Haines Junction to Chilkat Pass

The Haines Highway



The mountains and the big tip over distracted me from the first part of tne Haines highway. Our new friend John of The First Nation said we should see two things not far out of Haine Junction: the First Nation villiage of Klukshu and the Million Dollar Falls. Before we even got to Klukshu we stopped at the lower end of Dezadeash Lake for photos. We'd been riding near the east shore of the lakr for several miles and the view were beautiful... the lake appeaes to be a few miles wide with just a few vacation homes visible on the eastern side and none to see on the other side. The southern tip where we stopped was rocky with scrub to the shore line with endless evergreens to the horizon. The Haines Highway bends slightly more directly south and its paved surface becomes a bit more rough and prone to gravely spots. Before long we find the cuttoff to Klukshu and wind a mile or so down a gravel road passing some small rundown but still used modern cabins with rusted vehicles in what passes for yard in these non-grass growing parts. Eventually we enter the village of perhaps a dozen buildings. These for the most part are made of logs and are very low to the ground. The road makes an elongated loop and in the eye of this needle is a log structure that has a "Gift Shop" sign on it, the gift shop is closed. To the left is another home-business announcing "Tea and story telling" this one has an 'open' sign. Behind this building is some derelict old road grading equipment and if there wasn't smoke rising from some of the buildings one might mistake the village for a ghost town. We didn't see one person, nor did we see much in the way of newer automobilia. The architecture was distinctly of another era and culture and the village's dearth of modern artifacts gave proof to John's description as being, "...how my grandparents lived." Tomto and I made eye contact enough to say, "let's move on down the road". Perhaps on a day with more sunshine or if we'd seen a warm face or two we'd have stayed for some tea, but on dreary day with no people in sight we felt that we were intruding on some private place.



The next stop on John's suggested itinerary was the Yukon Government campground named, for a reason that was never explained, Million Dollar Falls. The campground was built next to the falls and there were a few RV's visible but most sites were empty. Protective chain link fences and a system of stairways led to a series of cascades... very attractive but not the high falls I'd expected. A light drizzle shorted our visit and soon we were again making the still gradual climb to the Chilkat Pass.



We would bid a fond farewell to the Yukon Territory and return to British Columbia before we crossed the pass. As we began the more evident climb to the pass I began to watch the altimeter on my little GPS, we hit something over 3800 feet, Haines Junction according to John was just 800 feet above sea level, so we'd risen over half mile but very gradually. Once 3800+ ft. was registered we dropped a bit and the road flattened across a high plateau. There was evidence of ranching (horses at pasture, a 'hay for sale' sign, fences, and even a ranch gate with a weathered sign over a rutted dirt road). No cattle or sheep were seen. There was a very incongruous large windowless building standing 100 yards to the right of the highway with a porta-john sitting next to it... we could only guess that it was a road maintenance facility. Such was the scarcity of remarkable scenery on that that flat, high stretch that a pole barn with a privy deserves mention.



Distant mountains were coming into view and we stopped for some photos but were totally unprepared for the downside of the Chilkat pass where a previous post chronicled the WOWs and the big Tip Over.