Fabulous Views from the Haines Highway
We left Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and headed back down the Alaska Highway to get to our next stop, Haines, which is in the southeast part of the state known as the panhandle. This part of Alaska is only accessible by land from Canada and only through the town’s of Haines and Skagway. Haines would be our jumping off point for ferry rides to see this part of Alaska. As it was on the way up it was rough going on the highway from the Alaska/Canada border down to Destruction Bay but after that it got a bit better. At Haines Junction we took the Haines Highway to head back into Alaska, passing by Kluane National Park in Yukon Territory and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia. Views of the St. Elias Mountains from the highway were stunning with multiple opportunities to pull over and marvel at the scenery.
Camping on the Waterfront in Haines
In Haines we stayed at Oceanside RV Park, right on the water. It was a great spot, a short walk to the downtown shopping and restaurants with gorgeous views of the Chilkoot Inlet and surrounding snow-capped mountains. We really liked Haines both for the scenery and that the people there were amazingly friendly – one resident going so far as to give us a whole Dungeness crab from what they had caught that morning (it was delicious). Also the town isn’t a major port for the super-sized cruise ships, making it less crowded and commercial than the nearby Skagway where there usually several mega-ships a day docked.
Exploring Haines
We spent a few days in Haines, picking up some groceries (there are two grocery stores in town), visiting Haines Brewing Company (great beer) and enjoying halibut fish and chips in the Bamboo Room (also great). Walking around the town was fun and as I mentioned above the people were great. While exploring the historic Fort Seward we came to the top of a street and were unsure whether to turn left or right. A man was working in his yard, noticed we looked confused and asked if we needed help. When we told him we were touring the fort he gave us a quick rundown of what was where and a bit of its history. After helping us figure out what was where he told us he had been out crabbing that morning. After asking if we liked crab (We do!) he offered us a whole crab! We found that kind of friendliness frequently on our Alaska tour.
Haines has a lot of hiking in the area. The weather didn’t always cooperate with us for some of the longer ones, but we wound up being able to squeeze in trips up the Battery Point and Ayiklutu trails. Both wind through the rain forest and along the beaches with outstanding views of the water and surrounding mountains.
On to Juneau!
For the next leg of our trip we’ll be heading down the inlet from Haines to Juneau on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry. Check back on our blog page for our next installment.
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