Day 102 - Sunday 9/27/2026 - To Whitehorse

Today we drove about 160 miles from the Million Dollar Falls Campground to Wolf Creek Campground in Whitehorse.  It was a beautiful, cool, mostly sunny day and the drive was pretty.

We did our shopping in Whitehorse at Walmart, Canadian Tire, Save-on Foods, Shoppers Drug Mart and the Petro One gas station.  We had burgers and fries for our lunch/dinner while shopping.  Whitehorse was a really neat town, and it would have been fun to walk around and check it out more, but it was Sunday and late so we didn't.  It was a busy but productive day, and we found Wolf Creek Campground as we were leaving Whitehorse and it was starting to get dark outside.  We got everything put away and settled in for the night.  We checked on the aurora forecast, and it wasn't stellar for tonight - so we may go to bed early.  We didn't see anything last night either.

Favorite place name:  Gribbles Gulch 

Cool Vehicle of the Day (1960's Plymouth Valiant):

Camp spot for tonight:

 

Today's Journey: 

Days 99-101 - Thursday - Saturday 9/24-26/2026 - Last Days in Haines

On Thursday we took most of the day to review the thousands of photos we have taken this week and get the updates out for days 96-98.  It was a lot of work, and we laughed recalling the funny things the bears did.  We had homemade freeze-dried pork roast, mac and cheese, roasted broccoli and applesauce for dinner.  It was so good!  

Camp spot for Thursday (with view during the day):

 

Friday was day 100 of our trip!  We can't believe we've been gone that long - the days and weeks have flown by.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous - sunny, blue skies, high 40s.  We drove along the river to see if any bears were around,

checked the weir

and circled through the campground one final time.  Chilkoot Lake was really beautiful today.

There were lots of people out fishing and enjoying the weather today.  The river was full of Seagulls sitting on rocks, and Mergansers darting around in the water and enjoying the warmth of the sun.  We saw a bunch of Bald Eagles today as well.

We said goodbye to the wildlife area and headed into town to do some things.  We passed the Ferry Terminal where we came into Haines the first time from Skagway.

The sun reflecting off the water greeted us as we got to town

and the mountains were beautiful.  We stopped by the grocery store (IGA) for a couple of things then went to the famous Haines Bamboo Room Restaurant

to try the world's best halibut and chips. 

Mike had some of their famous Bob's clam chowder as well (awesome) - it really was the best halibut we have had!  We ate way too much and were very full and decided to walk down the main street and check out some of the shops.  We bought a few souvenirs and had a nice long chat with an artist and her husband at The Magpie (they were from Austin, TX), then went down to Olerud's market and picked up a few more things we needed (and a t-shirt we didn't need - haha).  The prices and selection of stuff at this store were great and we wished we would have visited it sooner.

We got a pay-for campsite at Oceanside RV Park so that we could do laundry at their very nice laundromat and have electric at our site to get everything charged up fully before we leave here tomorrow (Saturday).  We got the coveted end site (#13) near the harbor and right on the water with just incredible views.  It was a bit pricey but we figured we were celebrating 100 days on the road so we went for it...

The nice gentleman who ran the RV park (Nick) was from Douglasville, GA and had family in Bremen, GA (2 towns that are quite close to us back home in Alabama - amazing...).  We also met some of our camper neighbors - one couple was from New Mexico (if I remember correctly) and they had just arrived for a weeklong+ visit in Haines and were hoping to see some bears - we filled them in on where to go to find Lulu and family!

 

The full moon came up as we were waiting for the laundry to finish and was stunning reflected on the water.  

 

The night sky later on was also beautiful

 

and the lights from the harbor next door were pretty too. 

We again hoped to see the northern lights, but clouds moved in fast and blocked our chances.

Saturday we awoke to rain and dense fog, so we checked out of our campsite at 11am and drove a couple of blocks to the harbor to park in their lot and watch some SEC football in ER150.  War Eagle! We got our first W in SEC football for this season, and also our first SEC win at home in Jordan Hare Stadium since Nov. of 2024 but only by a touchdown (21-15) against Vanderbilt.

 

We decided we would drive a couple of hours before dark, so we bid farewell to Haines, Alaska with a promise that we would most definitely return one day and visit again.  We really enjoyed our time here - it might even be our most favorite place in Alaska.  

 

We emptied our tank, dropped off our garbage in the free-to-use bear-proof waste bins and then headed to the Haines Visitor Center to top off our fresh water tank (also for free).  As we were leaving town we got a rainbow as a goodbye gift!

 

We drove through the Canadian border into BC, then crossed into the Yukon and stopped at the Million Dollar Falls Campground, where we got camp site #2 right along the river.  This is the same campground we stayed at the last time we left Haines much earlier on our trip.

 

 

 

Camp spot Saturday:

 

Views behind our Camp spot:

 

 

 

The drive here was beautiful with a very different and sometimes sparse mountain landscape and lots of crazy cloud formations.  As we crossed the mountains the temperature dropped from a balmy 48 degrees to 33 degrees!  BRRR!  Dinner was hot vegetable beef soup from the freeze-dried stash.  It hit the spot!  It turned partly cloudy after dark, and we are hoping to see the northern lights in the sky - this is the forecast for tonight: 

Tomorrow (Sunday) we drive to Whitehorse for a visit and much-needed Walmart run.  We are starting our journey back home and saying goodbye to Alaska for now - but we will be back (for sure).  What an amazing place and a wonderful place to have an adventure !!

Our Journey Saturday: 

Day 98 - Wednesday 9/24/2026 - Haines Bears Day 3

Today we again took the morning to review our bear pictures, then went down the road to the bridge over the river to see if any bears were around.  Callie supervised the the picture review process.

It was a bit warmer, around 50 degrees, and rain showers off and on all day.  

We didn't see any bears on our first drive to the campground at Chilkoot Lake, but we did see some photographers looking at something we never found.  We wandered around and enjoyed the birds on the river and in the campground, and we saw a Varied Thrush!  It's a lifer for us (borrowed picture)!

It was getting later in the afternoon, so we thought maybe all the bears had been out earlier and had their fills of salmon, so we decided to give it up and head back to our camp spot.  As soon as we started ER150, we saw Lulu and her cubs in the river right beside us!!!  We got back out and followed them along the river to the bridge again.  Lulu did a lot of salmon fishing and her cubs tried their best to follow along.

And she ate a lot of fish (using up to all four paws - we laughed at this shot!).

She and the cubs fished and played together for quite a while.  The cubs are learning to do adult things and seem to be getting better every day that we have been watching them.

We saw another mom with two cubs across the river.

The light changed as it got later, and Lulu liked looking at her reflection in the water.

The views of the mountains and across the river from the bridge were beautiful.

We finally left the bears and went back to our camp spot, hoping to see the aurora (since the forecast for it was very strong for our area) - but it was too cloudy.  The night sky was very beautiful though.

 

 

We had homemade freeze-dried chicken noodle soup, and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and called it a night.  Another wonderful day of watching bears and enjoying the beauty of Alaska!!

 

Our camp spot along the river road and view out the window: