Well, here is another post on Alaska. We choose to do Haines, instead of the usual Skagway. I thought Haines was the prettiest port of call out of our itinerary. We did, Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines, Tracy Arm, and Victoria. Ketchikan and Juneau in my opinion we pretty, but they looked like the rest of the inside passage. I did think Haines was the prettiest. It sits on the waterfront of a large body of water, surrounded by tall mountains with LOTS of snow on them. Don't blink or you will miss it. The mountains had MUCH MORE snow then the mountains in the other ports. Our excursion guide pointed to a mountain, and said that Glacier Bay was on the other side of it. In Haines we did the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Float Trip. It was made a Eagle Preserve to prevent the potential logging that was being considered. There is a high concentration of Eagles there. We saw LOTs of eagles, and their nests, with some tearing into there salmom meals on the river banks. The float trip is on the Chilkat river, and the eagles sit on the banks waiting for a meal. It is a calm river, no white water is involved. There are also Glacier Bay helicopter trips from Haines. Also, there is a "fast ferry" to Skagway for $40 something dollars R/T, it takes 35-45 minutes to get to Skagway. Alot of people on our ship did that. Yes, Haines is tiny, not much to see or do in town. The Fort Seward est. in 1903 is there, that is about it for historic places. Well, that is my short review of what we did in Haines, and what I thought of the port. If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Lil' Lori
I agree, Lori - when we were in Alaska I was absolutely blown away at how beautiful Haines is, when we were approaching it. The mountain backdrop is indescribable. Cute little town - and not on flat land, should anyone have trouble walking! But worth a visit. We felt it was a place we could happily spend more time.
Posts: 1361 | Location: Illinois | Registered: June 19, 2002
Lori, on a scale of 1 to 10, what would you give the river excursion. I have never done it. Would it be possible to take the ferry to Haines and then take the river excursion on your own?
Tom
Posts: 2305 | Location: Valley Center, CA 92082 | Registered: May 30, 2002
Tom, as far as excursion in Haines go, I would give the Chilkat River Float a 9/10, a 10/10 would be the helicopter over glacier bay on my scale. The ferry to Skagway, actually said "Fast Ferry" on the pier, I am pretty sure it goes back and forth between Haines and Skagway. I would think you could book the river float via the internet, on a Haines or Skagway website. Lori.
