September '05 Newsletter - Trip #3

Southeast Alaska Basecamp (8/13/05-8/21/05):

Driving the 12-passenger van that we picked up the previous evening, Bob dropped Susan at the airport to retrieve the second van and the six folks coming in from Anchorage while he picked up the rest at the Driftwood Inn in downtown Juneau. Everyone was there and ready to go. We loaded them up and joined the others at the McCauley Salmon Hatchery. A tour guide explained the various stages of fish ranching (raising them to fry size before releasing them to the ocean so they develop normally) not fish farming (keeping them in pens and feeding them hormones to bulk them up). Only 2% of those released actually return (fishermen, predators, etc.).

After setting up our gear and eating lunch at Mendenhall campground we headed for the glacier and visitor center. The day was crystal clear so many of us walked along the lake to the base of the energetic waterfall. It was 80-degrees, so the locals were out sunning and swimming in a lake that had icebergs floating in it. The water was probably 50 degrees in the shallows. Some of our group also walked the short trail to the top of the falls. Others would have liked to hike the West Trail to the glacier face but there wasn't enough time to do everything.

Up early for a fast breakfast, off we went to the Adventure Bound office for our Tracy Arm boat tour. Overbooked, they scheduled an additional 37' boat for us with Winona (one of the owners) as the driver. There were pluses and minuses to this. The owner Steve is supposed to do a great Alaska presentation as the 10-hour cruise goes along and Winona was pretty Spartan in her presentation. However the smaller boat only carries 18 so we had it pretty much to ourselves. The trip down to the inlet takes around 3 hours so only 4 hours or so of the 10 total is actually spent in the Tracy Arm. There were small icebergs in the mouth of the Tracy Arm. We were in total fog for a short while so it was a great relief when it lifted as we started up the arm. Hitting a truck-sized block of ice at 15-20 miles per hour would certainly have caused damage to our boat. In an hour of motoring we found ourselves surrounded by ice and beautiful sheer granite walls that reminded many of us of the soaring walls of Yosemite Valley.

Winona navigated the boat back to the Sawyer Glaciers at the ends of the split arm. The first stop was the most active face. The boat was unable to approach any closer than a half-mile or so and as it turned out one didn't want to be closer than that. Glaciers have two types of activity at their open water interface. Huge chunks can "calve" off endangering anyone or anything close by. Large chunks break off below the waterline and become what is called a "shooter". We were fortunate to see excellent examples of both phenomena. A mammoth chunk broke off high and plunged into the water creating a 20' or higher wave that rippled towards us on our boat. It was momentarily frightening to see the seal covered ice in front of us lift up above us as the wave moved outward from the splash point. Tsunami anyone? Fortunately the boat was stern towards the wave and we rode up and over as the wave passed under us. Unfortunately, I missed the shooter as I was on the opposite side of the boat. When I heard the commotion and came around, Ernie and some of the others pointed out the huge, deep blue piece of new ice floating at the glacier face.

The second glacier face was in a relatively ice-free arm, the reason readily apparent as the front face was not nearly as fractured. Looking at the tidal interface line it was evident that a major slump had not occurred for some time. There was only one breakout in the soaring wall of white. On the way back Winona stopped a couple of times to look at waterfalls, even adding a story about Dave Falls being named after one of their crew who wanted a closer look and ended up swimming after he slipped. The long ride back put most to sleep, though some read for a while. A bit north of the Tracy Arm inlet, we were fortunate to see several whales. The whales, myriad birds, and seals camped out on the ice were all of the wildlife we saw. Everyone was happy with the experience, even with the long ride time down and back.

