Northern Exposed.

Hi, Everyone:

Today, we officially had the Alaskan experience.  But, more on that to come in a bit.  To start with, yesterday evening we took the ferry again from Juneau to Haines.  Some readers were interested in what this ferry we keep talking about looks like, so we took a picture of another one in port.  

As you can see, it is basically a stripped down mini-cruise ship.  The cars go in the bottom, and then the decks (painted white) are composed of lounges, a cafeteria, restrooms, etc.  So, we drove the car onto the ferry and then went onto the deck for the 4.5 hours it took to sail from Juneau to Haines. 

Once again, the ferry provided amazing views of the surrounding mountains as we sailed by.  Below you can see the mountains, and the little white buildings that compose the town of Haines.

After getting off the ferry, we headed into downtown to find a hotel for the evening.  We ended up staying in the Ft. Seward Lodge, which is amazing.  Ft. Seward was actually the first fort built in Alaska, and it was built due to conflicts between the United States and Canada over where the border lie (Tammy Fact!).  The conflict has since been settled, and we are now about 45 miles from the next crossing.  (For those keeping track, we'll actually cross the border twice tomorrow as we head into Tok . . . once right outside of Haines, then we'll drive through BC and the Yukon Territory, and then we'll cross again outside of Tok).

This morning we woke up, and were simply amazed at the "downtown" of Haines.  Simply put, this is the quintessential Alaska town.  The town has a population of 2,400, and unlike its counterpart Skagway, the cruise ship industry has not overtaken the town.   If you want to imagine what it looks like, think of the 1980s TV show "Northern Exposure" and you've got it.  Seriously.  They even have a radio station that people can call into and get on the air pretty easily.  

As a side note, if you've never watched the show "Northern Exposure," do it.  It is an awesome show.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKHzIXZBF74

So, that was how we had our first Alaska experience, take one.  

Then, after walking around downtown, we decided to do the bike ride we missed out on in Vancouver.  So, we rented some bikes, and did a 20 mile ride along the Pacific coast to Chilkoot Lake State Park.

When we rented the bikes, the manager of the store told us that the salmon were currently in full swing in a river near the lake, and as a result the bears were out fishing for the upcoming winter.  We figured we would ride out there, and there would be a ranger of some sort guiding traffic and we could take pictures from a distance.

This is where Alaska experience number 2 comes in.  We got to the lake, and saw 4 or 5 vehicles lining the street with people standing on the road with their cameras.  We looked into the river, and saw the following walking onto the road:

Yes, folks.  That is a sow and her cub (there were actually 2 cubs).  They were literally 50 feet from us.  We, of course, were extremely nervous and kept hiding behind cars.  The locals, on the other hand, were willing to get a bit closer and snap some shots.  Nonetheless, 50 feet was close enough for us to provide some amazing pictures.

The bears continued to walk along the river until they got to the fishing weir that had been set up.  For more info on what a weir is, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_weir

Essentially, the weir is being used by the area to help count the number of sockeye salmon in the river.  The bears, on the other hand, view it as an easy opportunity to catch fish because the salmon get caught as they hit the weir.  Thus, the cubs went onto the top of the weir, while mama bear stood in the river catching fish and throwing them to the cubs.

The eating party continued for a good 20 minutes, until the fish-counting guy got annoyed because he couldn't do his job.  So, like any good Alaskan, he fearlessly made a lot of noise and commotion from 10 feet away to make the bears move on.  

So, we now feel initiated to Alaska.  We've walked, biked, and slept in a quintessential Alaskan town, and we've had the socks scared off of us as we biked near bears.

Tok tomorrow, and then Anchorage on Monday!  We're almost there!