Memories of Haines Alaska

This tale includes some mechanical drama with my ride (Suzuki Samurai). The problem got solved in Haines, but I spent several days in Tok, unsuccessfully trying to sort things out. Twice, I left Tok, but turned back with concerns about my ride. I passed through Tok on my way into Alaska. This episode speaks of my trip out of Alaska, through the Yukon, and back into Alaska in Haines.

When I left Tok, and I got back on the road, the Samurai wasn’t running very well at all. It was almost like it was running on three cylinders. I stopped to check the wires, but that didn’t seem to be the problem. I considered that it might be some bad gas that I purchased in Tok, or some related fuel problem. Thirty miles further, I stopped at Northway and bought some Methanol additive to dissolve water in fuel. I added two bottles to the tank and pulled out, but the Sami died in the lot and would not start. I decided to call AAA and request a tow. Damn! Before the tow arrived (two hours later), I managed to get Sami started, but still running as bad as before. Sami rode back to Tok on a flatbed trailer.

2005-07-13: Back in Tok

I had breakfast early so I could be at the garage ‘front and center’ at 8am. I stopped at the garage at 7am, on my way to the restaurant, but the mechanics day only began at 8-8:30am.

Without going into too much detail, between 9am and 1pm, we replaced the fuel filter, replaced cap-rotor-plugs (I brought them with me), replaced one questionable plug wire, replaced the air filter, and checked the fuel pressure. I added 5 more gallons of high test fuel. After all this, the Samurai ran better, but still not right. I decided to get the tires balanced and rotated at a station down the road and spend the night there, then come what may, leave, in the morning.

2005-07-14: Is the third try the charm?

This morning I found myself leaving Tok for the 3rd time. The Samurai still lost power when I asked it for too much, but I felt like I could get to Haines. That the ‘Check Engine’ light never came on, gave me hope that the injectors were delivering enough fuel to run. Perhaps if bad gas was the culprit, running through a few tanks of high octane fuel might clear the problem.

My ferry out of Haines was leaving at 9:30pm on the 17th, and I needed to be there by 7:30pm. That gave me 3½ days to cover 440 miles. I believed that was well within my reach … barring no more unpleasant surprises.

It was a high gray sky that greeted me in the morning. Folks here had been talking about what an unusually rainy season it had been … until I got there. Perhaps the rainy pattern had returned.

2005-07-15: Haines

Yesterday I pushed the Samurai all the way to Haines. At Haines Junction, 155 miles north of Haines, the town, I added more methanol, some injector cleaner, and more high octane fuel. None of these seemed to help. If I drove with about 25% throttle it seemed almost OK, but if I asked for more power, it hesitated and lost power. I could achieve 50-60 mph on the flats, but only 40-50 on hills. It had less power than before I put in this ‘stronger’ 16 valve Side-Kick engine.

I pulled into Haines and immediately looked for a garage. I found one and made an appointment for the morning. I then went looking for a motel. I found the “Captain’s Choice” motel that looked over the water and had wireless internet. I booked three nights at $97/day. I still had time to look over the town.

Everywhere I went on this trip, the Samurai (complete with boat on top) was a head turner. It seemed to bring a smile to faces wherever I went. I got comments as I drove slowly by, like, “Hey, I like your rig” and, “Now there’s fun just waiting to happen.” Sometimes longer conversations would start. I had guys saying they have or used to have a Samurai. Then they were interested in how I outfitted mine. My first hour in Haines fulfilled this trend several times.

Yesterday, when I made the appointment for the Samurai, I considered staying with it and watching the process. However, this morning I felt I should take care of other projects, and perhaps walk to the harbor with my camera gear.

I dropped Sami off at the shop at 8:00am, then got a ride back to my room. They warned me that there was a panic-job on a tour bus that came in early and they had to give it priority. My feeling was that as long as the problem gets solved today, I would be OK. At about 3:30pm,I got the Samurai back. Other than a loose bolt on the EGR valve, a new set of plug wires solved the problem. They flew in a top of the line set of Beldon, lifetime warranty wires from Juneau. Even at $116 + $10 shipping, I’d have agreed to their choice, though they did not consult me first. Bottom line: it runs great again. This shop in Haines was much more professional than the ‘just get you going’ shop in Tok.

