North North America

I spent the last week and a half in the great Alaskan unknown driving back down to Seattle with my sister after she finished her summer internship in Anchorage. The highway from Anchorage to Haines, AK (750 miles) took two days; the largest city we passed through was Tok, AK, a handful of roadside motels and a few gas stations. Things to do in Tok:

The weather, as it often is in Alaska, was inclement, and, as a result, we took few pictures during the drive. We were happy to reach Haines and found the town charming and the people consistently friendly(1). We had the better part of a day free, and I made a quick hike up a nearby mountain, Mt. Ripinski. Rain and mist were constant companions, but it was a good day out. Looking up towards the summit from the ridge:

Looking down on the town of Haines through the clouds:

I didn’t see anyone during the hike, and I was (justly) worried about stumbling upon a bear. Every few minutes I’d make noise and clap to make my presence known. As I was descending I started clapping as I rounded a corner… and found myself face to snout with a moose. This thing was huge: roughly six feet high at the shoulder and more massive than a horse of the same size. We had a few how’s-this-going-to-go-down seconds looking at each other before I slowly backed up around the corner. The moose trotted up the hill, and that was that (2). The gravest threats to life and limb came during the walk back from the base of the mountain through the outskirts of Haines in several encounters with unleashed “dogs” (3). Apparently the thing to do if you’re a dog in Haines is lie in wait for a lower-48er to come along and then sneak up behind him. Then, when you’re a few feet away and your presence is realized, bark and snarl like you haven’t been fed in days. This happened three times.

From Haines we caught an overnight ferry to Prince Rupert in British Columbia. We camped on the deck...

... and the views were spectacular:

The ferry’s bar was the icing on the cake. If I'd been of age in the 1973, I hope I'd have been drinking in places like this:

We were on the ferry for a total of two and a half days. It was a great experience I'd recommend to anyone with a few days to kill in that corner of the continent.

Your (usually dog-loving) man in AK,

Jay

Notes:
1 Close to a polar opposite from my visit last winter to Valdez
2 In combination with the Wyoming Moose Incident, I think this means "I Got Moose in Different Area Codes"
3 Term used loosely here. Cross-breeding with wolves was clearly evident; additional breeding with other large land mammals (e.g., bison, bear, hippo) not unlikely