On our way to Tok through Delta Junction we came across an area where we got a birds eye view of the pipeline which runs from Prudhoe Bay in the north to Valdez. The pipe itself is 48 inches in diameter; it crosses 34 major rivers and 800 smaller ones, and crosses the Brooks, Alaska and Chugach mountain ranges. Filled, the pipeline holds 9-million barrels of oil. It is definitely an engineering feat.

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This local group, complete with a washboard player, performed for Tok visitors. They not only entertained us but also educated us about Tok. We were amazed to learn that the town has no form of government, no taxes and according to them little or no crime.

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I guess this is what they mean when they refer to a "ribbon of highway". This is part of the highway to Chicken.

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Saw lots of this interesting flower/plant along the road. It does indeed look like little cotton balls and even feels like them.

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Chicken is a remote "town" in the heart of gold mining country (there is still mining there today) that consists of three tourist type businesses and a small airstrip. There is no phone, electric, or water service (they truck water in from Tok). According to local legend, early gold miners wanted to name their camp ptarmigan, but were unable to spell it so settled for chicken, the common name in the north for ptarmigan (by the way we actually saw a ptarmigan today).

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This gold dredge operated on the Chicken Creek between 1959 and 1967. Dredges were land-locked floating machines, digging ponds that allowed them to float across the area to be mined. They operated 24 hours a day. Another name for this type of dredge is the bucket-line dredge.

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The fireweed has finally shown itself! It looked like a carpet of fuchsia along the road.

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Passing through Beaver Creek we spotted this small mission church. It was constructed from a salvaged Quonset hut left over from highway construction days. The church was prefabricated in Whitehorse and then constructed here in one week in 1975.

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Yet again we have a campsite with a view. We stopped for the night at Cottonwood RV Park in Destruction Bay on Kluane Lake. We couldn't ask for a better view than this.

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This is what we were forced to look at! Kluane Lake is 154 square miles and is the largest lake in the Yukon Territory. The water is an amazing aqua color.

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We decided that since we had the time we would go to Haines. We had visited here when we were on our cruise and remembered it was a nice little town. We found this campground on the Lynn Canal that we have totally enjoyed.

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We had no sooner settled into our campsite when this eagle showed up on the beach in front of us. These are such regal birds.

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We took the fast ferry to Skagway that took us right by our campground. You can see what a great view we have. Our rig is the one in the middle.

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As we continued through the fjord we saw many beautiful waterfalls like this one.

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I don't think we'll ever tire of seeing glaciers and snow-capped mountains.

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Skagway is the oldest incorporated city in Alaska (1900). It owes it birth to the Klondike Gold Rush when thousands of gold seekers arrived to follow the trails to the Yukon goldfields. Today tourism is it's main economy. The town bustles as 4-6 cruise ships a day line the docks. According to what we were told, many of the shops in town (especially the jewelry stores) are actually owned by the cruiselines. We were also told that the town becomes somewhat of a ghost town once the last cruise ship leaves.

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This local artist did incredible work. We watched as he worked on this carving of a bear from this piece of serpentine.

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The scenery between Skagway and Haines was wonderful. We even got to see seals, sea lions and many eagles.

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We were told that there might be a chance of seeing bear fishing near Chilkoot Lake so we went to check it out. We saw lots of fishermen and a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains but sadly, no bear.

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This eagle looked like he was going to dive into the lake any minute but that was not to happen either.

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This totem stands outside a replica of a Chilkat Tribal House located at Seward Fort. The fort was actually a training base and is now a combination of private homes, artist's workshops, a hotel and restaurant and the Alaska Indian Arts building.

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In the Alaska Indian Arts building we got to see a totem-in-progress as well as...

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...a silversmith hand-engraving a beautiful bracelet which incorporated some of the Tlingit symbols of importance such as the raven and the eagle.

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