Haines Sheldon Museum
Though this museum has exhibits about much of the history of Haines, I focused on the Tlingit culture areas.
made from the lining of a bear's stomach! pretty slick engineering of this salmon weir
5 pics for Joan
Hammer Museum
I almost skipped this place, as the concept seemed a bit ridiculous. So glad that it lured me in. There are 2,500 hammers on display, beautifully arranged & interpreted - fascinating. It's the work of 1 man, who has 6,000 more hammers at home; I wouldn't want to be the kids who have to clean out that house after he passes!
the pyramids were built with such as this I had 1 of these
Alaska-related hammersThe man with the truck is the owner of the hammer museum - saved by a "hammer".
Someone in Vilnius visited Haines & then started a hammer museum there.
wildlife!
There was 1 item left on my Alaska bucket list as of this morning: I wanted to see a grizzly catch a fish. The Chilkoot River north of Haines is a good spot to look for bears fishing. I'd caught a brief sighting of a black bear finishing his dinner last evening. This evening, there was a mama grizzly with 4 cubs fishing when I arrived. First, one of the larger cubs caught a fish & shared it with his siblings. Then mama caught one, which she ate. Then mama chased the little ones into the woods, but they all reappeared just downstream. Mama caught another fish, which the cubs all shared. We watched them move along the riverbank for another 1/4 mile before disappearing. Though they were too far away for a legit pic, here is a "proof-of-life" photo. That 1 little cub was always lagging behind. Also, two of the cubs were noticeably larger than the other two (boys vs girls?), & all of the cubs had white collars. According to my google search this evening, they will lose this collars within 3 years.
While watching these interesting birds feeding, a lady came by who knew what they were: surf scoters. Though not much of a birder, the way these feed fascinated me. They all swim to an area bunching together as they go. Suddenly, the front "row"dive, then the next "row" dive, & so on, like a ripple going through the flock. In the pic here, the first several "rows" have gone down. Soon, the whole tight bunch is below the surface. In a minute, they start popping back up to the surface.
* * * * *
Wildlife sightings (not counting those in the conservation preserve or the aquarium)
--> --> today: 5 grizzlies (fishing!) many surf scoters (feeding)
--> --> trip total so far:
black bears - 25 deer - 14 (12 Sitka) grizzlies - 6 moose - 8
stone sheep - 8 elk - 1 caribou - 15 bison - 42
Dall sheep - 11 porcupines -1 mountain goats - 1 lynx - 1
trumpeter swans - 32+ many bald eagles black oyster catcher - 1 (rare)
sea otters - 27 harbor seals - many, many, many orcas - 1
many sea stars & jelly fish Dall's porpoise - ~ 20
North Pacific Humpback whales - 2 pods of ~ 12 each + 1 + 1 + 3
Stellar's sea lions - many, 100+ incl 60 pups in 1 spot (counted by scientists)
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