Ed, a fellow at the garage, told me of a place on the lower Chilkoot River where I might find bears. Just below Chilkoot Lake and a mile or so above the mouth of the river, on the east side and above the bridge, brown bears, including sows with cubs, had a long history of fishing. There is a weir fish counter stationed just above this spot, so the salmon would get backed up, and the bears would take advantage of the situation.

I made two trips to the ‘bear location’. One at 4:00pm after retrieving the Samurai, and another at 8:00pm. I stayed until 9:30pm when it was getting dark. I was told that evening was the best time. But it seemed the bears were exploiting some other food source during these times (or resting), and were not to be seen here.

This same fellow, Ed, had a new Mexican restaurant in town, and I decided to give it a try in between my visits to the fish weir. Ed told me he built a house here 18 years ago. It was sort of a New England style, two-story with a veranda in front. After raising their kids and seeing them leave the nest, he and his wife turned the house into a restaurant by building an upstairs apartment. I asked him why he chose ‘Mexican’ cuisine. He explained that he’d polled the town folk about what venue they’d most like to see added to the town. ‘Mexican’ was the overwhelming favorite and had about 80% of the votes.

2005-07-16: Haines All Day

Though I was present all day here in Haines, I spent most of the early portion in my motel room working at the computer while the Samurai was in the shop. My ‘bear hunting’ trips didn’t pan out, but the salmon were definitely there.

In the morning, I got up too early for breakfast (the restaurant was closed), so I decided to make another run at the bears. No bears again! I’m sure it’s not the location. I saw signs warning fishermen not to enter the area because of bears. I’m sure it’s a ‘timing’ thing. I planned to go back up later in the day, as I saw mergansers and kingfishers that interested me.

After breakfast I ventured south down Mud Bay Road. I stopped at a few places along the way. Then I drove into the Chilkat State Park. I did not find any exciting birds, but it sure was fantastic country.

2005-07-17: Preparing for the ferry

We had a nice little rain this morning. That would make packing the Samurai a bit tricky. Nonetheless, that is what must be done. I had until 11am to check out, and I intended to use all the time available. I took Sami down to a coin-op carwash and shed some of the grit and grime accumulated on the last stretches of highway. Hopefully, it would cut down on some of the dirt transfer from Sami to me.

I understood that this region was very ‘birdy’ during peak migrations in spring and fall. However, at this time, in mid July, things were a bit slow birdwise. I was not sure if there would be photo opportunities on the ferry, but I looked forward to finding out. I was told I might see a good deal of cetaceous mammals on the way, but I would not know until I looked for myself.

There was a lot to like about Haines. Mostly, the folks here seemed happy to be here. That will put most people into a mindset where they are nice to one another. As I visit different places on this trip, in the back of my mind I’ve been considering “would I like to live here?” So far, Haines is one of the three places that intrigued me. The other two have been Seward and Whitehorse.

(Later in the day)

I spent the day exploring birding options north of Haines. I stopped by the ferry terminal to get my ‘lane assignment’ (this was the last step before boarding) for the voyage. Since the ‘bear location’ I’d been scoping out was also in this area, I gave it one more try, but still no bears. While at the bear site, I saw a family of Common Mergansers swim by, downstream on the way to the bay, but I wasn’t ready with my camera and had to be content to just watch them. I got a couple of mediocre shots of an American Dipper at the weir, but the light was poor and I didn’t expect anything wonderful.

On exiting the area, I drove south intending to get a shot of a Belted Kingfisher. I’d seen one the day before perched on a piece of driftwood. Knowing these birds will frequent favored perches from which to spot fish, I planned to give it a try. Before reaching the spot I planned to wait for the kingfisher, I spied the merganser family swimming and fishing along the near shore. Mom was trying to teach her five half-grown young about catching eels. They were moving along the shoreline just as the River Otters had done in Seward, and I used the same strategy of moving ahead and shooting as they went by. In this way, I got hundreds of shots. I finally got to the location I’d hoped to see the kingfisher, but a 3 1⁄2 hour vigil did not produce the result I’d hoped for, though a Pigeon Guillemot offered himself up for a few good shots. This visit with the bayside was a nice way to pass time until I had to get loaded onto the ferry.

At 10:45pm I finally got aboard the ferry, and my sea voyage had begun. It was a good idea for me to get a cabin. From the looks of things, it was quite a scramble for everyone who was staying on the deck to find a space. I found my room and tried to sleep.