In transit

When we (sadly) said goodbye to P & C & R in Gustavus, SS and I ferried back to Juneau. There, we watched float planes take off from the downtown piers and explored town a bit. 

Then it was time for SS and I, too, to part ways: her, home to Arizona; me, on a couple more ferries to Haines and then Skagway. Pretty darn great to be making onward progress while relaxing on a boat deck with this view!

Then it was time to get back behind the wheel, which certainly wasn't all bad. The leg of the Klondike Highway headed north from Skagway to where it meets up again with the Alaska Highway was particularly stunning, especially going over White Pass.

I had to do a bit of backtracking on the Alaska Highway as far as Watson Lake, which was okay as I've been admonished by several people for driving straight past--not even noticing, which is disturbing in hindsight--the impressive collection of signs people have posted there.

Once I dutifully appreciated that sight, I turned south on 37, the Cassiar Highway, for the long but gorgeous drive down central BC. I keep seeing red foxes everywhere, this one having some lunch.

And I was making good enough time that I bit the bullet and took a significant detour to Stewart, BC, and Hyder, Alaska (ONE MORE jaunt into AK!) to see the Salmon Glacier which, as you can see, was totally worth the trek.

Hyder also has a shallow salmon river that attracts bears like crazy, though there weren't any around by the time I had to get back on the road. (Most of the ripples you see in the water here that you might assume are rocks are actually salmon!)

From there, onward to Prince George to pick up my mother as she flew in for the next leg of the adventure.