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| Fort Seward B&B |
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We absolutely loved staying at
Fort Seward B&B, originally built as an
Army officer's residence and perched up on a hillside overlooking the town and harbor. Owner Norm Smith served homemade blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs with his catch of the day each morning. I see that, sadly, the Smith family no longer runs the B&B.
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| View from Fort Seward B&B porch |
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Nestled between the equally incredibly blue waters of Chilkoot and Chilkat Inlets, surrounded by a backdrop of mountains, glaciers and waterfalls, I can't think of a place more beautiful than Haines.
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| View from lookout at Chilkoot State Recreation Area (note eagle flying by) |
Art galleries will have to wait until our next trip to Haines, but we did enjoy a visit to
Alaska Indian Arts and saw a large totem carving in process. One of our few souvenirs besides photos, we also brought home a Tlingit
print featuring hummingbirds and columbines. Later in our trip we
spotted a serigraph print that we loved, and bought it online after we
were home. As it turned out, the artist's
studio is in Haines!
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| Totem pole in progess at Alaska Indian Arts |
Another really enjoyable activity in Haines was watching bald eagles, one of Mike's favorite raptors. They seemed to hang around by the dock and we got to see both adults and juveniles fishing (and feeding on dead fish).
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| Bald eagle fishing at the pier |
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| Mike at Haines Brewing Company on White Fang set |
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Dinner at the Fireweed Restaurant was really good. Upscale yet affordable and a down-to-earth feel, we will go back. I can't find a website, but check out their
Facebook page for some yummy photos of their dishes.
Another fun place to visit near Haines is the fairgrounds, which includes part of the set used in filming White Fang. There's also a pretty decent brewery there which of course we had to visit and sample their wares.
We spent one afternoon cruising up the stunning Lynn Canal to nearby Skagway on an
Alaska Marine Highway ferry. The
Lynn Canal is the deepest fjord in North America and one of the longest and deepest in the world. Skagway was unlike anything we'd experienced in Alaska. The town, or at least the main street, was "Disney-fied" for the cruise ship visitors and just didn't seem real.
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| Downtown Skagway |
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| Cruise ship docked in Skagway |
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| Historic photo of endless chain of men on the Chilkoot Trail |
The
Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Visitor Center had historical interest and we enjoyed seeing an old rotary plow locomotive.
We walked around the shops and found a place to get a good beer, but mostly we just wanted to get back to Haines. Norm warned us and we should have listened to him! I don't think we'd come back to Skagway, unless it was to hike the famous
Chilkoot Trail.
Probably the most enjoyable part of the trip to Skagway was when we were on the water going there and back.
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| Onboard the ferry to Skagway |
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| Salmon weir on the Chilkoot River near Haines |
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After visiting Chilkoot Lake and observing bald eagles apparently gathering nesting materials we worked our way down the Chilkoot River where we saw something new to us -- a weir across the river to facilitate a salmon monitoring and counting project. The weir had a small gate where a human sat and counted every sockeye salmon going through! The gate was even closed at night or when the guy needed a bathroom break. What a job!
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| Common Merganser family |
As we've mentioned before, Alaska served to pique our interest in birdwatching and we had a wonderful experience on the Chilkoot, just downstream from the salmon weir. We saw a small duck-like bird on the water, with a bunch of small ducklings. We moved closer to watch and someone told us they were Common Mergansers. The mama was beautiful and her babies were incredibly cute, hanging close to her on a rock in the water, and even climbing up on her back for a ride. Here's a short video clip of the family on the water.
All in all, we both agree that the beauty of Haines, combined with our experiences there make it probably our top pick for any return trip. But before we left Haines, we signed up for one more adventure, which will be our next post.
Here's a map of the area showing Haines and the ferry route up the Lynn Canal to Skagway.
