First the bear pictures taken at the head of Chilkoot River where it exits Chilkoot Lake. The salmon are so many that they can be seen from the shore and there are plenty of fishermen catching them, mostly not in conflict with bears.
After two days in Haines we drove the car and coach down to the ferry dock for departure. To save a few bucks since they charge by the foot, I removed the tow bar mechanism from the back of the coach. It adds two or three feet to the overall length. In doing so I discovered that the battering of the Alaska Highway had resulted in bending the bar on the drop hitch (used to equalize height between the car and the coach). That bar is intended to carry a 400 pound tongue weight not the 40 or 50 pounds it carries and it is a solid two inch bar of steel! The bend is not so severe as to hinder its use, but I will have to find a replacement with a different design. For my fellow RVers, I will disclose the manufacturer if they fail to make good on this design flaw or at least make me whole.
As we sat in the ferry line 
it occurred to me that arriving in Skagway at 10 PM with no campground reservation could be a bit of a problem so I made few calls and got a reservation at Pullen Creek RV Park just a hop skip and jump from the ferry landing (not that you can get very far from the landing, Skagway is 4 to 5 blocks wide and 20 blocks long).
As I write we are sitting on the shore of Lake Atlin in the unincorporated settlement of Atlin. Remember back to May when we made a side trip to Carcross YT just because it was there? well we chose not to go to Atlin, which is only 60 miles away, because the middle third of the road is under construction. After hearing from those who took that road we decided we had to come down this essentially 60 mile dead end to see what it is all about. Of course it was founded in the search for gold. Then White Pass and Yukon RR punched through a 2 1/2 mile rail line to link two passenger ships it owned and built a hotel to house the many very rich who were looking for something different from Yet Another Grand Tour of Europe. They were very successful and the wealthy and the potential gold seekers filled their boats, trains and hotel for 20 years, then came the Depression and BUST. The MV Tarahane sits on the shore restored to a semblance of its former glory for us tourists to tour. The village at the end of the road has remnants of its former self preserved and restored. There is a warm spring (not hot, warm) there is a glacier to fly out to see, and of course some interesting residents to talk to.
The middle third of the road is still under construction and they water it constantly to keep the dust down. Mud on the other hand!! We are coated, well the underside of the coach and the entire car anyhow. Of the middle third where no active work was being pursued it is sold dust free gravel. I believe they use a calcium compound to keep the dust down. The third at either end is paved and reasonably good. I would advise anyone thinking about making the trip to do it. The scenery is as impressive as any we have seen on the trip. Our campsite looks over the lake to mountains on all sides with snow and ice and green growth as well. The weather forecast is not great so we will have moved on well before you get to read this. There is no phone or internet service available.
Plan: tomorrow tour the historic sights in Atlin that were closed when we got here and then move on out to the Alaska Highway to retrace to the Cassiar Highway which is just before Watson Lake ( see back to late May postings). Not sure how far we will get and probably will stop in a roadside turnout overnight. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
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Saturday night, July 29.
We have been on the move constantly. Thursday night after leaving Atlin we indeed found a very nice roadside Recreational Area with a lovely trail along the Rancheria River. then we moved on to start down the Cassiar Higway finally, I’ve been reading about this road, like the Alaska Highway since I first dreamed of making this trip. It is a wonderful two lane road, narrow and winding with plenty of hills to keep the drive exciting. There are few distractions such as roadhouses along the ay. The biggest, Jade City, is a full fledged roadside attraction with more jade items than I care to think about. The road is 475 miles and we started 75 miles from the northern end along the Alaska Highway. We planned to turn off for Stewart/Hyder so we planned a stop near Iskut at the Red Goat Lodge and Campground. It was very nice and especially so because we were the only campers present. The wifi was not wonderful and we continued to have a total lack of connectivity. When we left Skagway we had fallen though a hole in the connected grid and three nights later we have not found our way out of it.
During the drive today we were a bit discouraged about seening any roadside critters. Much time had passed since our last interesting encounter. this state of affairs did not last to lunch time. By then we had seen four or five black bears along the road, including one that walked up to the side of the coach without seeming to be aware there were people in it. By the time we reached Stewart we had seen a total of eight black bears including a sow with two cubs, and we had not gone to the wildlife viewing area yet! Stewart sits on the most northerly ice free port in BC. Just 2 1/2 miles across the water is Hyder, AK which of course is a mining community. They were connected by bridge then and now by a highway cut into the the wall of the mountain that is in the way. There are no custom formalities crossing into Hyder as the road only goes on to Canada eventually. For some reason the Canadians maintain a customs post for returning from Hyder to Stewart. We did get a Hyder Alaska stamp in our passports from one of the shopkeepers. The reason for the drive was to go to Fishcreek viewing area which is a raised boardwalk over a stretch of stream that has a large annual run of salmon which attracts a large number of bears, both black and Grizzly which attracts a large number of people to see them. We saw one black bear and there were very few salmon in the stream which explains the lack of bears.
Still no internet connection. Tomorrow we plan to try Yellowhead #16 to turn east toward Jasper. Unfortunately BC has a ban on overnight parking in turnouts and rest areas unless specifically marked. How civilized, how boring!
INTERNET for a day!! I have included bear pictures near the top, there are more pictures in the Album Alaska 02. soon there will be an album YTBCAB 2011 (that is Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta for the non Canadians among you) with pictures from our trip south from Alaska.