced. We were on the north side of Burwash Landing at Milepost 1090 of the Alaska Highway.

Our campsite at Cottonwood RV Park on Kluane Lake - 16 miles south of Destrucion Bay.

The view out our front window at Kluane Lake - it looked like a giant mirror. It is the largest lake in the Yukon.

We had passed this biker earlier in the day and then he came into the campground. He stopped for a break and then was on his way. We were just headed out to see if we could see some bears and stopped to talk to him. He left Fairbanks and is headed to South America! Wow talk about a long bike trip. His dog rides the whole time standing up. He is hoping to get to the San Francisco area by October 16th....he has a class reunion there!

Don't know what this is growing but we saw lots of it in the riverbeds and along the highway.

We heard a loud shot in the afternoon at the campground. They were shooting off some type of a rocket/whistle to scare the bears off. Since one of the reasons we had stopped at this campground was the bears and now they were scaring them away.... we would have to go out and find the bears ourselves! We were just about to give up when we came across this big grizzly just grazing along the side of the road. We were in the jeep with the windows out so it was a little close!

Look at the size of these claws!

Kluane Lake @ sunset it was beautiful!