I spent an hour in Haines Junction a few weeks ago, which made me wonder why I don’t visit more often.
The temperature was about 95 degrees F., and a lady shopping at the Little Green Apple grocery store announced she was “heading to the beach.”
The Junction has a beach and a lot more if you dig a little deeper into the place.
The town beach is at Pine Lake, about two kilometers east of the Alaska Highway junction. It’s a delightful spot. The lake is about three miles long and shallow enough to warm up for swimming in the summer. Besides a boat dock, swimming float and sandy beach, there are changing rooms and picnic tables and trash cans, the kind of thoughtfulness that make Yukon parks a favorite of Alaskans.
Paint’s Mountain, the impressively steep monolith that backs up the lake, earned its name serving as a historic source of red ochre used for dying by area Natives.
Besides Pine Lake, there’s also a public swimming pool about a block behind the Kluane Park Inn. In the summertime, the solar-heated pool is open mornings until 9 a.m. for lap swim and most afternoons until 8 p.m. for public swims.
If you’re at the pool, you’re at the center of the town’s recreation facilities. On the same block is the Ice Arena (open on winter afternoons for open skates) and the town’s convention center and municipal offices.
The convention center merits a visit for its10-panel history of the town. In photos and a few words it neatly encapsulates the history of the town that was known in its early days as “1016,” its milepost on the Haines Highway. The narrative also is notable for not glossing over the devastating effects of white settlement on the area’s Native population.
At the village office, pick up a copy of the St. Elias Echo, a monthly newspaper that has served the village for 33 years and features stories about goings-on around town.
Art plays a big part in the life of the Junction. Some notable pieces, including an abstract of Mount Logan, are on display in the convention center. There is more art around town, including at the Da Ku Cultural Center, which also serves as the Junction’s visitor center and visitor’s center for Kluane National Park.
While I was in town, signs pointed to an art show in the basement of St. Thomas Anglican Church, an impressive, eight-sided log building that fronts the highway on the same block as Frosty’s ice cream shop.
The exhibit included works by Libby Dulac, one of a number of Yukon artists who bring considerable interpretation to their pieces, a twist from Haines landscape art that often bends toward the photographic.
St. Thomas and Our Lady of the Way Catholic Church, located across the highway, are two of the more interesting churches in our area. Both were built in the early 1950s. Our Lady of the Way was fashioned from a Quonset hut leftover after highway construction. A rooftop skylight and gold-windowed entrance bathe this tiny chapel with such warm light you’ll be tempted to rest in a pew for a few minutes of quiet meditation.
The Junction also offers some surprisingly good dining, at least during summer. The suburban exterior of The Raven, a tiny inn opposite Kluane Park Inn, belies the quality of the food it has served for decades. Unfortunately, it was closed during my recent visit due to a staffing issue, but the clerk told me they expect to resume dinners in 2018.
A block further down Kluane Street is Village Bakery, offering fresh breads and baked goods as well as good coffee, homemade soups and casseroles. There’s a stage out back and live music every Friday night during the summer.
For the best poutine in town, visit the Glacier View Restaurant next to the Quonset-hut church. Skip the Chinese dishes at this greasy spoon (which is officially the Lucky Dragon) and order Canada’s signature dish: Cheese curds served over French fries, doused with beef gravy.
Poutine is not a fancy dish, but if you’ve been on the road for hours or just finished a long day of hiking or skiing, it’s like a mini Thanksgiving dinner. There’s only one way to ruin poutine – with soggy fries. The Lucky Dragon serves theirs up crispy, which makes all the difference.
For travelers, Haines Junction offers some conveniences missing in Haines, Alaska. At the town’s water tower on Willow Acres Road, you can fill a five-gallon jug with drinking water for free by pushing a button. It’s also free to use the dump, open every day just north of Da Ku Cultural Center. In the event your cell phone isn’t working, the Junction has two pay phones – at the convention center and Village Bakery.
The town’s public library is located the south side, in a building that also houses a satellite campus of Yukon College and the government-run liquor store. A bank shares space with the town’s post office, just behind The Raven. Send a postcard to friends far away.