May 19 Heading For Home

After setting up camp we headed down to the ferry terminal which is between Chilkoot Lake and Haines. We are both starting to wonder what the heck we were thinking! Leaving was more difficult than either of us thought it would be. I told Bob if I came back in the summer someone else had to take me to the ferry!

My Boat was the Tustumena. It holds 174 passengers, 36 vehicles and has 36 cabins. As a walk-on my fair was only $37.00. It took 4 1/2 hours to get to Juneau, but it was one of the most beautiful trips I have ever taken.

The Tustemena

Haines from the ferry

Eldred Rock Lighthouse

Eldred Rock is the oldest original Alaskan Lighthouse building. First lit on June 1, 1906 and one of the remotest lighthouses in North America, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse was built after some disastrous shipwrecks in the vicinity, especially during the 1898 Gold Rush, when the Lynn Canal was full of steamships bringing miners to Skagway for their climb over Chilkoot Pass. Eldred Rock Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1973 and has been operated remotely since then. In recent years, the Coast Guard has only maintained the beacon, and the building has fallen into disrepair. Efforts are currently under way to try and aquire the lease of Eldred Rock from the Coast Guard. Hopefully some day the lighthouse and buildings will be restored and possibly open to the public. (www.sheldonmuseum.org)

Mendenhall Glacier on the way into Juneau
Sunset in Juneau