Day 30, September 13
Our day started out pretty much a blur as we had a very long drive ahead and two border crossings to get thru before arriving in Haines, Alaska where our ferry would take us thru the inside passage on our way HOME!
We estimated the drive should take us approximately 10 hours but we had no idea what the border crossings might add on. So up and on the road by 6 am was my driver’s request :). We drove along the Alaska Highway and crossed into the Yukon as the same place we’d crossed several weeks earlier. Once again the border agent was friendly and was more interested in our van and how it worked out along our journey – a few minutes later and we were on our way again.
Once we got to Haines Junction our travels took us on a different route that we’d not traveled before as it headed south and slightly west of the route we’d come up. And it didn’t disappoint. When we started our drive the weather was mostly in the 70-80 range and night time temps were cool around 50. As we’ve travelled we’ve begun to notice the day time temps aren’t getting much above 60 and the night time temps are hat and glove temps and definitely heater on in the van before getting out of bed (at least that’s my method, Ron usually up and making coffee as I wait for the heater to kick in). As we’ve started our drive home we’ve also noticed the stunning color changes taking place. The golden colors of Aspen, Birch and Poplars are cascading through the conifers of this boreal forest. It’s been amazing to see these trees change into their fall colors along with the alpine bearberry turning brilliant red.
I really wanted to stop at every pull out to take a photo but our time was so limited with the long drive that I had to settle for only a few stops. Ironically, what we’ve learned is that there is often a sign along the Alaska Highway indicating a view pull out ahead. When you arrive, the birch and poplar trees have over grown the area and there is absolutely no view to be seen. We had more success pulling over and I’d hang out of the window to catch the shot!
Continued south on Hwy 3 to the Dalton Cache – Pleasant Camp Border Crossing. Literally an tiny home in the middle of the highway is the crossing. I think we spent at least 15 minutes just chatting with the border agent – small highway and very little traffic besides eagles and bears! Haines is known as the Valley of the Eagles as every autumn 3000-4000 eagles descend along the Chilkat river to feast on late season salmon. Peak viewing is usually in October so we are just a bit early for the arrival of the eagles.
Arrived in Haines and settled in our campsite along with all the other people camping to await the arrival of the Ferry. As we were preparing dinner one of our fellow campers mentioned we should really head up to the Chilkoot River to see BEAR O’CLOCK. Since we discovered there were no restaurants or any shops open on Monday in Haines, we ate our dinner quickly and headed out to see if we could find some bears.
Parked the van just along the road and in less than a minute a large bear strolled right by us. A wildlife ranger told us to step back some as her cubs always followed slowly behind her – sure enough two cubs came tumbling down the hill, wrestling with each other as they made their way to the Chilkoot River.
Pretty quickly another mother and two cubs arrived on the opposite side of the river and within 20 minutes we were watching over 20 bears catching salmon and cubs fighting over the salmon that mom just caught. It was a wild experience to be standing there on the banks of this river while bears are feet away chomping on salmon – even the crunching was audible!
Ferry Me Home
Days 31 -35 September 14-18th
When we first started planning our trip we chose a date to catch the ferry home. With limited space on the ferry and a Sprinter it’s mandatory to book your spot at least 6 months in advance. We scheduled our trip working backwards from this date so we knew we could NOT miss this boat or it would be a very long drive home. As we sat in line it was not only fascinating to see all the sizes and shapes of vehicles waiting to get loaded on board but the Jenga way the crews had to position the vehicles based on what stop they were exiting on. It took almost 2 hours to fully load, find our “cabin” and settle in for the four day Inside Passage journey on the Alaska Marine Highway which connects Haines to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and finally, Bellingham, Washinton.
The ferry system is run by the government of Alaska so we experienced staff that were super helpful and friendly and then those that were obviously waiting out retirement. The funniest moment was the gentleman in the dining room who couldn’t even be bothered to touch the table he was supposedly wiping for the next guest and instead just moved the used placemat around. But horrifyingly we learned too late that the order of red wine did NOT get loaded on the boat and our only option with dinner was a white wine….which promptly ran out by day three! Thankfully, we had a bottle left over from our travels in the van and were able to enjoy a glass or should I say a paper cup of wine each night in our very small cabin. Thankful that five weeks of traveling in the van really taught us how to dance around small spaces with the exception of the BUNK BEDS. Of course, I had to sleep on the upper bunk which meant each night Ron would pull out the ladder, I’d crawl into bed (there was very little headspace) and would have to await Ron to reset the ladder so that I might exit my bunk bed. I really can’t imagine how some people on board managed the bunk beds!
The ferry only made two stops with any daylight time to explore so we did get to walk around Sitka and Ketchikan for a few hours. The inside passage was beautiful and we had three opportunities to see Orca’s, lots of sea birds and small communities along the route. The ferry would allow passengers to head down to their vehicles only twice each day for 15 minutes which was mostly to allow people to get their dogs out of the cars for a bathroom break and stretch. I cannot imagine how Tazzie would have survived that environment. One dog did make a break for it by chewing through the trucks cracked windows. The owners were called below to round him up as he was joyfully running between, under and around all the parked vehicles while the ferry crew had a good laugh.
The Alaska Marine Highway might have difficulty with supply inventories but they are certainly very prompt. We arrived in Bellingham exactly 4 days later at 8:15 am and we were back on the road heading home!
Fun Stats:
We drove 5315 miles (Ron probably drove 90% of those miles)
We used 337 gallons of diesel
The highest price was $9.32/gal US in Whistler Canada
The lowest price was $5.68/gal in TOK Alaska
We camped 22 nights in the van
Spent 4 nights on a Ferry and the rest at fishing lodges and one really shitty hotel!
It only rained enough for a rain jacket twice – both on a fishing day!
Canal LYNN in Haines is the deepest fjord in North American … maybe that’s what I am named after 🙂
Number of days Tazzie was upset with us for leaving: 1 or maybe she was upset that we came home and Violet had to leave….
And that’s Alaska 2026!
Signing off until the next adventure. Thanks for reading along with us.
Cheers -The Rambling PA’s
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