Haines AK

It's 22 Jun 2011 and this morning we wake up to the sight of the dock in Haines AK off the starboard side.  We're up early this morning because I'm playing 9 holes at Valley of the Eagles (www.hainesgolf.com). 

Haines is a beautiful little town nestled among the mountains as you'll see below.  Nearby but across the bay is Skagway which we do not intend to visit on this trip.  There is nonetheless a lot of activity on the dock getting folks on the Skagway ferry (otherwise it takes many hours to drive around the bay).

While I'm off demonstrating new techniques for displacing earth with rented irons, Ann is going to prowl around town this morning and take pictures with the good camera.  I'll be using my iPhone.

The golf course is not far away.  Abbi (the course owner's granddaughter) shows up with a large van.  She gives us a short windshield tour of the site of Ft Haines before taking us to the course.  You'll see more of Ft Haines below.  Turns out Abbi's also a local athlete.

At the course we're paired up in two-somes and three-somes loosely according to our handicaps.  It's a small town, so there are a lot of tee times available.  In fact, we basically do a shot-gun start from number 4. 

I'm paired up with Nihel, a farmer from New Zealand whom I gathered from bits of conversation either is or was an active rugby player at some point.  I'm not sure where you would have to go to find a more beautiful setting.  As advertised, the views are phenomenal, and just to punctuate the name of the course, an eagle flies over #4 as we walk to our second shots. 

The course is relatively new and at water level with quite a few small creeks running through.  This means there are seasons when it is flooded, and there are seasons when running salmon are part of the water hazards.  All in all Nihel and I are a pretty good pair, shooting bogey golf.

Not sure is you can tell or not, but there are consequences to having a course which floods periodically.  The main one is that all the greens are made of astro-turf.  You might think this would make for very fast puts, but in fact the greens are not all that bad.  You get used to the idea of lagging up, though because approach shots don't exactly bite. They do a nice job of maintaining the fairways, though and it's actually a very nice course.

At the end of 9 holes, we all gather at the pro shop for some homemade snacks of fresh salmon dip on crackers and bottled water.  Great recipe, by the way. 

Stan Jones, the owner and course builder, gives us a chat on the process of constructing the course, and stays around to answer questions. 

Abbi takes most of the group back to the ship, but a few folks go back out for another 9.

Nihel and I hang around and ask more questions about the course.  Stan says construction was actually much easier than the approval process.  It took him 7 years to get all the paperwork in order before he could start construction.  Even then, there were / are restrictions on the kind of grass he could bring into this environment, and he can't use pesticides.

Still, he had some good things going for him.  More land is being created as a result of glacial rebound.  I'd never thought of it before, but glaciers, being immensely heavy, actually depress the land under them.  As time passes and the glaciers recede, the land rises.  The land for the course is actually rising nearly an inch per year.  Stan has surveys and photos of the area from years ago when it was all below water.

I asked if he had any plans to put in a back 9.  Although he didn't look it, he said he was in his 70s.  He didn't think he would since it might take another 7 years to get it approved. 

Nihel and I also toured Stan's course maintenance facility which doubled as storage for commercial fishing gear.  The family, like many in Alaska, are serious about their hunting and fishing as it provides food for most of the year.

Nihel decided to do another 9 holes.  Stan said the van would likely be back within a half hour.  I'm in no rush, so I thank him for the course and the tour, and head back to Haines on foot.  















There is great weather this time of year.  The mile or two back to town is an easy and warm walk.  On the way in I passed the school.  The rhythms of life continue no matter where you are. 

It was reassuring to pass a soccer field full of kids going through their drills.  Abbi had mentioned they have to travel quite a bit to play other teams so I'd guess they have a lot of intra-squad games to sharpen up.   

In the meantime, Ann was making her way around Haines.  Started with Officer Housing sitting on top of a hill overlooking a parade grounds.

