If you have not explored Alaska, you may not be aware that there are many towns that can only be accessed by ferry; and, thus, Alaska has a Marine Highway serviced by ferries. In fact, the capital city of Juneau is one of those cities you cannot drive into. Since driving back to the Alaska highway and down to Haines from Skagway is about 350 miles by road, we took the ferry ride which is only an hour long and quite beautiful, too!
Chilkoot River
Driving to the end of Lutak Road there is a gorgeous river and State ParkThe salmon are not yet running, so there were no bears. The bears come and feed here.This is a fish weir where they count the salmon…manually! There are two chairs on it and only a small opening for them to swim through..
On the way back to town, I had the best surprise. I saw a humpback whale breach (head and part of the body coming up as she feeds) several times. Unfortunately, I never got a good picture, but here are two that show how close that whale was! It was amazing and beautiful to see!
See the blow spray?That’s a fin or tail piece as she went back down.
Chilkat State Park
I also took the drive out Mud Bay Road in the other direction from the Chilkoot park to the Chilkat State Park.
The wildflowers are blooming everywhere! I did not take any pictures of the state park, as there is barely a view! This is along the roadway.They are not kidding!
Fort Seward
This history gave me a new appreciation for the man who served under Abraham Lincoln.
Haines Hitch-up RV Park
See Clarice on the right next to the road?Beautiful backdrop!This is where we stayed. I don’t usually do the RV parks, but with the ferry coming in late, I did not want to worry. We stayed three nights as the propane place was closed over the weekend and we arrived after it closed on Friday. We waited for propane (aka: heat and cooking). I also had my best shower since Christmas! They had beautiful clean facilities and unlimited hot shower water! Woo Hoo! While Clarice has a nice shower, it’s military style as we don’t have unlimited water.
What a beautiful ride. So glad you have sun there and hopefully no wildfire smoke yet. Can’t wait to see where you’re heading next!
Very cool Ferry ride! The pictures are awesome as usual 😀Looks like you’re having a great time!