Haines v.2

 

 I am really enjoying Haines. It really has the small town Alaska feel to it. It is 150 miles from the Alaskan Hwy so it doesn't get the heavy tourist traffic. It has dock for the larger cruise ships but it only gets a small percentage of the cruise ships. Most cruise ships go to Skagway because of the railway to Whitehorse and other reasons.

Think of Ely with a branch of the ocean attached to it (the Lynne Canal). I told Marne it was like Grand Marais because it has a man made small boat harbor but Grand Marais is more "upscale". Haines is more blue collar like Ely. Haines is a little bigger than Ely but has a lot of the same feel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hammer Museum (Randy's favorite place!)

Before there was a Haines there was Fort Wm Seward. The fort got started in 1898 to provide  law and order for all of the gold rush miners. At first it was just a tent encampment. Wooden buildings were first built in 1902.

The fort lies just on the outskirts of the city. Many of the buildings have been saved and are in use today. Most of the original drill field remains. The houses and other building were built around the drill field. The fort was closed after WWll. In 1978 it was listed as a National Historic Landmark.

 Two units are built together. Only the Commanding Officer and Surgeon had their own residences. This is one of the Officers buildings.

This was the headquarters building, now used as a house. This building has not been maintained very well.

The Officers' housing as seen from the drill field.

Sunday I hiked to the summit of Mt Riley. Every hike in Alaska has a mountain attached to it which means a long uphill hike. It was drizzling and grey and cloudy but I made the summit. There was no view at the top. I was in the clouds/fog/drizzle so I wasn't able to see any view. I imagine the view of the Lynne Canal would have been spectacular.

 

 

Haines also has a section called "Dalton". This was part of the set of the "White Fang" Disney movie made in 1990. In 1991 many of the buildings from the set were moved to Haines and this little Main St was set up.

 

 

 

                                   

 

 

For a holiday it is very quiet here today. The tourist season is pretty much over. My RV park is at best a quarter full. Tomorrow I start the actual trip home. I had planned ahead as far Haines. I do not have any specific stops on the way home now until I get to Roselyn, Wa.. I'll just camp when it gets to the end of the day. I do hope to be somewhere with TV service next Sunday so I can watch some of the opening football games. If you look at  map, I'll be taking the Cassiar Hwy which will go south from Watson Lake down through Prince George and Kamloops BC.

The clouds finally cleared out today so I could take a few more photos of Haines showing the mountains.