Why did the grizzly cross the road?

Today was a driving day. We left Whitehorse, YT and drove through BC back into the US to Haines, AK. When we started today we discussed skipping today’s blog entry because the day would probably be uneventful. We were wrong!

The drive from Haines Junction, YT to the US border passes by the edge of Kluane National Park, the Canadian side of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the US. We won’t visit Wrangell-St. Elias until our return trip, but WOW. The mountains in the park are imposing and impressive. The photos that we took didn’t do them justice. The weather was overcast, so many of the peaks were covered in clouds and you can’t appreciate the scale from the photos. We are excited to explore this park when we return.

Right before we reached the summit on the road towards the US, two grizzly bears crossed right in front of our vehicle. Amy shouted “Bear! Bear!”, so Greg slammed the brakes to avoid hitting the first one. Luckily there was little traffic, but our stuffed animal mascot Buc-Ee got thrown around the RV. We stopped to let the bears pass.

We continued on and crossed into Alaska. We arrived in Haines, a small town along the water. It is only 16 miles to Skagway as the eagle flies, but there is no direct road connecting them. We spent the afternoon exploring the town. We had to check out the hammer museum. It started as a personal collection and has grown to over 2500 hammers. They told us there is only one other hammer museum in the world, in Lithuania.

Next, we walked around town and the waterfront, then we climbed the hill to the remains of the old Fort Seward. Tonight, we are boondocking (free camping) along Chilkat Inlet. It would be a picture-perfect campsite if it weren’t for the rain and wind. Tomorrow we are taking the ferry to Juneau. Greg is waiting to see how that affects our live tracking map.

Bear count

Today: 2 grizzlies; the gummy bears in the grocery store do not count
Total: 6