August 6th, 2014 We woke up early this morning and felt it was time to get going. We were finished with a hot oatmeal and blueberries breakfast and ready to go by 8 AM. We backtracked about 2 miles to the Kluane NP (Canadian) and got there by 8:10 AM (Alaska Time~9:10 Yukon, they opened at 9 AM). One of the two young attendants was locating the Dall Mountain Sheep high on the side of the mountain with their Swarovski Mono-scopes.
This area is special for them and there is a good size group in this area. They are almost guaranteed to be seen daily from here on the deck. Soon several other groups of people came in and we all got lots of info on what the park had to offer. I had asked how to read the number of rings on their horns as this is one way to determine the age of the sheep. The males are called rams, and have large curling horns. There are sinus like cavities in the skull bone to help cushion the brain when they butt heads together in displays determining dominance. Horns are made out of much the same material our fingernails are, only harder. They do not shed annually, they continue to grow. But if there is severe freezing weather they may grow malformed and turn towards the skull. If that happens it may cause an eventual slow death. The females are called ewes, babies are lambs. The females horns are darker, narrower and straighter heading upward from the tops of their head. The males usually hang out together in bachelor bands except for mating season. The females and lambs group together in nursery bands. Rarely do these two groups mingle near each other. Though we did see that happen at Denali, with strong winds near the top of the mountains that morning both groups came down towards the same sunny grassy patch.
Because we were heading to Haines Jct. the park staff recommended we stop at the Daku Cultural Center combined with the Kluane NP and Reserve visitor center there. This Canadian park abuts the Wrangell-St. Elias NP in the US, combined with Glacier Bay NP and Tatshenshii-Alsek Park forms a world heritage site. The largest international, protected area on earth! Kluane NP and Wrangell share Mt. Elias peak as their boundary, and as their 2nd largest peak in each country. Mt. McKinley is US's tallest peak and Mt. Logan is Canada's. Mt. Logan is also in this park as well as several other tall peaks and the largest ice field in the world outside of the polar regions. There were many other displays on native culture, crafts and history. One historical geological event that amazed me was Lowell Glacier had surged 5 times in the past and completely covered the Alsek River. This caused a river dam up that filled a large long lake area as farther back past Haines Junction. Part of that lake is Kluane Lake today. It used to flow south to the Pacific Ocean. Because the water levels were so high for many years it pushed a new course down stream to the north draining through the Yukon to the Bering sea 10 times longer travel time than it's previous journey. The spawning salmon had to adapt to that too. In 1850 that dam burst when the glacier calved off 1/2 of its toe. It sent all the water down to the Pacific Ocean and drained in 1 to 2 days. Many animals and locals perished in that flood. Now the glaciers along that ridge flow into today's Kluane Lake, which is miles long as well.
After working our minds so hard, we didn't realize it well past lunch time and as there was a convenient Chinese Restaurant across the road we decided to try it. Good Chicken Fried Rice, but the rest of the meal didn't turn us on. We will now wait for our favorite restaurant in Greenfield, MA for our Chinese fill!
After lunch we backtracked the last mile to the junction of the Alcan and Haines Hwy. Heading south now on the Haines Hwy all the way to Haines with several scenic stops along the way. From this side of the park the views were magnificient. We stopped at Kathleen Lake and Campground. It reflects Kings Throne Mtn on the other side. We hiked along it's shore to take pictures and felt a stiff breeze whip up in waves along its surface. The wind is caused by the cold air from the huge ice-fields beyond the ridge. Due to the glacial dam effect Kathleen Lake also contains what became Land Locked Salmon. These adapted to remain in fresh water for their entire life. After 4 years they leave the lake and head up river to a smaller head waters lake to spawn, then die completing their life cycle.
A few miles from the US border, the scenery was spectacular! There were more large impressive glaciers visible in our view than we had seen in one place to date. Homer, Seward and Valdez had nothing on Haines. It was hard to believe. Now we were seeing all this because Fran, Bob's brother recently moved to Sitka and we were going to visit him. Thank you Fran! We would have missed this whole side trip otherwise.
We breezed through US Customs with just a few friendly questions answered. And gradually made the declining miles to downtown Haines. Our first stop was the first gas station we saw at the edge of town. We were on reserve again! We drove around a bit to get the lay of the land then headed to the south east end. We decided on Chilkat State CG. ($10) IT is about 10 miles outside of town on a bluff overlooking the Chilkat Inlet (through lots of heavily shaded trees.) Very nice and very quiet. Only about 3 other campers on the grounds. Very dark night for good restful sleeping too.
No comments:
Post a Comment