The Mendenhall campground was noisy again. Earlier Susan asked some locals to keep it down but their crazy friend returned about 2:00 AM. It was difficult enough getting up at 5:00, packing up and leaving by 5:30 to be at the Alaska Marine Ferry dock by 5:45. Scott, Carl, and I stayed with the vehicles in the Haines line while Susan walked the rest of the folks onboard. The SS Columbia seemed lightly loaded but there were still a lot of tents set up on the rear deck. Once the vehicles were onboard we found a place on the observation deck that had a wall plug so we could update our files, download our photos, and burn a CD to back up what we'd created to date. Our group busied themselves checking out the largest ship in the Alaska Ferry system. Most of us used the showers onboard during the four-hour ride. Unfortunately heavy fog in the Lynn Canal obscured the fine views along our way.

Our first destination in Haines was the city park where we prepared lunch. We finished a bit before 2:00 PM and the salmon cannery opened at 2:30, so folks took a walk downtown and met later in front of the cannery. Much of the machinery had been reclaimed from sites all over Alaska that had gone out of business. It supposedly cost 10 times as much to move it to Haines as it took to purchase it used and forgotten in some remote area. Some of it looked awfully heavy so one could readily believe it cost a lot to move. Our tour guide was humorous and imparted volumes of historical input. The machinery once manufactured the old style rolled bottom and top cans (modern cans have rolled continuous bottoms). They currently generate 10 cans or so with each exhibition and later package buttons and other trinkets in these cans for souvenir sales.

Next we investigated Fort Seward and the carving shops on its grounds. The halibut hook display was fabulously informative. The tools were interesting and the design drawings for totem poles were also noteworthy. In the new center, visitors are encouraged to enter the working rooms; one individual was carving a silver bracelet. We walked the rest of the grounds looking at the officers' quarters that over time have been converted to bed and breakfasts or other uses. The enlisted men's only remaining building is still in an advanced state of disrepair. We met Susan at the Chilkat campgound where she had selected three campsites. It had been overcast all day and still looked like rain. While we were setting up tarps, we noticed a female moose grazing in a campsite beside us. The campground host mentioned that it had a calf but we didn't see it. Surprisingly several people in the lower campsite were hazing it with shouts. I guess they weren't aware of the damage an upset moose can do. There was some mist during the evening but it never rained hard enough to get everything wet.

The next morning was more leisurely. The sky was still overcast but higher than it had been. Carl, Carol, and John made us an excellent Egg McMarley breakfast. There was a bit of confusion leaving camp when Carl took off ahead of us and went directly to Chilkoot State Park. He didn't realize that we were first going to look at Chilkat Bay and the glaciers on the other side. After checking out an eagle on the island in front of the campground hosts' cabin we walked around the bay a bit. We then drove to Chilkoot State Park to watch salmon fishermen and we hoped to see a bear. The closest we got was bear scat down by the fish cleaning station but we saw several eagles perched high along the river. The banks were littered with fishermen and catching fish looked easy. Bob talked to one fisherman on the shore of the lake who was pulling in a Coho salmon on just about every cast. Most of his 5-10 pound fish were snared on their top fin but still gave a pretty good fight.

We parked at the city park and walked to the Sheldon Museum. The top floor displayed indigenous tribal exhibits comprised of fine woven baskets, a dugout canoe, textiles, etc. while the bottom floor focused on local history. An hour or so later we returned to the city park for lunch and met Susan who had again been buying supplies. Headed north we stopped along the Haines highway first at the fishing turnstiles, where interestingly enough, no salmon were being caught. The eagle sanctuary was limited and no eagles were to be seen. 13 of our group took an interpretive walk while Susan, Scott, and Bob advanced the vehicles up the road to pick them up. They enjoyed the walk but again saw no eagles.

The sun was breaking through as our vehicles climbed to the US/Canadian border. The customs and immigration agent requested only drivers' licenses for identification and actually turned down the offer of a passport. He asked lots of questions about guns and how we got together but eventually let us cross. Once over the pass we had continuously clear skies. We drove down from the 3300-foot summit, crossing Blanchard Creek, and finally arriving at the totally empty Million Dollar Falls campground. The impressive falls were more of a cataract and a boardwalk had been built to allow easy, safe access. Dessert that night consisted of lemon bars with birthday candles, the closest thing to a whole cake that Suz could find in Haines on short notice. A rousing chorus of Happy Birthday followed by playful wisecracks regarding age made Mike chuckle. By nightfall there wasn't a cloud in the sky and to make it even better it was fairly warm. One of our party returned from a moonlit trip to the bathroom more than a little rattled after hearing what was almost assuredly a bear snorting in the bushes.

