Bellingham to Anchorage 9/3-7





Queen Charlotte Sound beyond the islands--4 hours of open water, but only gently rolling on this trip.

Gliding to Alaska at 20 miles per hour has much to recommend it.  Especially after driving some 4,000 miles.  Here are some pictures of the first full day on the ferry.



Bella Bella (literally very pretty)

 







At the end of the day I had dinner with Steve Linbeck and Patti Ginsberg.  They were also bringing a new car to Anchorage.  I enjoyed their company.  Here is a story about recently deceased Ted Stevens.  At the outset of the Falklands war he was asked if he approved of Britain retaking the islands.  He said yes, but he would recommend an invasion of the Argentine mainland. 

Here for you cruise ship lovers is a panorama of downtown Ketchikan taken on the second full day of the trip.

The weather closed in for the rest of the day.  But about dusk on the Wrangell narrows I looked closely for the land we bought 40 years ago at a state sale.  I think I was able to identify it.  It does not appear to be adversely possessed. 

Here are some scenes of the third day in Lynn Canal. 




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A nose, not a fluke.

Mission Carmel?

Steve joined me for a round of golf at Haines.  A very scenic almost ready made course.  After our round the owner, Stan Jones, a retired MD, gave us a brief geophysical history.  Stan has been a riparian owner along the Chilkat River for many decades.  The course is built on 93 acres that were added to his property by isostatic rebound (tidelands rising to uplands due to the weight of glaciers being removed). He showed us pictures of bears carrying salmon along a fairway and of thousands of euchalon (hooligan) stranded by a high tide on one of the greens.

Reached Haines junction just before dark and had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant with Steve and Patti --the upscale Raven was full.
The next day I got up early and drove to Beaver Creek for breakfast at Buckshot Betty's, a shack with a slanting floor and muddy parking lot.  The rest of the town seemed shut down. I asked the waitress if she was Buckshot Betty--she didn't look the part--she said no but Betty was on the phone and I could talk to her if I wanted.  I declined.  All the breakfasts came with a plateful of diced potatoes.  Mine sustained me all the way to Anchorage.  Here are pictures of the van at the Yukon-Alaska border beyond Beaver Creek.



 You can see that I had an extra reason for stopping at this photo opportunity site.  Almost immediately upon crossing into Alaska the scenery becomes spectacular and stays that way all the way home.  The drive from Haines Junction to Anchorage took 14 hours.  But the van is very comfortable and I wasn't especially tired.  When I walked in the door, Donna, like Maya, gave me a warm welcome.