July 1 - to Haines Junction and a bit more

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It was so beautiful to wake up in the morning in this setting.

 We had other “company” in the parking lot for the night.  This very large Prevost had a nice view of the lake, but he wouldn’t be able to get out if any other cars were down there.

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Sam & Flurina left at 8:50 am.  We passed them on the road about an hour later.  They are riding very heavily laden bikes.

Even in the heat, most of the bicycle riders are having to wear long sleeves and long pants for some mosquito protection.

 

They say this is a gold pan.  Burwash Landing did have a nice museum and walking tour of the town.

Behind the museum they had several old buildings and wagons that are way past their prime.

The Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Mission church was very interesting to visit.  We were able to go through the church part through the middle living quarts to the school on the left side.

This trout was just shy of winning a fishing tournament.  The fisherman tried to put it back, but it was too injured to swim away.  He didn't have a way to keep it cold for the trip home, so gave it to a local for food. 

This young lady said she didn't mind me taking pictures of her cleaning her fish.

The Formica counter top worked well for this use. 

The color of this water doesn't look real.

Preserve area for Dall Sheep.

 

We made it to Haines Junction.  This was another interesting small quanset church.

 The congregation must take special interest in keep this church and its grounds so very well maintained.  One thing consistent in all these little churches is a lack of plumbing.  The outside privy is on the left side of this facility.

 We had intended to stop for the night at Haines Junction, but the area didn't enthuse us.  We decided to continue on down the road.  They do a large bicycle ride for the solstice each year between Haines Junction (Canada) the approximately 150 miles to Haines (Alaska).  We were getting in the best road surface we've driven on in months.  

--> I was cruising at 35 mph and realized we weren’t hitting dips and breaks.  It was SMOOTH dark black asphalt.  After what we were driving on all day, this was enjoyable; I love being able to go fast enough to use the cruise control (at least 30 mph).  The road could handle much faster, but the wind had picked up and 45 mph seemed to be the sweet spot.  It was taking a lot of steering input to keep in our lane.  Early in the day we had a headwind.  It didn’t affect us much at the slow speed we were driving.  This wind was buffeting us.  

About 6 pm, 

-->I pulled off at the Kluane viewpoint of Kathryn Lake.  It wasn’t as secluded as the spot last night, but it did get us away from the highway, and we have a terrific view. 

The wind was kicking up whitecaps.

It was really windy, but the sky was pretty so at 10:15 pm I was outside taking pictures.

There was very little traffic on Haines Highway, so this was a very quiet place to sleep.  We did pull the slide in before bed.  That seemed to reduce some wind noise, especially the flapping of the awning over the slide.  We weren't alone though.  One other couple pulled up and camped near the center of the lot.