Ethereal fog crept in on little cat feet while we were sleeping contributing to our leisurely rise and breakfast. The river outfitters camp was only nine miles away and not much was happening there until 10:45 AM. We were a bit early arriving so we talked to the guides for a while and then folks started to arrive in private vehicles. We were fitted with helmets, lifejackets, and wetsuits. The wetsuits were more like dive suits than what we are accustomed to in the Southwest. Bundled up in a Ľ" full-length farmer john topped by a heavy 3/8" shorty suit with long sleeves, there was no possibility of being cold. The fog dropped into the valley in the early morning so it was cool until about noon, when the sun finally broke through. The river was class III or lower most of the time but the guides made it into something higher by running every hole sideways and charging up onto every rock. They played bumper boats without regard as to what was happening to the passengers. Boats were loaded such as to ensure they flipped. One was really left to wonder about the guides' competence as all rocks were run over and all holes were run sideways. It seemed purposeful but who could tell for certain?

In spite of the carnival ride experience offered and the seeming lack of knowledge on the part of the guides, we saw eagles both young and old and many flowers and berries. The high-walled, granite canyon was scenic. Commercial river rafting is a whole new world to us and companies offer what sells. One might surmise their passengers aren't totally satisfied with a river well run; they want to swim. The possibilities for a great raft trip that focused on ecology and geology was totally missed by this company. We got to see what day running commercial folks think will gratify customers. At least for the two of us it was too much like a college frat party with lots of testosterone flowing.

Ernie and some of the other folks took heavy hits or shallow water swimming time but everyone seemed okay in camp that evening. Canadian liability law must be much more lenient as at least one of the guides said the stuff they were doing couldn't be done in the US. Probably true! One of the younger passengers was dumped out of a raft onto a rock slab during some tomfoolery and could have broken his wrist (actually he may have since he was icing it later by dragging it in the river). There were lots of opportunities for lawsuits involving inappropriate guidance but everyone in our group made it successfully downriver. Susan L twisted her knee while getting into her wetsuit and was hobbling afterwards - one has to watch those put-in accidents. She borrowed hiking sticks and got around with those for a couple of days.

Everyone was happy to set up tents in the fading evening sunlight of Kluane commercial campground in Haines Junction. It rained lightly during the night and any clothes we hung out to dry were slightly wetter in the morning. There was a morning rush on showers and laundry before we left. We took a fruitless detour trying to get to Lake LaBarge but turned back long before reaching Dawson Creek. We drifted in to Takhini Hot Springs for lunch. The place was full of young children climbing on an artificial wall and zip lining down several hundred feet. They also offered horseback riding, mountain biking, and other activities. No one was interested in hot springing so we drove to Whitehorse.

While Suz and Ernie went shopping for group food for the last couple of days and supplies for the Hildners' Chilkoot Trail hike, the rest of us went to look at the fish ladder and former site of Whitehorse Rapids. About one hundred Chinook salmon were returning each day so the fish ladder was pretty quiet. Bright red salmon could be seen swimming at the bottom of the fish ladder. Next we toured the old stern wheel steamer the SS Klondike. These boats ran between Whitehorse and Dawson Creek into the 1950's. Several had been stored in Whitehorse when paving of the roads made them unnecessary. Unfortunately all but the one on display have been destroyed in fires. The one on display has an advanced case of rot caused by the caulking material. Apparently it holds moisture and sets up conditions that lead to rot. The deck-by-deck tour started on the main deck where the cargo was stored and the power plant was located. The ship was wood fired and burned about 20 cords every 50 miles. Since it couldn't carry enough wood to make the entire trip, firewood storage yards existed every 50 miles or so downriver. 40 cords were needed downriver and 100+ cords to return. The next deck housed the dining and kitchen with first class quarters behind. Second class passengers rode on the lower deck, essentially in the ship's hold. More first class and the officers' quarters comprised the next deck up. Apparently one of the captain's perks was being allowed to have his wife along. The Parks Canada guide did an excellent job. Later most of the group went shopping downtown. Afterwards we met for dinner as a group at the New Asia restaurant. The food was good though the staff seemed slightly overwhelmed serving sixteen people at once.

