July 29 - Yukon Day 4 - Heading back to Juneau

Today I leave Whitehorse bound for Haines and then Juneau. Accordingly to the weather last night, it's not looking good for my drive. But I look out my window and there's the sun -- and a bunch of clouds but maybe things will be OK today. It would be nice to see all the mountain tops I missed on my drive up as they were shrouded in low clouds.

I need to drop off my car at 4pm in Haines - I'm leaving 8am -- should be plenty of time to enjoy some sights and get there in plenty of time.

First stop is McInterye Marsh just outside of Whitehorse. Need to keep trying to see moose! I drive past the marsh and up a hill with a great view.

Then back down to the marsh. It's a really nice marsh but no moose. :(

A little further down the Hwy, I think about stopping at a rest stop but decide to drive by. And that's a good thing because not 2 miles down the road there's Elk!!! Three along side the highway. I pull off and put my blinkers on and get out of the car and watch. Two male and a collared female. Pretty exciting!!! What a great start to this day!

The elk are part of the Takhini herd (named for the valley were they range). The other herd in the Yukon is the Braeburn herd. Both herds were introduced in the early 1950s and an additional 119 animals were introduced between 1989 - 1994. (Elk were a native species of the Yukon but they died off over 4000 years ago.)

I do turn and head back to the rest stop. When I return to the Elk spot, they were gone. So glad I didn't originally stop.

I continue own my way but make a detour off the highway to a viewpoint. It's a secretive viewpoint  Wonderful viewpoint - river and marshes. With all the clouds looks like sunset instead of sunrise but it's 10am local time.

See at last 2 kingfishers - and watch a sea plane fly over -- well worth the little drive!!!

Further down the road, I see deer! Four of them (one male) on a little hill along the highway. Again I pull off and watch for a bit. Finally, I'm seeing my wildlife!

Further down, I'm approaching a marsh and looking for moose. I see a brown shape. I actually gasp at the prospect of a moose. And.....it's a log :( Sometimes you want something so bad.....

The dark clouds are starting to build in in the distance.

I stop at another rest stop (just stretching the legs) and spot a Sulpher. It's the same as the two I saw before --- orange wing tips. I need to figure out what this bfly is.

Continuing further, I can start seeing the Canada Icefields in the distance and getting closer by the mile. So nice to see mountain tops today.

It's a totally different drive today than Sunday -- all the mountains are there! (Yes, with patchy cloud cover but still 100% better than Sunday.)

I arrive in Haines Junction which sits at the base of those icefields. This would be a great place to live!

I eat at Frosty's a local fast food place along the road and then continue on to Haines AK.

I make a stop at the Auriol Trail -- I don't have time to walk the entire trail but it's sunny and I want to check for bflys.

I pull in the parking lot and immediately see a Comma. It's a Green Comma - it does fly in the lower 48 but I've never seen one - a lifer!!

I start the trail and I can see a nice open meadow for about 200-400 yrds before entering a forest. A perfect meadow for bflies. Since this is brown bear territory, I start talking to announce my presence and hopefully scare off any bears.

As I walk, I continue to see the Green Commas. And then I see a little Blue flying near the ground. It's a Northern Blue. Again, one I could see in the lower 48 but this again is a lifer for me!.

A little further, I see orange Frits flying. MI think they are Mormon Frits - not a new one for me.

The ahead view is great too!

I want to stay but the dreaded low battery light flickers on my camera -- I thought about charging last night but I thought I just did it the night before - obviously not :(

Great stop!!

Time to head back and try to milk the battery the rest of the way to Haines.

Make a quick stop at Rock Glacier to see what I climbed the other day.

I'm starting to see snowy mountains amid the clouds in the distance - maybe I'll get to drive over Haines Pass in the sunshine (or partial sunshine).

I see 2 Swans a pond before Vand Creek.

There's definitely rain in distance and getting closer. It's patchy - one spot of rain with sun around it - I'm waiting for the rainbow!

I can see glaciers now between the clouds ... 

and I finally make it to Haines Summit. Not totally sunny but I can see parts of the tops of most of the mountains. Beautiful!

I'm driving up on the 3 Guardsmen and it's cloudy, I can't see the top -- but there's sun on the other side and there's the Guardsmen standing tall!

Back thru US Customs and thru the drizzle back to Haines.

I arrive at 3pm so I stop at the American Bald Eagle Foundation Museum. It's a nice place with a collection of mounted specimens of the northern wildlife (birds, fish, mammals, etc) and live birds - most injured and hopefully rehabbing so they can be re-released. Sadly, that is not true for all the birds. I see a Merlin (a small bird of prey) that has an obvious wing injury. The intern says its a birth defect -- this bird will never be released but is taken care of an used for educational purposes. Unfortunately, when I arrive it's Cruise Ship Wednesday in Haines and the museum is packed with people.

The museum also has live presentations periodically throughout the day - mine was on the wildlife of northeastern Alaska. Fun place!

My bags are packed, my plane is here, time to head back home. Great vacation!!