From Haines you have to cross the Yukon to get to the rest of Alaska. There are a complicated and randomly enforced set of rules on what food you can take when across the border. But Canada ended up letting us bring everything in, and the US just took away our citrus (even though it was purchased in the US).
Our first stop in the Yukon was the Congdon Creek Campground, right on Kluane Lake. This is the first time I’ve seen a campground with an electric fence for tent campers (to keep out Grizzly bears), and free firewood. We didn’t see any bears in the campground, but we did see a small grizzly near the road about 10 miles away. While there I hiked the Sheep Creek trail, which is a steep hike with amazing views. There was still a ton of ice on Kluane lake when we arrived, but most of it melted during the 2 days we were there.
Our next stop was back in Alaska in a great free campground in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, which is known for great birdwatching. It’s fantastic place to break out the kayak.
Next on to McCarthy in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, America’s largest national park. On the way we stayed at Uncle Nic’s RV park in Copper Center Alaska. Wow, what an interesting place! They have an amazing model train of the Copper River Railway, and we had a great time talking with several locals, who were all interesting/odd characters.
Full are of photos for the week are here.
