Last night at dinner we sat next to a couple from Sterling
Alaska. From Gustavus they fly to Haines and then drive 18 hours over 2 days to
get home (home is a 20 by 14 ft cabin. They are going to build an ecofriendly
house with a basement and 2 upper floors when they have saved enough money ( 2
years time) and they intend to live there forever. They have 2 acres backing on
to the Kenai Wildlife Reserve ( 2 million acres). The only problem is that they
have to be careful when going to the toilet because they often cross bear
tracks between their cabin and the outhouse. They also have to have all their
food for the winter stockpiled. They eat fish and moose and have that frozen
but they spent some of their time at Glacier Bay collecting berries to take
home for the winter. Originally they came from Texas and Vermont so they have
made a deliberate decision to live in the remote area of Alaska. The fellow
flies to the oil fields for work: 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off and she works for
a mining company which lets her work similar hours so they have 2 weeks off
each month. It was very interesting listening to their stories.
This morning the sky was grey for the first time on our trip
but it didn’t last very long. We were lucky that our tour of the Bay had been
yesterday because this morning you could not see any of the snow capped
mountains. They were lost in the clouds but I think that today’s Bay travellers
would have seen them later after the clouds lifted. Given that we were booked
on the 6 seater plane again today to get to Skagway, we were more concerned
about reduced visibility and the probability of arriving safe and sound. At
breakfast, a very helpful waitress tried to help other guests plan their day
and suggested they go on a hike to the famous plane wreck nearby. Apparently
you can write your name on it. I hope they are careful because the rogue bear
was seen on one of the hiking tracks yesterday.
Stu drove us back to the airport and once again gave us lots
of information about the area. He is of Hoona Tlingit descent and lives in the
area. Neil asked him about weapons. In Alaska you can carry weapons, even
concealed ones. One day he and his wife came face to face with a black bear. He
scared the bear by firing a shot between the bear’s toes but he was going to
fire the next shot between the bear’s eyes if the bear didn’t get the message and leave. The only
other option would be to be macho and take on the bear to protect his wife but
that could have ended very badly. Perhaps he could have let his wife take on
the bear but he felt that in all fairness he would have had to warn the bear
that his wife can kick, scratch and fight like hell!!! The bear would have been
in big trouble. Luckily the bear left.
We arrived at Gustavus airport and when our plane arrived we
were very very happy. It was a 10 seater and the newest plane in the fleet AND
there were steps to board the plane. YES!!!!! We took off through the light
clouds and at first flew between 2 sets of snow capped mountains. It looked
like the mountains were floating on cotton wool. The ones on the left of the
plane were higher and had more snow on them. The highest peak there was Mt
Fairweather which we had seen from the boat the day before. The view from the
plane all the way to Skagway was fantastic, beautiful, incredible and majestic.
I’ll try to describe it but it will be difficult. We flew over mountains with
snowfields in cirques and beautiful ming blue lakes in small cup-shaped gouged
holes. At lower altitudes after the cloud cleared, we could see trees, grass
and waterways meandering through the valleys but the tops of the peaks were
rock and snow. As far as you could see on both sides of the plane, there were
rocky snow-capped mountains waiting for the next winter snow falls so lots of
small glaciers would flow again.
Suddenly we came across a huge field of snow and ice which
seemed to join all the mountains together. It was the start of the Davidson
Glacier and it descended U shaped valleys into a beautiful lake/inlet
from the inside passage. We saw mountain goats on the sheer rock walls grazing
on something above the glacier. Amazing!! The next glacier was smaller and
stopped in a suspended hanging valley and entered the water as a waterfall. The
pilot was great!! He skilfully tilted the plane at angles so that we could see
everything. We flew over Haines airport and marvelled at the pretty aqua water
below. The spruce trees grew almost to the edge of the water and a neat border
of small rocks gave the water’s edge a clear definition.
We followed the water like a highway and saw 4 cruise ships
docked at Skagway. Six helicopters were lined up to take cruise ship passengers
up to see the sights we had just seen. We came in for a perfect landing and it
was a pity that the flight had to end. It was spectacular and we are very happy
that Carol from Alaska Ferry Adventures included this in our tour. In fact
every day seems to be better than the day before. Alaska is a hidden gem that
more people should hear about and include in trips to America.
Skagway was established in 1898 as a mining town in that
miners arrived here by boat and left from here to go to the Klondikes. Many of
the streets have been set up to show what the town was like then eg there is a
dancing review and before the show girls hang out of the upper windows to
invite customers to the next show. The population of Skagway is normally about
800 people but with 10,000 people from 4 cruise ships in town, the streets were
very busy. These ships will leave tonight but apparently another 4 ships will
dock tomorrow so, it seems, the town relies on tourism and, in Summer, money
flows well.
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