Haines Things to Do

I visted here in September 2006 and loved this place! I am a nature nut and nature photographer and this special place certainly kept my shutter busy. When I visited the Grizzly bears were out and feeding on Salmon in the river. You can park your car right along the road and watch the bears catch the fish and eat them. Unbelievable! I saw 7 bears at one time on the river. Chilcoot lake is a state park, the road meanders alng the river till you reach the end at the lake. I saw many many bald eagles, blue herons, mergansers, steller Jays, and of course the bears!

This is a view of the glacier... FROM the glacier!!!! Magnificent mountains of blue ice all around you, and there are little streams running among the rocks, originated by the ice that melts and which are very clean!! I even drank some of that water... it's fresh and delicious!

This is me standing next to the helicopter that took me to the glacier, after it had landed... It's soooo cold up there, but beautiful too!! And just flying on the helicopter to get there is an awesome experience -- at least for people like me who just LOVE to fly!

...Then you should take a helicopter ride which will take you up to one of the magnificent glaciers located close to Haines! This is the view from the helicopter while flying towards the glacier! Yooo hooo!!

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Spent 4 hours riding through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve with River Adventures. A bus picks you up at the Fast Ferry Terminal and drives you up the valley. The Fast Ferry brings over cruise ship passengers from Skagway for the various tours offered in Haines.
The jet boat was good sized and well maintained. The country they take you though is beautiful. But what really impressed me was the skill of the boat's skipper. That is a shallow river and it meanders thru many narrow channels. Not once did we get stuck. Saw some eagles, cranes and moose.

Understand there is some controversy locally, as some don't like the impact such a vessel may have on the salmon and wildlife. I can't speak to the biology involved but I did feel they worked hard to minimize the stress to the ecosystem.

The first people to call the Chilkat Valley (Haines, Alaska) home were the Tlingit Indians.

Because the area which is now the bald eagle preserve has rivers that never froze over in the winter, they had yearly access to fish. Game and berries were also plentiful. Because their food and resources were abundant, they could spend more time on other skills and less on survival. They were the ones who made the totem poles as their form of recording history.

Missionaries and fishermen... Naturalist John Muir and Mr. Young of the Presbyterian Home Missions Board came to Haines in 1879. They scouted out a location for the mission and school, which was called "Dei-Shu" or "Endof the Trail". The town itself was named after Francina Haines of the mission board.

John Muir said of the fish in Haines, " Their numbers are beyond conception... there seem to be more fish than water."

I believe the Sheldon Museum is located on the site of the old mission. Pioneer history is on display there. We didn't get to see inside, as time was short. But, if you do have a chance - do take a look!

We REALLY ENJOYED this trip. With the Fjord Express to Juneau, we also stopped to see wildlife and the entire day cruise package.

In Juneau, we had transportation provided by the company to see mendenhall Glacier, the state capital, governor's mansion and downtown Juneau.

We saw a pod of 25 orcas, humpback whales, puffins, sea lions, seals - it was an incredible journey! Breakfast and light dinner provided.

At the American Bald Eagle Foundation, you will find a collection of animals preserved for your enjoyment.

The eagle, moose, salmon, bear, etc. - all of the wild animals you could see from a distance but not get close enough to study and really SEE what they look like - they're here. Real animals that have been salvaged from road-kill, or some other untimely death and taxidermied/preserved and placed into the collection.

We actually turned around to return to Haines to see this collection at the suggestion of someone we met along the highway while observing a bald eagle in the trees by the road. We enjoyed it... and it was well worth the $3 admission.