Haines

We reached the end of our Southeast ferry travels when we got to Haines.  The small town of Haines and the surrounding area is a great area to spend some time, so we decided to stay a couple of extra days and spend the 4th of July there.

Haines is another Alaska town in a pretty spectacular setting.

When we previously visited Haines in September of 2005, there were several brown bears feeding on the salmon running up the Chilkoot River a few miles from town.  Although we were too early for the salmon runs this trip, we did hear about a pair of three year old siblings that had been seen frequently near the mouth of the river.

We visited the American Bald Eagle Foundation Museum in Haines.

Eastern Screech Owl

Red-tailed Hawk

We also visited the Kroschel Wildlife Center several miles out of town.  The wildlife center is run by an interesting filmmaking character.

A young female wolf named "Isis"

The foxes were molting from their heavy winter coats to summer fur coats.

Pair of weasels

Lynx

"Kitty" the brown bear (aka grizzly bear)

Porcupine

Mink

Owner Steve Kroschel with Arctic Fox

"Banff" the wolverine

We enjoyed the small town 4th of July celebration in Haines.  They had a typical small town parade of locals for the locals.

Opening color guard

Local family

One of the floats

But the most memorable thing about the parade was the amount of candy that was tossed by parade participants to the onlookers.  Several children were prepared with paper grocery bags.

That evening we watched the fireworks show from the harbor area.  The show began at 11:00pm because of the long daylight, and even then the mountains in the background were very visible.

On our last night in the Haines area we boondocked alongside the road between the ferry terminal and the end of the Chilkoot River.

At this location we had quite an eagle show.