NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAYS 20 & 21 - CHILKOOT LAKE AND MUD BAY

After two nights at Chilkoot State Rec area, it was time to maybe move on again.

It sure was a peaceful site, nestled in amongst the tall trees. There was one other car that had come in our loop overnight. We think they slept in their car and left early.

Otherwise, we had the whole upper portion all to ourselves. We cooked up a late breakfast and took our time packing up our gear. We really weren't in any hurry. Our intended travel day was going to be pretty short.

We took off the front thermal windshield cover and let that dry out in the sunlight. It really helps on reducing some of the heat loss through the windshield a cab area. We've also learned that we need to close down the vents when we stop. Otherwise the dash vents allow air to come in when the winds are blowing down the mountains.

We slowly made our way out of the campground and down the road back to the town of Haines. Everything was so picturesque this morning and we were enjoying the non-rushed feeling of this side of the inlet. Over by Skagway everything was so busy busy busy. We found the town of Haines to be very laid back and non-touristy.

It was so pretty driving along, just taking in the scenery. This is one of the biggest things that I imagined we would be doing when we were planning this trip. Watching the terrain unfold before our eyes as we cruised along amongst the mountains and valleys.

Every now and then a little waterfall would pop up, gushing out of the rocks. Some of it I think is from springwater, others are from the snow melt. Either way, it is really pretty and something unusual to see.

There's still a lot of snow up on the top of the mountains. I'm sure it's the spring sun rays are hitting the tips that the snow is melting and rushing down onto the rocks below.

We meandered down to the town of Haines. We stopped at the little IGA store to stock up on eggs milk and bread. Those seem to be the only things we are running low on. Oh, plus my coffee creamer! I do have some powdered stuff along and reserve in case I need it. But I really enjoy the International Delights French vanilla coffee creamer. 

Most of the grocery store prices were to be expected. About the same as any little mom and pop store in a small town. The only thing we paid more for were bananas. But to get fresh bananas delivered all the way up the Alcan Highway to a tiny port side town has to be expensive. We paid $2.29 a pound for a banana to go with my yogurt and granola. Sometimes you just got to have what you got to have.

We fueled up at $5.02 a gallon and 

our mileage was really nice at 

15.2 miles per gallon 

We also stopped at a little hardware store for some bungee cords, and grabbed a different 12 volt socket adapter from Radio Shack. Yes there's actually still Radio Shacks in Alaska. We did a holding tank dump at the free city dump station in their sanitary district department parking lot. 

We were able to get fresh city water at the local car wash. The gentleman keeps his hose locked up and shut off because people steal his water. But if you politely ask he will give it to you for free! He was so generous and so sweet. Afterwards Steve tried to give him a tip and he wouldn't take it. So I insisted he take a tip and go by himself a coffee or some donuts or something. He smiled and took the money.

We drove on through Haines and out the other side on Mud Bay Road. We have been told this was a great area for watching or humpback whales, otter seals, and other types of ocean shore wildlife.

There's a big long paved pull off by a bay that can accommodate a number of RVs. It is perfectly fine to overnight in these roadside pull-offs. That's just what we plan to do.

It was a beautiful day with blue sky and puffy white clouds. But the winds were pretty ferocious coming across the water. We were getting blasted quite a bit. Little Nicky almost blew away.

We walked among the rocks on the rugged shoreline. The tide was low. You can see how high up it comes in the picture below where Steve and Nick are walking.

We looked around at the beauty of the natural shore. The piles of kelp drying in the sunlight. The mossy bright green lichen hanging onto some of the rocks. Every now and then a hunk of driftwood. It really was nice if it had been easier to walk on than the large awkward rocks under our feet.

We shared our pull off site with a travel trailer on one end and a pickup camper on the other. We were in the middle. With plenty of room between us we had privacy. Every now and then a vehicle would go by. But not too many. This road kind of dead ends down at the end of this peninsula and another state park. Somewhere between here and there it turns to rugged gravel. But there is a high grade to get up into the campground I think something like 13 or 14%? So we opted to stay here on the blacktop pavement pullout site.

We settled into watch the inlet waters for any signs of whales for sea otters.

Sure was a beautiful day, and we took the time in the afternoon to lay down and take a nap. Listening to the winds outside and gently rocking us to sleep.

It was getting close to supper time. I had managed to squirrel away three jars of my own canned tomatoes to take along with us. It was time to open one up to make some chili! Whenever I open a jar, the first thing I do is scoop out the first forkful. I shake a little salt on it and pop it into my mouth. That is my reward for all the back breaking work of picking, cleaning, scalding and steaming with my hot canning kettles in August and September. Making all of these home canned tomatoes from my own plants. Each bite tastes like "summertime". What a delightful little thing to enjoy. It may sound silly, but it's one of those little perks that I find are pleasant life rewards.

I simmered up the chili on the stove top. It smelled so good in the motorhome. On the side I boil up some elbow noodles. I know some people insist you don't need noodles in chili. But my mom was German and she always made noodles in her chili. It was more like chili soup. I find that if I cook them in the chili, when reheating leftovers the noodles get kind of mushy. Instead, I boil them separately and drain them. Then we each put some in the bottom of our bowl and ladle the chili on top of it. That way the leftovers can go back in the fridge and remain noodleless.

It made for a great evening meal, topped off with a little bit of shredded cheese and some saltine crackers on the side. No fast food for us. We take it long and slow and make our own.

Like I said, it was quite cold and windy. I happened to pull up the weather report for Mud Bay and it showed the weather for back home in Oconto in Wisconsin. Ack! We were almost the same temperatures!!!

We started to look out across the water and kept our eyes peeled for any water spouts. The humpback whales usually first start out a big burst of air which makes a spout above the surface of the water. Then you watch to see if they will arch their back up or if you are really really lucky, flip up their tails! 

We saw a number of the spouts, and trained the camera on them each time. Waiting patiently to see if we could actually see a humpback whale...  here was a small peek:

Yup!!!! We were finally rewarded with seeing one. I know it doesn't look like much in a picture. But it was amazing that a huge animal like this would come so close to the shoreline at high tide. 

This was taken right through the front windshield of our motorhome.

I know people go out on these expensive cruises to do whale watching. But we decided that just watching them from here would be interesting to see what we could see. For free! (Later on on the Kenai Peninsula, there's a place you can stop and watch for beluga whales).

The next morning it was kind of cloudy, and the winds really didn't let up at all.

I looked out in the morning while sipping my coffee... What did I see? What is that way over on the end of that pile of rocks next to the water?

I got out my good camera to zoom in close. Ahhhh Mr Bald Eagle came to see what we were having for breakfast?

I zoomed in closer because he didn't seem like he wanted to fly away yet. My oh my, I just love this camera!

He was still hanging around looking for something. And I zoomed in even closer. I am just marveling at the ability of this lens. The camera is Lumix from Panasonic and the lens is a 20/1200 That really can bring in the detail from a far distance.

He looked around back and forth, I think he was surveying the beach to see if there was anything interesting to eat for breakfast. Don't worry, Nick was safely put away inside the motorhome with us. We told him he's too furry for an eagle to eat.

This was our breakfast view out the window. Even though it was a dreary day, it has a beauty all of its own looking at the snow capped mountains.

Pretty soon, we were packing up and heading back up through Haines. We were now going to go through another mountain pass to get up in the Haines Junction area and rejoin the Alaskan Highway.

Here is the corresponding YouTube that goes along with today's blog post:

only 23 miles today

2,944 miles so far