Hiking Alaskan Style

I was planning to write this blog and post it yesterday. When we got back to our ship from our tour I sat on the balcony as we cruised down the Lynn Canal viewing and counting the number of bald eagles I saw. I got up to seven and had to leave for dinner. It was fantastic watching them soaring through the air and diving at the water to catch their dinner.

Haines, Alaska where they get over 16 feet of snow each year!

The year round population is about 2,500 people. In the fall when the salmon come to spawn in the Chilkat river next to Haines, the bald eagles outnumber the residents. They say around 4,000 eagles come to feast on the salmon. We were also told that you can go to the river during the salmon run and see 10 to 15 bears fishing in the river for their next meal.

In the 1900’s an army post (Fort Seward) was established in Haines.  The post was closed in 1946 after the end of WWII.

We took a nature hike through one of state parks near Haines.  We hiked out to Battery Point (the army was gone to build a gun battery here to protect the harbor during WWII but never did) and on to Bear Bend (so named by the guides because it’s a good place to spot bears) before turning back and heading for the trailhead and our bus. The hike was around four miles through some rough terrain.Our two tour guides were year-round residents of Haines.  They gave us a lot of insight on what it is like to live in Alaska year-round.  Haines is only one of three communities in southeast Alaska that you are able to drive into Canada and the main part of Alaska without taking a ferry.

Cindy, Peggy and Verne trying to avoid the tree roots as they negotiate the trail.

  Cindy and Peggy heading down the trail.

Verne (Muir) and Bill (Appleseed) at Battery Point.

View from Battery Point.

On our way to  Bear Bend we passed by a tree that the bears use to scratch their backs and sharpen their claws.

If you look close at the above photo you can see some hair from the bears!

We did have a beautiful view from Bear Bend but no bears :-(

After a fantastic hike we headed back to our floating hotel and off to our next port of call.