Monday August 30 2004

Up early to pack and leave for Haines, Alaska where I plan to catch the ferry through the Inside Passage.

We had frost last night, David showed me his water cup...it had a layer of ice on top.
I guess it is time to move south!

We drive along the Alaskan Hwy #2, through the Yukon it is Hwy #1 then changes to Hwy #3 after Haines Junction, through BC for a short distance and finally back into Alaska, it is called the Haines Road #3.

The scenery along this road is spectacular, especially Kluane National Park, home to Mt. Logan, tallest mountain in Canada.
Unfortunately you can not see Mt. Logan from the road but some of the snow capped mtns. and peaks were massive in size to drive by.

Once in awhile i get a little worried watching David's trailer swaying back and forth as he motors along. I think to myself about the weight of the trailer on those small wheels, one wrong move or a puncture and...I don't want to think about that.

We arrive in Haines, Alaska.

Another cool little deep water port town.
This is home to the world's largest congregation of Bald Eagles.
There are also many Grizzly (Brown) Bears that feed in the rivers on salmon.

David will continue to the campground and I to the ferry terminal.

I buy a ticket for myself and motorcycle on tonights ferry that leaves at 11:50 pm
I choose to not get off at any port town through the Inside Passage and will arrive in Bellingham, Washington on friday morning 7am, 3 1/2 days later.

The ferry makes stops in Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell and Ketchikan, Alaska.
From here it weaves its way through narrows, islands, between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland, then into Bellingham, Washington.

I buy my ticket and drive back into Haines to do stock up on some groceries.
I will take most of my food with me, the food on ferries is usually way overpriced for me.
I get in the line and wait a few hours for the ferry to arrive from Skagway, where it originates from.

I meet and talk to Mike, a man from Seattle on an Austrian made KTM motorcycle.

These motorcycles are made for adventure travel, on and off the road.

This is the type of motorcycle I would like to have one day to really explore places off the beaten track, to be able to get out and see the real good bits that most people are not able to access.

I also meet Lex, a man from Florida who tells me that not so far down the road he and others watched 2 grizzly mothers and their cubs, it was in a public place.
I wished that I had arrived a day earlier as I would have loved to see that.

We board the ferry, tie down the motorcycles, then I drag my gear up to the top deck and the stern of the boat.

This is called the solarium, part is open but most is covered in with heaters overhead at night time.

There are about 10 tents pitch at the rear and the rest of the 50-60 people have there patch staked out on their cot/lounge chair/bed for the duration of the voyage.

It is a cool set up, I like that we are on top, out in the open but have a roof over our heads...and with heat!

I decide to use just my sleeping bag and a louge chair and leave my tent packed away under the chair.

I am excited as I have heard so much about this ferry ride through the Inside Passage.
Now if we get good weather it will be a bonus as this part of Alaska gets quite a bit of rain.
This is home for the next 3 1/2 days, sometimes it is nice to take a break from the motorcycle and watch the world go (float) by.