Juneau (July 14-17)

It was one thing for the tiny village of Seldovia to be isolated from land routes, but discovering that Alaska's capital city can only be reached by sea or air was amazing to us. The four hour ferry ride to Juneau was great and easy to arrange out of Haines.

The ferry terminal was just a few minutes from our B&B and we arrived plenty early to wait in line. We were watching some crows or ravens and someone told us they seemed to know the ferry schedules as they showed up to move down the line of cars waiting to board the ferry, picking dead insects from the front of the cars!

Soon it was time to drive Tina into the bowels of the ship, lock it up, then go up to the passenger area to enjoy the short cruise to Juneau. We were excited to be starting our Alaska Marine Highway Inside Passage journey south, and to have a break from driving our car.

Alaska Marine Highway ships dock at Auke Bay, a little north of town and away from where the cruise ships arrive. We drove our car off the ship and into town to check in at the Travelodge Hotel Juneau.

Juneau was pretty neat, with lush Southeast Alaska vegetation and flowers decorating steep and winding streets overlooking the bustling main harbor. Local businesses kept cruise ship schedules handy to anticipate the corresponding ebb and flow of passengers into their shops. As a "bore tide" of tourists poured in, we scurried back to our car to find a more peaceful place.

Bald eagles were everywhere around Juneau

Once you leave the town proper, you have one choice. "The Road." It runs north and that's about all you have to know to get around Juneau.

You don't see mileage to the "End of Road" very often :-)

Mendenhall Glacier was a short ride from town. It has a wonderful visitor center and is easily accessible, but you can't walk out to it.

Mendenhall Glacier

Just as we arrived there was an incident with a capsized kayaker near the toe of the glacier. It was a tense scene at the visitor center, as authorities and tourists alike used spotting scopes to scan the frigid glacier waters for the overboard man. Fortunately everything turned out okay. His girlfriend helped pull him onto the front of her kayak, then paddled to the far shore from where a rescue boat picked him up, returning him to the visitor center where his relieved mother waited.

Capsized kayak in icy waters

While all this drama was going on, a little further away children splashed around in shallow pools formed by the melting glacier.

The next day we strolled around town a bit more, saw the Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church and visited the Juneau-Douglas City Museum where we learned about things like Aleut hunting hats and gut parkas.

Susan tries on the Aleut hunting hat at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum

We also drove across the Juneau-Douglas Bridge to Douglas Island where it seemed a lot of regular people lived. We also drove the Douglas Highway up and around as far as we could go, for not particular reason other than to say we'd been there.

What we especially enjoyed about Juneau was watching the wildlife. With the salmon jumping and fisherman leaving scraps behind, the eagles were plentiful. Black headed gulls and Arctic Terns also caught our eye.

A Bald Eagle swoops by for salmon scrap snacks

While lingering at the water's edge, we got to talking with another couple who happened to be from Boulder. They were in Juneau for the summer as volunteers, providing transportation a couple times each weak for Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) scientists in exchange for lodging in a private home on Douglas Island, and, in their case, use of a small fishing boat. Mike and I looked at each other and exchanged "hmmmm" looks.


Thursday we went out The Road and visited the Jensen-Olson Arboretum. A City and Borough of Juneau Park, this lovely and under-visited flowering refuge, set right against the ocean, was such a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. The Himalayan Poppy with its bright blue petals was my favorite. We visited with the grounds keeper and I envied his job.

Himalayan Poppy

Poker Primrose

Back in town we stopped at the Juneau Fish Hatchery and marveled at the determination of the spawning salmon in fish ladders.

Salmon at the Fish Hatchery

Our ship left that evening, so Friday morning was our last chance to visit the Last Chance Mining Museum. A short drive up Basin Road in the dense forest, Juneau felt a million miles away. We had parked in the wrong lot, but could see the museum so it seemed easier to take the short walk through the woods to get there, rather than move the car. As we headed down, visitors at that other parking lot were waving up at us. They were not just being friendly -- it turned out we had walked right past a bear with cubs, totally hidden from our perspective. Yikes!

Last Chance Mining Museum

The little mining museum was a bit tired and dusty, but very interesting nonetheless. When the docent learned where we were from, she grew a little crabby, complaining that the museum often gets calls for the Estes Park Super 8 by mistake. The two phone numbers differ only by area code: 907 vs 970.

On our way out, we watched visitors panning for gold ... and kept our eyes peeled for bears!

Fireweed and the mountains near Juneau

In just three hours we'd be on board the MV Malaspina.

Here's a map of our ferry ride from Haines to Juneau.

View Larger Map