Adventures in the Great Northwest

Washington / Vancouver / Alaska - page 20

Alaska - Skagway (September 2)

Left:  It's hard to believe, but we nearly went to war with Canada.  This is Fort William H. Seward, in Haines, Alaska.  It was established in 1898 when Canada was disputing the boarder.  Canada wanted a port in this area (there's actually a road into Skagway and Haines from Canada!) but when the fort went in, their interest waned.  The fort also served to keep the peace during the Alaska gold rush.

Right:  We docked in Haines, but not to see the fort, now a national landmark run by the National Park Service.  No, we were going to walk through an Alaskan rain forest.  I've always thought of a rain forest as tropical, but this is temperate.  This is part of the Tongas National Forest which is just HUGE!  It abuts three other forests (two of them Canadien) which comprise the world's largest protected wilderness.

Left:  We had two guides who informed us that about 30% of the trees are Sitka Spruce, with most of the rest being hemlock.  The leafy plants in front are devils club.  What they have to do with the devil is anyone's guess, but they're being studied as a possible cure fore stomach cancer and diabetes.

Right:  We were on the coast for pretty much the entire hike.  I didn't expect this piece of the trip to be spectacular at all.  I expected that I'd want some exercise in a relaxing natural environment.  This was perfect!  The white thingy to the right of the tree is a boat.

Left:  This reminded me of a Super Mario character.  It's a Fly Agaric mushroom (aka amanita muscaria).  If it looks psychoactive, well, it is.  It can also be lethal.  Trees love it.

Right:  The hike was billed as a variable length venture depending on what the group was up for.  We were tough.  We paused at this beach, went "OOH!  AHH!" and decided to press onward.  The vote was a whole bunch to zero.

More of The Great Northwest

Back one page

BACK (Main Travel Page)