It was still overcast in the morning, we packed up early, and were Skagway bound. Our first stop was Carcross (formerly Caribou Crossing until the local pastor became upset with his mail going to other places called Caribou something or other). Our group enjoyed the train station, Front Street, the visitor center and tourist shops that this small town had to offer. Its location on a narrow passage between Bennett Lake and Tagish Lake made it important for '98 prospectors traveling both via water and later via the White Pass Railway out of Skagway.

Unfortunately the beautiful tarn and mountain country on the way to White Pass was obscured by fog, which we emerged from as we reached the US customs and immigration station. Re-entry into the US went smoothly (border crossings in southeast Alaska were pretty informal). We arrived in Skagway in time to have lunch at a downtown park before heading for the train station. We were walked a short distance to a train that started from the tour boat dock. Initially old steam engine number 73 pulled the 18-car train, allowing everyone to get a few pictures. Shortly afterwards it was replaced by three diesels to pull up the steep grade. The cars have all been refurbished and are quite grand inside with wonderful wood paneling and huge windows to enhance the views. It is an excellent experience, especially on a clear day or one where the pass is below the fog.

Upon our return we all took an hour to look around historic downtown Skagway. Afterwards we drove to the Dyea National Park campground, where the ranger had the group camp reserved with a waterproof Marley sign. Since the two of us had not been lucky enough to camp at Dyea the previous year you can imagine our surprise when we found an empty campground. Our phone calls back and forth with the Dyea rangers appeared unnecessary. The sky was ominous so we rapidly erected two tarps over the kitchen area. The ranger turned up to meet us and warn us about bears. While fetching water for dishes we spotted more eagles down by the river. With the help of Susan L's candles and much effort with damp wood, we finally had a bonny fire going. We seeded the fire with charcoal so we could generate lots of coals to cook the four enormous salmon Suz had purchased in Whitehorse. With frequent turning of the aluminum foil packets we steamed them whole in wine and dill. Each was then divided into fourths. Afterwards we gathered around the campfire, told stories of past trips, and enjoyed the fire's warmth on a misty night.

We awoke to another dismal day and rather than try to hike on the Chilkoot Trail elected to venture back into Skagway to see more of the sights. In spite of the weather conditions, Carl and John were up before breakfast for a long hike on the trail. Since we didn't have to take down our tents or kitchen tarps, we had pancakes and took our time leaving for town. We dropped a couple of folks downtown but the majority went to the cemetery to see the gravesites of Frank Reid and Soapy Smith. Soapy was a despicable character who plundered the town until Frank shot him through the heart one day. Unfortunately Frank was shot in the groin at the same time and died an agonizing death several days later. One has a hero's tombstone but the other's site is still easily found and well marked. Being very good or very bad gets one recognized. There was a beautiful waterfall to be seen a short walk above the cemetery.

As soon as she got downtown, Suz picked up the fast ferry tickets for the next day. The rest of us chose to shop, see the museum, take the NPS tour of the downtown area, etc. About 3:30 PM it was amusing to find many of our group hanging out in the library reading the financial news, current magazines, or emailing up a storm. Gary had an exciting story to tell. Always the shit raiser, he had tried to inveigle his way onto one of the cruise ships. Initially he made it past two levels of security by playing dumb and telling them he forgot his key but the supervisor at the third level of check-in finally stopped him when no Frank Patterson could be found on the roster. He then had the temerity to try the same thing at another entry. This time the first level guy checked with the security chief immediately who then advised him to hold the guy in the blue jacket and ball cap as he was calling the police. Apparently Gary could hear both ends of the conversation and was out of there. After hopping some fences we found him downtown with a new look. The ball cap was gone and he had on his gray jacket. Guess in his enthusiasm to see the ship he forgot about the increased security levels and lack of humor associated with ship security personnel after 9/11. Before the local law could locate Gary, we regrouped and retired to our Dyea campsite to prepare a chili dinner.