The rest of the Fort's original buildings surround a parade grounds.  All the remaining Fort buildings have been bought, renovated and turned to other uses. 


You can see the top of our ship in the background, just above the white building and trees.






Eventually she worked her way to the downtown area.

Haines has a quite busy fishing enterprise, as it seems most Alaskan communities near the sea do.

The downtown is fairly busy even in the early morning.  This may be because many from the ship are stretching their legs, but for whatever the reason, there is activity. 

It is a continuing theme throughout our visit that there are beautiful things almost everywhere you go.  Maybe that's a compensation for the relatively short growing season, but whatever the reason, folks up here seem to make a special effort when it's possible.

And then there are the things that lend character to every town, 

ranging from this giant Hammer in front of the Hammer Museum,

to this absolutely beautiful scene at the foot of a hill, 



















and this dog training his master to park in town.

Grabbed a quick meal on the Lido deck back aboard ship and returned to the room to change into boots for our next tour, the Glacier Wildlife Safari.  


 

That's our ferry heading to our dock.

On the way over our skipper slowed to get good views of seals sunning themselves on rocks along the shore . . .

and swimming just off shore.

After tying up on the beach

we take an old school bus back to the camp.  There are about 15 people who live out here full time.  The downside is they live in pretty minimal facilities.  The upside?  They live extraordinarily close to nature.  We will be taking oversized canoes back to the glacier, and our hosts take few chances. 

We're outfitted with life jackets and tall rubber boots before heading out to our destination . . .  







which you can see up the river through the trees below. 

We finally get underway.  There is some minimal paddling up stream, but at the first sign some in our party are getting tired, our guide starts the outboard motor and we sit back to enjoy the view.  

This includes a quick tour past Agnes Rock.  That's Agnes sitting on her nest.  It seems sea gulls are creatures of habit, and Agnes has been returning to this particular rock for a while now.  It is unfortunate that history will also repeat itself.  Our guide says this rock will eventually be flooded as the summer warms the area and the outflow from the glacier increases.  Agnes will eventually be evicted, but she has been observed to return for at least a season or two.

If I recall correctly, our guide has been living out here for a few years and is in a particularly good position to know the area intimately.

He says this is a particularly good area for sea gulls who are drawn by the large amount of food in the area.  As we pass the rocks there are a lot of nests.  

As you might expect, in any large community there are some who stand out more than others.  For example, this guys wants to be a star.

And then there are those who attend to the more serious business of raising the young.

Of course, having a lot of food in the vicinity means the table is set for more than just gulls.  This eagle and another were spotted heading for the glacier.  The reaction of the gulls was interesting.  They swarmed the flight of two and drove both off for a time.  

Eventually one made his way back into the area, and although challenged by more gulls, made it all the way to some rocks 50 - 100 ft up the left side of the glacier.  

You can see his white head among the trees and brush on the cliff.

After a while, one gull continued circling the area while the eagle remained in the woods, patiently waiting for his next opportunity.  This is the way the situation stood as we departed the area.

The trip back to Haines was relatively uneventful.  We saw some whales on the way back, but were unable to get in position fast enough to get their pictures. 

           

We got back to the ship in time for dinner and the evening show.  There is a main show each evening.  Three of these were musical presentations and the other two were a magic show and a comedy act. 

After the show we headed for the hot tub.  It is a truly small world.  Ann and I ended up chatting for a while with Mike Jefferson and his wife Patty.  Mike is an Air Force Academy '81 grad, F-4 / F-15 and now American Airlines (AA) pilot (right seat at the moment).  He'd like to fly something besides right seat for an airline - even considered crop dusting while waiting for AA to call him, only to find he was not allowed to do any commercial flying while associated with AA.  He's now looking for a way to get into local flying.  He seemed enamored of float planes in AK, and was looking for a way to get AA to send him up this way.

Ann and I finally got back to our room.  We polished off what was left of a bottle of wine and hit the rack after a very busy day.