Haines – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #341 – Personal Favorites

March 23, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged Coastal Georgia, Delicate Arch, Haines, Lens-Artists, Pacific Ocean, Personal Favorites, Photo Challenge, Sunrise, sunset34 Comments

For this challenge Tina is challenging us to show no more than five of our all time personal favorite images representing special moments or memories.

This is a really hard challenge for me. I have thousands of pictures in my archives. Most of them remind me of a special time, place or event. The sunrise in the header image was taken in my own back yard. It reminds me of how grateful I am for the gift of another day.

One of the most memorable events from our very first long RV trip occurred in Arches National Park in Utah. We wanted to take the hike for a close up view of Delicate Arch. The hike involved walking up slick red rock and included walking along a narrow ledge before getting to the Arch. I am terrified of heights and the idea of the ledge terrified me but I managed to get all the way to the top to take this picture. This picture reminds me of how I overcame my fears to see this beautiful sight.

Henry standing underneath Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

This silhouette of Henry at sunset reminds me of all the wonderful memories we have from our RV trip traveling south from Washington to California on Highway 101.

Henry watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean in Washington

I have literally thousands of images from our 2013 RV trip to Alaska. We saw amazing landscapes and wildlife and visited many unique places. I chose this image because it brings back happy memories of our fun filled week in Haines. We took the time at the end of each day to enjoy this spectacular view from our campsite.

Watching for whales at the end of the day in Haines, Alaska

The last image reminds me to take the time to stop and enjoy a sunset when I get a chance. I call this tree the bird tree because I often see herons, egrets, wood storks, roseate spoonbills, and other birds perched on the dead limbs. The tree is located on the road to our neighborhood. I’ve driven past it many times over the years and have captured many beautiful sunsets here but this one is my all time favorite.

Many thanks to Tina for this challenge Lens-Artists #341 – Personal Favorites

2022 Alaska and the Inside Passage – Part 5 – Searching for Coastal Brown Bears in Haines

October 4, 2022October 18, 2022Posted in Alaska, WildlifeTagged Alaska and the Inside Passage, bear cub, Chilcoot River, Coastal Brown Bears, Fish weir, Haines, totem, Viking Cruise, Viking Ocean Cruise, Viking Orion18 Comments

August 27, 2022 – We spent a week in Haines in our RV back in 2013. It was – and still is – our favorite place in Alaska. What’s not to love? This small town has friendly locals, few tourists, breathtaking scenery, and abundant wildlife.

Our ship was docked with a great view of the small boat harbor, the RV park where we camped in 2013 (in the above image) and historic William H. Seward. The tide was low when we arrived and we could see eagles on the beach.

This tender took us on a five minute ride to the shore.

Our excursion for the day was called the Chilkoot Valley Wildlife Safari. My goal was to see bald eagles and coastal brown bears.

Our transportation for the day was a 24 passenger tour bus driven by our driver and guide Cydnie. She drove up the hill from the dock to take us through historic Fort William H. Seward, a National Historic Landmark. This location was chosen as the site for a fort in 1902 and was the only permanent army fort in Alaska from 1925 to 1940.

Our first stop was a bridge over the Chilcoot River where we had a great view of the river. Sadly there were no bears but we spied a pair of Bald Eagles in a tree.

Our next stop was to see the Chilcoot River fish weir which is used to count the number of salmon swimming up the river. Someone spotted three bears on the weir!

Off we went in the van to get a closer view of these three Coastal Brown Bears. It was a mama bear and her two cubs.

After watching the bears for a while we continued on to Chilcoot State Park where we took in the gorgeous view of Chilcoot Lake and kept a constant lookout for wildlife.

As we passed by the fish weir again on our way to our next destination Cydnie stopped the bus when she saw this bear cub right by the road. I was lucky to the be on the side of the bus where he was and captured a few images of him. When he stood up to show us how big he was it was time to leave. Mama was in the river watching the whole time.

A picnic area next to the Lynn Canal was a perfect place for lunch.

Our tour continued on another highway to the mouth of the Chilcat River where we hoped to see more bald eagles. There were no eagles to be seen and we returned to the ship. By this time the tide had come in and we could walk back to the ship.

Watching the bears in Haines was one of my favorite experiences of the whole cruise. When we got back to the dock there wasn’t enough time left to explore the town. Even so, it was a great day. One day isn’t enough to experience this wonderful coastal town.

If you are interested in seeing more about our 2013 stay in Haines please visit Taking the Alaskan Ferry to Haines or Laid Back in Haines, Alaska or Fresh Crabs for Dinner

Next up – Another wildlife cruise and a crab feast

Wandering Around America one state at a time – Alaska

January 4, 2017November 28, 2017Posted in Alaska, Birds, Glaciers, Road Trip, RVing, Wandering around America, WildlifeTagged America the Beautiful, Arctic Circle, Bald Eagle, Denali, Haines, Ninilchik, Talkeetna17 Comments

State 2:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride! I will be featuring the states alphabetically and next up is

Alaska

Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. The capital is Juneau and it is the only state capital that can only be reached by air, boat, or birth. The largest city is Anchorage.