It was drier at the campsite so we were able to get the fire going with a minimum of effort. Since Ernie, Sandy, and Susie R would not be able to see the Dyea townsite the next day, six of us took one of the vehicles and went out on the marshy flats to look for remnants of the 2-mile long wharf. The town had grown to 10,000 people as a result of the '98 Yukon gold rush only to fall back to a population of 3 by 1903. We found some of the pilings on the tidal beach and looked at obvious remains like the false front of the real estate agency and the storehouse. It was pretty fast but satisfied our three Chilkoot hikers.

Dinner preparation and happy hour were in full swing upon our return. Soon John arrived with a story of going beyond Sheep Camp on the Chilkoot. He figured he had walked about 31 miles but had to give it up when he started up the stairs. A bit later Carl arrived. He had made it to the top of the pass, finding himself in fog and not able to see anything. He seemed to be in much better shape than John even though he had walked 34 miles plus climbed and descended 3500'. We were all perplexed by why he hadn't taken his driver's license and walked out to the road. He could have returned by the highway after reaching the summit of the Chilkoot and only walked 24 miles with virtually no descent. They were both happy with their accomplishments and recovered by the next day.

Since most of the group was returning to Juneau and hotels that afternoon, it was important that we get things as dry as possible, so we had another leisurely morning. Ernie, Sandy, and Susie had packed most of their gear the prior evening to allow an early start on the Chilkoot Trail. After breakfast and goodbyes Bob drove them to the trailhead, took the obligatory photos, wished them well, and watched them get under way. Our gear was fairly dry and packed well before the scheduled time for the guided tour of Dyea so we talked to a commercial group of backpackers heading out on the trail and took pictures for them. Suz and I were surprised to find Ken the ranger was the same one who hosted the excellent Skagway city tour for us last year.

It was obvious Ken had spent plenty of time looking through the Dyea site. He carried with him historical photos of many of the main intersections and used them to lend comprehension to the existing forested site. Apparently the entire area is still rising from the loss of glacial weight. He thinks it is 8 foot higher now than it was in '98, when it was very marshy and many of the buildings were on piles as the photos showed. He pointed out decayed posts of the wharf and he had us stand in the regularly spaced depressions in the ground which showed the direction of the wharf. He led us to the site of the grand hotel that was erected in 3 days with wood shipped from Seattle and had a picture to testify to its size and glory. He took us to the graveyard and pointed out how the river has rerouted and swept much of the upstream portion of Dyea away. He showed us pictures of the military camp that was on the opposite side of the river, where the campground now stands. It was an excellent tour that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

After a quick walk around the Dyea cemetery by ourselves, we returned to town to eat lunch and make any last minute purchases. Suz, Carl, Scott, and Bob took the vehicles down to the ferry dock early and waited for the arrival of the Fairweather, a high speed catamaran. It was early and the loading was uneventful. We said reluctant goodbyes and took some pictures as our friends boarded. Scott and Carl would return the vehicles to Juneau for us as we were on our way north. We arrived in Haines Junction around 8:00 PM, rearranged our stuff, put the group cooking gear out of the way under the bed, took showers, had some snacks, and by 11:30 PM were exhausted and ready for bed.

Participants: Carolyn Balliet, Mike Blevins, Suz Groth, Ernie & Sandy Hildner, Jim Laskowski, Susan Lassiter, Bob Marley, Scott McCollough, Carol & Carl Muller, Gary & Trudy Patterson, Susie Raymond, Debbie & John Stenton

Return to September 2005 Newsletter