Heading “North to Alaska”
By Larry Csonka
 May 6, 2000    7:30am ET
Sunday -  8/06/00 - 9:00 am
Tuesday - 8/08/00 - 6:00 am & 4:00 pm

HAINES
The next stop is Haines.  After a breathtakingly beautiful plane ride from Juneau, we landed in Haines.  Haines is nicknamed “The Valley of the Eagles.”  We visited an eagle preserve that claims to accommodate the largest concentration of bald eagles in the world.  Let me tell you, after seeing it first hand, I believe it!

We visited Fort William H. Seward, built in 1904 and named for the man that purchased Alaska from Russia on behalf of the United States.  At the time William Seward purchased Alaska the media nicknamed the deal “Seward’s Folly” and poked a lot of criticism at Seward for paying two cents an acre for barren wasteland.  Boy!  We should thank our lucky stars for the farsightedness of Mr. Seward!  What a deal!

We enjoyed looking around the fort, but not nearly as much as we enjoyed the special, authentic dance performed for us by the Tlingit dancers.

Herb and Shari Van Cleve put out a spread of some of my favorites for dinner and filled my head full of dreams about fishing for bright pink salmon on the Chilkoot River.

But first I needed to get to The Weeping Trout Resort.  Weeping Trout is located remotely on Chilkat Lake, an alpine lake not far from Haines. What a place.  Comfortable cabins nestled on a hillside at lakes edge.  The lodge even has a small golf course, “Alaskan style,” complete with bears!  A dock was the center of our attention when we arrived; in the unusually hot heat of summer.  Cameraman Pat Smith and I took time out to dive in before some cutthroat trout fishing.  Whew!  Hot weather but cold, refreshing, alpine lake water did the trick!  Cameraman Bryant Blackburn passed on the swim but took in a few holes of golf to unwind.

When we returned to Haines, Herb Van Cleve, of Eagle Preserve Sportfishing, lived up to his promise.  He put me on some fine bright pink salmon fishing on the Chilkoot River, a beautiful location with hundreds of eagles lining the river.

If you want to fish a fast river and photograph eagles, book Haines in your travel plans.
Stay tuned for more adventure in the Last Frontier…Alaska!