Bears and Eagles in Haines

We reached Haines late Monday evening after a relaxing four hour ferry ride. We got up early on Tuesday morning and met with Ron Horn who is a minister in Haines and also is a superb photographer. Ron spent the morning showing us around Haines and pointing out all the hot spots for photography. 

Haines is famous for their eagle populations especially in November when the chum salmon make their final run up the Chilkat River. What we did not know was all the other photo opportunities in Haines. They have a very good bear population and the scenics are fabulous when the weather is good. So we were lucky enough to see quite a few eagles and bears. Unfortunately, the weather was somewhat cloudy, windy and rainy during our visit so there were no scenic opportunities. However we found plenty to do. 

Haines is a cool town. It has a permanent population of around 1,600, a little more in the summer. It is only 39 miles from the Canadian border, and Tuesday we took a drive up to Canada to check out the views which were quite impressive. We went by a Native American center on Wednesday and saw an actual totem being carved. It was quite impressive and takes an extraordinary amount of time and work. 

Here is the latest slideshow: Haines 

We are now back in Juneau arranging our luggage for the trip home. Hopefully Hurricane Ike will not prevent us getting back to Dallas, otherwise we will probably be stuck in Chicago over the weekend. Hopefully all our friends in Houston will be safe.