Haines Junction (18th Aug to 28rd August)
After all the chasing from camp site to camp site, the Website not even being started, we decided to stop for a few days to rest, sight-see, repair Johns bike and get the Web up to date. After looking through the Lonely Planet guide for a while, Haines Junction definitely came up as the best place to head for and was in the Kluane National Park so we decided to leave Whitehorse and headed across to Haines Junction. As usual we had a quite a bit of last minute shopping so we ended up leaving town quite late and as it is becoming the norm, the heavens opened and the down pour started.
The route was fairly routine apart from the last few kilometres where there was road construction. Although this was not as bad as the Dalton Highway it was much longer (about 5 k) and this was the first time we had ridden on wet muddy dirt roads with a full load. We took this slowly but the bikes were fine and we made the other side without any problems. From the literature and asking a few people on route we knew where we were going to camp for a change, so we were soon set up and were able to negotiate a decent rate as we were staying a week.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699614" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699614.jpg" border="0"></a>
The approach to the Kluane campsite.
By the time we had finished setting up camp it was late so we headed out to the local Chinese for some food and into the local bar for a quick beer and a game of Pool.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700105" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700105.jpg" border="0"></a>
We bought an axe to aid our fire managemnet skills, John seen here in action !!
The next morning we woke up to the view of the mountains in the background with just a few peaks covered in snow. With out experiences of getting wet, we spent the first day cleaning and purchasing tarpaulins which we used to create a covered area so we would have a dry area to cook and eat. In the evening it started raining (What planning) and after dinner we headed over to the Kluane Park Inn for a drink and some more pool. Due to the weather, a live music evening planned for other tourists at a local bakery had been moved to 'our' pool bar. The guy up singing and playing was different! The way he was able to take the soul and character out of the songs was something else. What a talent !
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700123" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700123.jpg" border="0"></a>
The installed Taupalin ! Pretty neat we thought.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700204" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700204.jpg" border="0"></a>
No photo of the singer but we thought you might appreciate a photo of an atomic muffin from the bakery !
The next day was our first real rest day and we just lazed around and met our campsite pet (Basil) the resident Artic ground squirrel.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700142" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700142.jpg" border="0"></a>
Basil, our new Arctic Squirrel friend. Got his name as his short jercky movements reminded Mike of Basil faulty.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700156" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700156.jpg" border="0"></a>
Basil again. We discovered he liked eating anything museli based and so we fed him cereal.. and he kept eating it... until finally his cheeks were bulging beyond belief...very funny but no photos I'm afraid.
The next day was spent fixing the fork seal on my bike which as usual took longer than planned but was all done and seemed to be working OK. Whilst I was fixing the fork seal, a French guy popped over to see us to borrow the axe to cut up some firewood. In the usual discussion he mentioned that he and his girlfriend had been on a glacier flight which was quite magnificent and not too expensive so the next day we trundled up to the airport and booked ourselves on the same flight. (The independently minded people that we are!)
The airport was just a smart but samll building, the runway was a stretch of gravel and the aeroplane was just a small Cessna . The take off was a bit bouncy but once we were airborne the views and sights of the mountains were quite spectacular and the size of the glaciers where absolutely huge. Difficult to put the sights into words so I’ll leave it to the photo’s.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700178" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700178.jpg" border="0"></a>
John repairing his fork seal, note the Bavarian infuence even infiltrates his choice of axle stand !
After all the getting up early for the flight we kicked back the next day and just spent some time writing the Web updates.
The next day we planned out a circular route on the map and headed off on the bikes into some of the more off beat places around Haines Junction and headed off into the direction of a place called Canyon. The road was dirt track with signs to be wary of wild horses and buffalo. As we continued the up the road and end of maintained road sign appeared and the remainder of the road was posted as 'no longer maintained'. As this type of road is not too much of a problem for the bikes we continued and had the best technical ride to date with great views of lakes and waterfalls.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699782" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699782.jpg" border="0"></a>
The Canyon track...both had a few moments where we expected swift bike ejection...but survived
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699813" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699813.jpg" border="0"></a>
John enjoys his morning coffee break........trying very hard not to forget his friends at work
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699843" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699843.jpg" border="0"></a>
Mike surviving a Captain Scarlet moment !!