We spent 50 glorious nights in Alaska in the summer of 2013.

I loved meeting so many wonderful Alaskans and hearing their stories. Wildlife, glaciers, boat trips, a flight seeing tour, eagles, halibut fishing, Denali National Park, taking the RV on the Alaska Ferry from Skagway to Haines, and a train ride on the Alaska Railroad are just a few of the amazing things we experienced while we were there. Our favorite place was Haines. The most exciting thing we did was take a flight-seeing tour from Talkeetna to see Mt. McKinley and land on Ruth Glacier. The farthest north we went was Coldfoot, north of the Arctic Circle.

Pullen Creek RV Park, Skagway, Alaska

Waterfalls along the Klondike Highway

Arriving at the Haines ferry dock

Watching for whales in Haines, Alaska

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Haines boat harbor

Deadliest Catch!

Mendenhall Glacier

The free George Black Ferry crosses the Yukon River from Dawson City to Top of the World Highway.

Poker Creek Alaska

The signposts show other towns named after chickens. Who knew there were so many?

The Pedro Dredge in Chicken is a National Historic Site.

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Downtown Talkeetna.

We went really close to Mt. McKinley

Loving every minute of our time on Ruth glacier

Home of author Mary Lovel in Sherman, Alaska

The Alaska Railroad runs right behind our campsite

Such an amazing sight to see their tail

Stellar Sea Lions on day trip to Juneau

Calving on Aialik Glacier one

A pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

There were Puffins in the water

Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Wandering Dawgs at the Arctic Circle

A good look at the Alaska pipeline as it goes underground

Four of these fish are ours!

Mount Redoubt sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska

Anchor Point is the most westerly highway point on a continuous road system in North America

Our first moose sighting was this cow by a pond

Lukor liked it on top of his house

Polychrome Overlook, Denali National Park, Alaska

Caribou grazing in Denali National Park

Do you see the profile of a face on the right side of the rock?

Chunk of ice from the Columbia Glacier

Fireweed behind our campsite made the beautiful view even better

Mama bear looking for more fish near Valdez

Every day was memorable, every day was special, every day we saw something spectacular. Was it worth driving over 14,000 there and back? Absolutely!

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama

Blondie’s Big Adventures

May 15, 2014June 20, 2015Posted in PhotographyTagged Cook Inlet, Haines, Labrador Retriever, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Long Beach Peninsula, Weekly Photo Challenge14 Comments

Eating, chasing a tennis ball and swimming. These are the things that our yellow Labrador Retriever Blondie loves to do more than anything. When we are on an RV trip we often go out of our way to find a place for her to run and swim.

Blondie swimming in Lake Erie — Blondie swimming in Lake Ontario

Blondie playing chuck-it on Long Beach, Washington — Blondie goes after the ball on Long Beach Peninsula, Washington

Blondie is one happy dog swimming in Haines, Alaska

We’re not wandering at the moment. These are just a few photos showing Blondie on the move doing what she loves.

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: On The Move

Favorite Alaska Memories

September 5, 2013June 20, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, Glaciers, Road Trip, RVing, WildlifeTagged Arctic Circle, Bald Eagle, Denali, Haines, Ninilchik, Talkeetna12 Comments

Although we left Tok, Alaska almost a month ago, our memories of Alaska will never leave us. Here, in no particular order, are a few photos of some of our favorite places and adventures.

Our favorite place was Oceanside RV Park in Haines, Alaska where we could sit and watch for whales, watch eagles fly by, and watch the ferries and cruise ships sail by.

Cocktail hour whale watching with Ted and Ruthy

The most exciting and most memorable experience of the entire trip was the South Face McKinley flight-seeing tour and landing on Ruth Glacier with Talkeetna Air Taxi.

We loved all of the boat trips we took.

Whale Pectoral Fin on day trip to Juneau

Seeing ice calving on Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords trip from Seward

Driving to the Coldfoot, sixty miles north of the Artic Circle was a drive to remember.

Catching Halibut and watching the sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska.

Denali National Park.

Moose beside the road on the way out of the park

Beautiful green valley at Polychrome Overlook

Driving the Top of the World Highway, panning for gold, going for a train ride on the Alaska Railroad, watching for wildlife on the side of the road, seeing the Fireweed blooming everywhere, seeing glaciers off in the distance and up close are all highlights of the trip we will never forget.

Every day was memorable, every day was special, every day we saw something spectacular.