Hanging out in Haines

August 9, 2024 – Friday – Day 47

It was a rainy morning, and it rained most of the day.  We left camp and drove in the rain to Delta Junction.  We stopped in the visitor center, but it was raining so we didn’t stay in town long.  We continued to Tok and stopped for gas.  We then drove into Canada and camped alongside a river.  Since it was overcast, the night got pretty dark and it was the quietest night we have had in a long time.

August 10, 2024 – Saturday – Day 48

The rain stopped in the morning, and we drove back into the US and continued to Haines, Alaska.  At the visitor’s center the man working there is the local branch president.  

President Kalani Kanahele is a very nice guy, and he invited us to stay after church tomorrow for a potluck dinner.  We stopped by the store and bought a cheesecake to share.  He also offered that we could camp in the church parking lot.  They also have a small cabin on the church property that they used to use for the missionaries.  They haven’t had missionaries for a while, so it is empty.  He offered that we could stay there, but we declined and just camped in the van in the church parking lot.

We also drove out to Chilkoot St Park to check out an area that supposed to have bears.  We saw some bald eagles, but no bears.  We will try again tomorrow.

August 11,2024 – Sunday – Day 49

We went to church today at the Haines Branch, which was right outside the door of the van.  It is a very small branch.  There were 13 in attendance, counting us.  And the bad news is a family of 4 is moving back to Kentucky this week.  That will eliminate their primary class and almost half of their regular members.  After sacrament meeting the branch president and his wife sang a Hawaiian farewell song to the family that was moving.  Eva cried through the entire song.

After church they had a potluck dinner.  There was plenty of food and it was all good, including some nice sourdough bread.

We called the kids after lunch and then we drove back out to Chilkoot St Park and found a parking spot.  We rested around camp until the evening, and then we walked down to the spot where bears are usually found.

It was about a mile walk from camp to the section of the river where everyone watches for bears.  We passed a few groups of people, and we were walking alongside the river when a large female black bear appeared right in front of us.  It was about 10 yards away and walking towards us.  We first froze, trying to decide whether to go wide around her or back up.  There was not enough room to go around, so we walked backwards.  

The bear seemed to ignore us and just kept walking along the river.  We took several pictures and videos, but then the other people saw the bear and started following it.  We were not too close, but the bear looked annoyed and turned away and went back down the river with a clump of people with big cameras following it.  It was funny to watch.  We jumped ahead and found a clear spot to get some nice pictures and videos.

We were surprised and a little scared when we first saw the bear.  When we have seen other bears, we were in the van or a bus.  Or there was a large group of people.  This time it was just us and the bear.  I think these bears are used to ignoring people, but it was a shock to us.  While walking back to camp we saw a seal in the river swimming around looking for fish.

August 12, 2024 – Monday – Day 50

Today we visited Fort Seward, an army fort from the early 19^th century.  Filled our water up from a natural spring and spent the afternoon at the Chilkat State Park on Chilkat bay.  It was a nice sunny day, which has been rare. Tomorrow we move on to Skagway.