Subject: My Day 21 – Monday in Anchorage
Just got done booking my ticket on the Alaska Marine Highway! From Anchorage I drive to Haines, Alaska so that my jeep and I will board the ferry and begin our travels by boat. According to the brochure Haines is on the shores of the longest, deepest fjord in North America. What is a fjord you may ask; well, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. Haines is supposed to be beautiful with its framed snow capped White Mountains year round.
From Haines I then head to Juneau, also on the inside passage route of the marine highway. The schedule says that my departure date is Sunday, Jul 24th at 0900 and jeep and I arrive Juneau, Alaska at 1:30 p.m. I stay
in Juneau until Tuesday (Jul 26) where we then board another ferry at 01:15 AM and depart to Bellingham, WA arriving at 0800 AM on Friday
July 29th, 2011.
My Arctic Alaska Jeep adventure is now sort of winding down except for my visits to Washington, Oregon and the California trip home. I did miss some great country in both Canada and Alaska as well as all the hot springs this side of the world that I would’ve loved to have also visited. However, the highlight of my visit is having gotten reacquainted with my “Wet Dog Race” friends. Thank you Petr for all the great hospitality – the place to stay, halibut fishing, shrimping and crabbing, Ferrari road trip tour down to Homer.
I’ll hit my SPOT on Face book so you can track my progress but, for planning purposes Haines is 80 air miles northwest of Juneau, just south of the Canadian border at British Columbia and 600 air miles southeast of Anchorage and Fairbanks.
I travel by road for 775 miles from Anchorage just to get there. The town encompasses 13.5 sq. miles of land and 8.0 sq. miles of water. Haines has a maritime climate characterized by cool summers and mild winters. Summer temperatures range from 46 to 66 °F; winter temperatures range from 10 to 36 °F. Total precipitation averages 52 inches a year, with 133 inches of snowfall. The Haines area was called "Dei Shu" by the Tlingit, meaning "end of the trail." The Chilkat Tlingit tightly controlled the trading routes between the coast and the Interior.
During the Klondike gold rush in the late 1890s, Haines grew as a mining supply center, since the Dalton Trail from Chilkat Inlet to Whitehorse offered an easier route to the Yukon for prospectors. Gold was also discovered 36 miles from Haines in 1899 at the Porcupine District. Four canneries were constructed in the area by the turn of the century and the first U.S. military installation in Alaska, Fort William H. Seward (1904).
In 1922, the fort was renamed Chilkoot Barracks. Until World War II, it was the only U.S. Army post in Alaska. It was deactivated in 1946 and sold as surplus property to a group of veterans who established it as Port Chilkoot. In 1970, the City of Port Chilkoot (formed in 1956) merged with Haines into one municipality. In 1972, the post was designated a national historic site, and the name, Fort William Seward, was restored. The last of the early canneries closed in 1972 due to declining fish stocks. Expansion of the timber industry in the early 1970s fueled growth. The sawmills closed in 1976
Haines is now predominantly a non-Native community. There are two Chilkat Indian Villages in the area, the Chilkoot in Haines and the Chilkat in Klukwan.
Haines is also home to the world's largest congregation of bald eagles, who feed from the hot spring-fed rivers. The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, located 18 miles from Haines, is a major attraction in Southeast Alaska.
Haines is a major trans-shipment point because of its ice-free, deep-water port and dock and year-round road access to Canada and Interior Alaska on the Haines and Alaska highways. It is a northern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System, a cruise ship port-of-call, and a hub for transportation to and from Southeast Alaska.
Have a great day and see you on the marine highway!
Trawlercat
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