The road became smaller and smaller and when it seemed to split into 3 directions near the first house we had seen for 30 miles. We decided to stop for lunch. After lunch we asked the owner of the house which route was the one we needed to complete our circular trail and we were told that the rest of the route was a horse trail which wasn’t used much anymore so it would be difficult to follow. Given it was 4 in the afternoon and we had at least 90 miles via this route we decided to turn back. Bit of a shame not to complete the circle but the ride and views were good.
Although we were tired the next day from the ride we took a guided tour of one of the walks in Kluane National Park. The weather was cold but not raining and it turned out that Mike and myself were the only one’s on the walk. Chris, our guide, was laid back, educated and easy going and we had a good chat about the environment, Canada etc and had an enjoyable afternoon.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699875" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699875.jpg" border="0"></a>
A lake we saw on the guided tour.
The next day was a rest day and spent more time on the Web updates in the local library as internet access is free ;-).
One of the activates we would both wanted to do we is some canoeing and there were a number of lakes around so we hired a canoe for the day to paddle around Pine Lake. As was becoming familiar the weather wasn’t great but it was just about dry so we went anyway and the route out on the lake was fine and we stopped for lunch at about the halfway mark. During lunch the wind came up and the 2 miles back on the lake were against the wind with the surf breaking over the bows of the canoe. A gentle paddle turned out to be a muscle straining exercise but we made it with the canoe intact!
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699927" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699927.jpg" border="0"></a>
Another fine fire....with the Kluane mountains in the background.
That evening we met an American guy who had just come back from Homer fishing. He offered us a half a fresh salmon as he had too much. Not wanting to be rude we willingly accepted.
Unfortunately all we had left was some bread to go with the meal so we ended up having one of the best salmon sandwiches ever !
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699961" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699961.jpg" border="0"></a>
The Cesna........any colour you want as long as it's yellow !
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700012" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700012.jpg" border="0"></a>
Mikes view from the front.
A short display of the many views we saw from the air.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700045" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700045.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700070" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700070.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699751" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699751.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699732" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699732.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699708" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699708.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699671" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699671.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699631" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699631.jpg" border="0"></a>
This 'statue' was in the centre of town as mounted on what can only be described as a cake case. The locals called it the 'muffin'
The last day at Haines Junction we spent packing up and updating the internet.
The following day we left for Haines....back in Alaska .....confused ! ?
After all the chasing from camp site to camp site, the Website not even being started, we decided to stop for a few days to rest, sight-see, repair Johns bike and get the Web up to date. After looking through the Lonely Planet guide for a while, Haines Junction definitely came up as the best place to head for and was in the Kluane National Park so we decided to leave Whitehorse and headed across to Haines Junction. As usual we had a quite a bit of last minute shopping so we ended up leaving town quite late and as it is becoming the norm, the heavens opened and the down pour started.
The route was fairly routine apart from the last few kilometres where there was road construction. Although this was not as bad as the Dalton Highway it was much longer (about 5 k) and this was the first time we had ridden on wet muddy dirt roads with a full load. We took this slowly but the bikes were fine and we made the other side without any problems. From the literature and asking a few people on route we knew where we were going to camp for a change, so we were soon set up and were able to negotiate a decent rate as we were staying a week.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699614" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699614.jpg" border="0"></a>
The approach to the Kluane campsite.
By the time we had finished setting up camp it was late so we headed out to the local Chinese for some food and into the local bar for a quick beer and a game of Pool.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700105" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700105.jpg" border="0"></a>
We bought an axe to aid our fire managemnet skills, John seen here in action !!
The next morning we woke up to the view of the mountains in the background with just a few peaks covered in snow. With out experiences of getting wet, we spent the first day cleaning and purchasing tarpaulins which we used to create a covered area so we would have a dry area to cook and eat. In the evening it started raining (What planning) and after dinner we headed over to the Kluane Park Inn for a drink and some more pool. Due to the weather, a live music evening planned for other tourists at a local bakery had been moved to 'our' pool bar. The guy up singing and playing was different! The way he was able to take the soul and character out of the songs was something else. What a talent !
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700123" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700123.jpg" border="0"></a>
The installed Taupalin ! Pretty neat we thought.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700204" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700204.jpg" border="0"></a>
No photo of the singer but we thought you might appreciate a photo of an atomic muffin from the bakery !
The next day was our first real rest day and we just lazed around and met our campsite pet (Basil) the resident Artic ground squirrel.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700142" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700142.jpg" border="0"></a>
Basil, our new Arctic Squirrel friend. Got his name as his short jercky movements reminded Mike of Basil faulty.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700156" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700156.jpg" border="0"></a>
Basil again. We discovered he liked eating anything museli based and so we fed him cereal.. and he kept eating it... until finally his cheeks were bulging beyond belief...very funny but no photos I'm afraid.
