Raptors and another bear

We woke up this morning to high winds, so we moved from our free boondocking site back to town, where Amy could buy a cup of coffee while Greg did his morning run. Our big exploration was to the American Bald Eagle Foundation. The museum was quite small. The indoor section had another taxidermy collection with local birds and animals. We already saw stuffed bears and moose at other museums, so it wasn’t that interesting. The outside section had several rescue raptors: several kinds of owls and three bald eagles. Each bird had some kind of injury that led to a decision that they couldn’t return to the wild. One bald eagle was set apart because she was caring for a nest of eggs.

Exploring the American Bald Eagle Foundation took far less time than the hour that Greg estimated, so we needed to kill some time before the ferry to Juneau. First, we drove to Chilkat State Park. Someone told us that there was a humpback whale just off the shore, but we didn’t see it. But we did see another black bear when we drove back. Adding another bear to our count is worthwhile. We also saw two bald eagles fighting each other mid air.

We then drove the other direction to explore Chilkoot Lake. We saw a group about to go kayaking, but we didn’t have enough time. After 24 hours in Haines, we explored about everything for visitors, so it’s good that it’s time to take the ferry to Juneau.

The ferry is very similar to the Washington State Ferries. We were not allowed to go to our vehicle during the sailing. The ferry sailing was full. Most passengers boarded in the prior stop in Skagway, so it was hard to find open seats. The windy weather continues. Luckily, we are on the newest ferry in the fleet and the sailing has been smooth. We even got to see a group of dolphins playing in the wake of the ship. And just before reaching Juneau, Greg heard someone yell “whale”. We all jumped up to look. We saw the whale but no one kissed it.

Bear count

Today: 1 black bear

Total: 7 bears