Driving the Golden Circle, Haines to Whitehorse
Yesterday was the second our of 2-day drive around “The Golden Circle”, although we added a couple of hundred kilometers with a side-trip out to Kluane Lake.
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The view from my room at the Captain’s Choice Motel at 07:15 as I headed upstairs for a coffee and muffin.
Downtown Haines, looking north from in front of the motel.
Our first stop was at the Southeast Alaska Fairgrounds to see Dalton City, the frontier town that was built for the filming of Disney’s “White Fang” in 1990. While most of the buildings are usable for shops, the Dalton Transfers Stage Line building to the far right is only 2 feet deep.
I stopped along the Haines Highway for a minute to watch Trumpeter swans on the Chilkat River.
We stopped at the main viewing and information area for the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, but there were no eagles. We did see 3 not far up the highway, but November is when the big bald eagle gathering and festival happens.
After a quick and pleasant crossing back into Canada at Pleasant Camp, we experienced an interesting temperature inversion. The temperature in Haines was -13°C (+9°F), but as we climbed up towards the summit, instead of dropping as it normally does, the temperature rose to -9°C (+16°F).
The wind was screaming up on the Haines Summit, though, so as beautiful as it was, watching it from inside a warm van was good. Every Easter weekend, a small city forms here when snowmobilers from all over the Yukon, Alaska, and even BC and Alberta, arrive and set up camp in RVs and tents for one final blast of wilderness snowmobiling. See my article “Spring Snowmobiling in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park” for a look at that weekend.
We stopped at Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park to eat the lunches that The Bamboo Room had made for us.
The miles were going by much faster than we’d planned on, so I suggested a side trip out to Kluane Lake, where there are a few things to see, including the possibility of Dall sheep on the highway. The sheep didn’t make their appearance, but it was superb day to just enjoy the sunshine and the mountains. We got back to the Westmark Hotel in Whitehorse just before 5:00, so everyone could have a good rest before our long day going to Dawson today.
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