Haines: My Eagle-Filled River Float

We docked in tiny Haines — population 2,500 — and immediately felt the difference from busier ports. No jewelry stores, no T-shirt mobs. Just a real Alaska town with a hardware store, a brewery, and people who actually live here year-round.

We booked the Chilkat River float through the Bald Eagle Preserve and it was magical. The guide launched the raft in calm, glacier-fed water and within 10 minutes we counted our first dozen eagles. By the end of the 3-hour float we'd seen over 50 bald eagles — perched in cottonwoods, swooping for salmon, fighting over scraps on gravel bars. The guide kept respectful distance (eagles don't like boats closer than 100 feet to active fishing spots) but we got incredible views.

Halfway through the float, the guide pointed upstream — a brown bear sow with two cubs, maybe 300 yards away, fishing in the shallows. We drifted quietly, watched them for 15 minutes, then floated on. No drama, no crowding, just wild Alaska.

Back in town we hit the salmon bake at the fairgrounds — all you can eat wild salmon grilled over alder, plus ribs, cornbread, and coleslaw. Locals ate alongside cruise passengers, chatting about fishing and the upcoming winter. Felt like a real community dinner.

Walked the Fort Seward historic district — old barracks turned into artist studios, a totem carving shed, the Chilkat Center for the Arts. Everything walkable, nothing rushed.