Update #5: Prince Rupert, B.C. (October 14, 2004)   View a map!

Okay, I lied. I wasn't quite done with Alaska.

Bald eagle. Haines, AK.

Beaver Creek, Yukon.

True, I did hit the road as scheduled the day after my Barrow trip, having spent the night in Anchorage's creepiest hostel (like other Alaskan hostels, the International Backpacker's Hostel doesn't house actual backpackers in the off season so much as weird itinerent workers with thunderous snores).

Winter settles on Kluane Park. Yukon.

On the morning of Thursday 10/7 I headed east along a stretch of highway known as the Tok Cut-off - which is apparently quite a beautiful stretch of highway, tho' the rain & low clouds didn't reveal much of it - then onto the Alaska Highway, and by nightfall I had crossed the border and made the town of Beaver Creek. The next day: The Yukon, part deux. The weather was nicer - sunny, cold, snow showers - and I was able to enjoy views of Kluane National Park (R) and its beautiful mountains. That morning I got in some good wildlife viewing thanks in part to a mischievous hawk who kept teasing me by posing in treetops just long enough for me get my lenscap off, then flying away, conning me into jumping back into the jeep & following him until he would perch in another tree a few hundreds yards further down the road; lather, rinse, repeat until he had led me to lovely Pickhandle Lake. By then he'd lost me, but I didn't care as I scored the following shots:

Pickhandle Lake, Yukon (top) and three of its residents: Muskrat (bottom left), magpie (bottom center) and red squirrel (bottom right).

Haines, AK.

By midday the rain & clouds had returned. Now at this point I could have kept going until I hit Whitehorse, where I would then pick up the same route I had taken on my way up. Instead, however, I dipped down south along a little piece of road called the Haines Highway, and by evening I was back in - yep, you guessed it - good ol' Alaska! This little diversion allowed me to enter the northern corner of the panhandle to see the town of Haines (L), and from there hop a ferry to Skagway and then up another stretch of highway and I'd be back on my way in a few days. And what's in Haines, you ask? Eagles!

"I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here today." Portage Bay, Haines, AK.

In fact, Haines is Bald Eagle Central for Alaska. Most of the year, the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is home to an estimated 300-400 of the raptors. Too bad I couldn't be here a month later, however, when something like three to four thousand come to Haines to feast on the late salmon run! Of course, a few gazillion tourists also congregate here to view them, so I'm just as happy to get out intact with a few pictures. In fact, although the preserve is the marquee eagle-viewing location, I had better luck at nearby Portage Bay where they were fewer but closer (R). On the downside, I did have to take pictures while holding my nose, as the shores of the bay were carpeted with rotting fish carcasses. Ewww. The hostel in town was pretty much closed (they were only renting expensive cabins), but I found a motel owner who rented me a musty caravan he had parked out back for twenty bucks.

Makes a Seattlite proud. Skagway, AK.

After two days of eagle watching I grabbed a ferry to Skagway, the first place in Alaska I visted on this trip I had actually been to before, tho' that was as part of a cruise-ship throng five years ago. Now, however, with the tourist season gone the place was a ghost town; the hostel owner seemed startled when I showed up at her door. I took a pleasant little hike at the edge of town, tho' the rain-foresty trail could just as well have been in Washington. Too bad I missed the trail maps at the trailhead; if I had one, I would have known that as I was following the incongruous elevated steel pipe through the woods that I was in fact not lost, and would have followed it the final 200 yards (out of 3.5 miles) to the promised waterfall. Ah, well. When I made it back to town it was just getting dark, and I found what could be the only restaurant still operating in Skagway: Glacier Pizza (yum! look it up if you're ever there).

Moonscape along the Klondike Highway. Fraser, B.C.

The next day was nice as I headed out along the gorgeous Klondike Highway back to Canada. This picture (R) shows a "moonscape"; I didn't get the exact explanation, but some combination of high elevation & rocky earth makes it difficult for trees to grow there, resulting in this barren landscape. This part of USA/Canada is gold rush territory, by the way; the modern highway parallels nineteenth-century prospector routes, including the Chilkoot Trail. By early afternoon I regained the Alaska Highway and pressed on, this time remembering to keep the tank topped off at most every opportunity in this remote part of the Yukon. By nightfall I had turned southbound onto the Cassier Highway (you may remember the rainbow pic from update #1?), targeting a northern B.C. town called Dease Lake to spend the night. Along the way, dark and clear skies provided some great stargazing, and one more (final?) peek at the northern lights:

Along the Cassier Highway, northern B.C.

Tuesday, October 12. When I left Seattle back in August I decided I would share the wealth of my wheels, and after giving rides to 4 different hitchhikers in the first three days I thought that would be a recurring theme for this trip. Consequently, I didn't see one single hitcher the rest of the trip until the morning I left Dease Lake, when I found this fellow wandering along the highway a dozen miles south of the town:

How much is that doggy riding shotgun? Northern B.C.

Since I found this guy in a spot where there was absolutely jack - and the map indicated that was nothing but more jack for miles beyond - I figured he was lost & picked him up, and spent the next half hour or so driving around and trying to figure out where he could have come from. He was a sweet little guy, and rather than worrying about being lost he seemed to enjoy the adventure! Eventually I stumbled on a couple of moose hunters camped off the highway, who pointed me down a narrow dirt road to a small horse ranch a couple of miles from where I found him. Happy reunion ensued ... Although I was glad to get him home, I was also sad to see him go; I did find it awfully nice to have a fuzzy little traveling companion, even for just a little while. Wheels turn, thinks: perhaps if Cat were heavily sedated ...

My good deed for the day accomplished I made tracks southbound, and the rest of that day was uneventful (unless you count the driver-side windshield wiper falling off & me standing by the side of the road in the rain lashing it back in place with a piece of dental floss); I found a pub where I could catch the baseball game (my true goal for the day), then hit rainy Prince Rupert at 10:30, just in time to wake up the hostel owner. The hostel here is one of the nicest yet, a refurbished hotel (and cheap, too, only about $12/day after currency conversion). And with 3 days to kill before my ferry to Vancouver Island, and the weather too crummy for much sightseeing, you, dear reader, have lucked into one more update. Prince Rupert is a nice enough little town, its economy largely tied to tourism and the ferry docks. The touristy waterfront is located on body of water called Cow Bay. Guess how every quaint shop is named & decorated? See below for hint:

Top: Cow Bay. Bottom: Planters near the waterfront. Yesterday I had a "moo-cha" at a cutesy place called Cowpuccino's. Insulin, please. Prince Rupert, B.C.

Okay, that's all you get. The next time you here from me I'll be back in the Emerald City!

Miles driven so far: 5,900!

 - Rob

Special bonus pic: Restroom at Prince Rupert's classy Crest Hotel.