November 18th
Our last day in Haines. We drove out toward Canada again, stopping to watch eagles. We had lunch at Mile 33, the last services before Canada. On the way back we saw another river otter "ottering" around in the snowy bank of the river. So cute! Got back in time to catch the ferry to Juneau. Spent Monday doing a little birding (chestnut-backed chickadee, running some errands and relaxing. That evening we concluded our trip by watching "The Big Year" which we both enjoyed. Left Tuesday morning for home. What a fantastic, amazing and inspiring trip. Thanks for sharing it with me via blog!
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| Mile 33 - delicious burgers! |
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| Fighting over salmon |
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| Cute river otter! |
Another day watching eagles, but today was totally clear, with an amazing blue sky. I understand now why everyone is enthralled with Haines, as magnificent mountains surrounded us all day! Today the eagles were mostly perched in trees. Counting eagles in the trees across the river, I gave up after 200. Unbelievable! We stopped at various spots to watch eagles, as we drove out the road toward Canada. We drove by so many beautiful lakes, rivers and vistas, including Mosquito Lake and Porcupine Crossing. At 2:00 there was a totem unveiling in the native village of Klukwan which we attended. There was singing, dancing and speeches by the elders. A truly authentic event, which was very moving. We felt very fortuntate to be there!
November 16th
Today we decided to go out to Chilkoot Lake to look for the dippers that we had been told were there. It turned out to be a good decision. In addition to seeing some gorgeous scenery and at least seven dippers, we saw a river otter and a brown bear! The river otter was almost magical, the way it swam and moved between water and snowy bank. I had never seen this kind of otter before; really fun to watch. The bear was an unusual sight in November. We watched it from the bank, as it was eating fish in the river and felt fairly secure, but when he headed up the bank, I quickly got in the car. I was able to get a really good picture, but that is as close as I ever want to be to a bear!
In the afternoon we attended lectures at the Eagle Festival. Before dinner, we made a quick stop at the Sheldon Museum and then had Thai food for dinner. Another great day!
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| Chilkoot Lake |
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| Close encounters of the brown bear kind!! |
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| Common mergansers or goldeneyes... |
November 15th
Today was the day I've been dreaming about for a long time. We boarded the bus to go out to the Chilkat preserve to view the eagles. My expectations were exceeded!! The weather had improved greatly; no snow, rain or wind! We saw well over 300 bald eagles, probably closer to 400. It was truly an amazing sight to see so many eagles in one location, in trees or on the ground, eating fish, protecting their meal from ravens and magpies. The 2 and a half hours flew by, as we took pictures, watched eagles, and other birds, chatted with other birders, etc. Speaking of other birds, we also saw trumpeter swans, common mergansers, magpies, and a hairy woodpecker. We were treated to a spectacular view of 2 trumpeter swans flying right in front of us; beautiful birds!
After returning on the bus we went to get a hot lunch and warm up. Afterwards, we browsed through some shops and then headed home to rest and regroup. In the evening we went to the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, which included a delicious salmon dinner. The films were all about nature, environmental issues and outdoor sports. Very fun evening.
Tomorrow we're headed back out to see the eagles; can't wait!!!!!
Internet is very sketchy here and working on my blog is difficult. I've decided to finish it up when I get back to Juneau, so won't be posting again until Monday.
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| Beautiful landscape |
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| Friends since 7th grade! |
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| Winter wonderland |
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| Wow! |
Jane and I caught the 7am ferry from Juneau to Haines. It as dark when we left Juneau and it was fun to watch the shore and snowy mountains come in to view as the sky lightened. We passed the time enjoying the view, having breakfast and visiting with other passengers that were also headed for the Bald Eagle Festival. The highlight of the ferry trip was seeing a humpback whale breach. More than once. Probably about 7 or 8 times!!! I understand this is a very unusual sight so I feel very fortunate to have witnessed it. Very memorable!!
It was snowing when we arrived in Haines! Jane drove us to the Festival site in her trusty Subaru; given the weather conditions, we are both happy to have a car!. We registered for the Festival and then went to our motel to check in. After getting settled we attended a presentation on eagle migration and learned about the local eagle counting methodology and the history of eagles in the Chilkat Preserve. In the evening we went to the banquet, and enjoyed a very delicious halibut dinner.