The next day was spent fixing the fork seal on my bike which as usual took longer than planned but was all done and seemed to be working OK. Whilst I was fixing the fork seal, a French guy popped over to see us to borrow the axe to cut up some firewood. In the usual discussion he mentioned that he and his girlfriend had been on a glacier flight which was quite magnificent and not too expensive so the next day we trundled up to the airport and booked ourselves on the same flight. (The independently minded people that we are!)
The airport was just a smart but samll building, the runway was a stretch of gravel and the aeroplane was just a small Cessna . The take off was a bit bouncy but once we were airborne the views and sights of the mountains were quite spectacular and the size of the glaciers where absolutely huge. Difficult to put the sights into words so I’ll leave it to the photo’s.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700178" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700178.jpg" border="0"></a>
John repairing his fork seal, note the Bavarian infuence even infiltrates his choice of axle stand !
After all the getting up early for the flight we kicked back the next day and just spent some time writing the Web updates.
The next day we planned out a circular route on the map and headed off on the bikes into some of the more off beat places around Haines Junction and headed off into the direction of a place called Canyon. The road was dirt track with signs to be wary of wild horses and buffalo. As we continued the up the road and end of maintained road sign appeared and the remainder of the road was posted as 'no longer maintained'. As this type of road is not too much of a problem for the bikes we continued and had the best technical ride to date with great views of lakes and waterfalls.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699782" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699782.jpg" border="0"></a>
The Canyon track...both had a few moments where we expected swift bike ejection...but survived
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699813" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699813.jpg" border="0"></a>
John enjoys his morning coffee break........trying very hard not to forget his friends at work
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699843" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699843.jpg" border="0"></a>
Mike surviving a Captain Scarlet moment !!
The road became smaller and smaller and when it seemed to split into 3 directions near the first house we had seen for 30 miles. We decided to stop for lunch. After lunch we asked the owner of the house which route was the one we needed to complete our circular trail and we were told that the rest of the route was a horse trail which wasn’t used much anymore so it would be difficult to follow. Given it was 4 in the afternoon and we had at least 90 miles via this route we decided to turn back. Bit of a shame not to complete the circle but the ride and views were good.
Although we were tired the next day from the ride we took a guided tour of one of the walks in Kluane National Park. The weather was cold but not raining and it turned out that Mike and myself were the only one’s on the walk. Chris, our guide, was laid back, educated and easy going and we had a good chat about the environment, Canada etc and had an enjoyable afternoon.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699875" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699875.jpg" border="0"></a>
A lake we saw on the guided tour.
The next day was a rest day and spent more time on the Web updates in the local library as internet access is free ;-).
One of the activates we would both wanted to do we is some canoeing and there were a number of lakes around so we hired a canoe for the day to paddle around Pine Lake. As was becoming familiar the weather wasn’t great but it was just about dry so we went anyway and the route out on the lake was fine and we stopped for lunch at about the halfway mark. During lunch the wind came up and the 2 miles back on the lake were against the wind with the surf breaking over the bows of the canoe. A gentle paddle turned out to be a muscle straining exercise but we made it with the canoe intact!
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699927" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699927.jpg" border="0"></a>
Another fine fire....with the Kluane mountains in the background.
That evening we met an American guy who had just come back from Homer fishing. He offered us a half a fresh salmon as he had too much. Not wanting to be rude we willingly accepted.
Unfortunately all we had left was some bread to go with the meal so we ended up having one of the best salmon sandwiches ever !<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699961" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699961.jpg" border="0"></a>
The Cesna........any colour you want as long as it's yellow !
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700012" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700012.jpg" border="0"></a>
Mikes view from the front.
A short display of the many views we saw from the air.
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700045" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700045.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117700070" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117700070.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699751" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699751.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699732" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699732.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699708" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699708.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699671" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699671.jpg" border="0"></a>
<a href="http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=117699631" title="Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com"><IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/8448420/117699631.jpg" border="0"></a>
This 'statue' was in the centre of town as mounted on what can only be described as a cake case. The locals called it the 'muffin'
The last day at Haines Junction we spent packing up and updating the internet.
The following day we left for Haines....back in Alaska .....confused ! ?
Last edited:
