Day 90, June 30, 2019, Sunday. Juneau, AK
Hiking continues to be postponed. Rested up. We did drive to the west glacier trail head and viewed the Mendenhall Glacier again.
Day 89, June 29, 2019, Saturday. Juneau, AK
With a little knee swelling our hiking is off for a while. So we visited the Alaska State Museum. An interesting display that covers the various indigenous people who have been in Alaska for 10,000 years, the Russians approach from the west, the Europeans approach from the east, the USA purchase from Russia ($7,200,000, that’s two cents an acre), the Klondike gold rush, the building of the AlCan Highway by the military as a preparation for WWII, the building of the Alaska pipeline, the beginning of the Alaska Marine Ferry in 1963 and more. The ferry display featured the ship Malaspina which was the ship we were on for both legs so far. Even with some recent upgrades, I knew it was old but not 1963 old! Afterward, we decide to go “out the road” to the east which turns out to be only 6 miles. Along the way was a beach which we walked on a little until we discovered the cold wind blowing off the water made it not appropriate shorts weather. Dinner downtown at Zen, Chinese cuisine, was good, not great. But Rosemary got her vegetables and tofu!
Day 88, June 28, 2019, Friday. Juneau, AK
We began the day wearing shorts and no jackets as the high temp was 83. All the locals told us how unusual it was to have weather this warm. But with 50% humidity, it was nowhere near the heat we left in Tampa. We headed to Douglas Island to which there is one bridge crossing Gastineau Channel from Juneau. We hiked the Treadwell Mine Trail which begins at Sandy Beach, a man made beach, which actually has sand and not rocks. There were even people swimming in the water. We did touch the water and determined even with a warm sunny day it was not swimming water for Floridians. The trail follows the ruins of the Treadwell Mine which operated from 1881 until a cave in and flood destroyed the mine in 1917. Fortunately, there were some warning signs of a possible collapse so everyone got out and no lives were lost. We then walked around downtown Juneau a bit. Lunch at Deckhand Dave’s Fish Tacos, where I had 4 rockfish tacos, was delicious. Our beverages were boba teas from Boba Time. Dessert was delicious gelato from Heritage Coffee Roasting Co. The cappuccino flavor was made with their own coffee beans. After lunch, we decided to go west “out the road”. That’s the local lingo for driving the one and only highway out of town. The road is in surprisingly good condition since there was not much along the 42 miles to the end. There were a few houses and a few recreation areas and we stopped at a couple. There also was an arboretum but it was more like a small garden. But beautiful scenery everywhere.
Day 87, June 27, 2019, Thursday. Juneau, AK
Our campground is only 3 miles from the Mendenhall Glacier, which is part of the Tongass National Forest. At the visitor center, we watched a 15 minute film about the park and the glacier. The film was made in 2009 and talked about climate change and its effect on the glacier. At that time, the glacier was estimated to be reduced to its current size by 2050. Turns out they underestimated by 30 years. After that sobering information on what humans are doing to the planet, we move on to begin hiking. Although the visitor center windows offer good views, there are numerous trails to hike. We began with the Photo Point Trail. Then the Nugget Falls Trail and finished with the Steep Creek Trail. The Nugget Falls Trail got us the closest to the glacier and so close to the falls the spray gets you wet, and your camera lens too. In the afternoon, we visited the Glacier Gardens, a private garden which features “Flower Towers”. Made from inverted upended hemlock trees with a garden planted on top of the root structure. The idea came to the owner when he lifted a fallen tree base with a piece of heavy machinery hoping to shatter it for removal but instead of shattering, it planted inverted in the mud. The visit also included a guided tour through a portion of the Tongass National Forest up 600 feet to a viewpoint of Juneau.
Day 86, June 26, 2019, Wednesday. Juneau, AK (288 miles via the Alaska Marine Ferry)
A knock on our stateroom door at 5:15 am “Juneau in 30 minutes” we were told. We quickly got dressed and went on deck to see the ferry port but no city. Turns out the port is 12 miles out of the city and not much around the port. After 18.5 hours on the ferry, we drove off the ship, thankfully going forward with car attached, and headed in the direction of town. In a few minutes we came upon a Safeway grocery and pulled into the parking lot. Since our campground check in is noon, we take the car to downtown. First stop is the visitor center where we gathered lots of info. We then take a ride on the Mount Roberts Tramway which goes from sea level almost straight up a mountain to 1,750 feet. At the top are several trails and we set out on the Alpine Loop Trail which leads to the Father Brown Trail (2,030 feet) and then the Alder Switchbacks, Dwarf Spruce Switchbacks and we stop just short of Gastineau Peak (3,666 feet). Some spectacular views of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel. We hike back and take the tram down. We drive back to the coach and check into Glacier Nalu Campground Resort (fhu 30 mp). After lunch, we head downtown and visit the Alaska State Capitol for a self guided tour. We parked right in front of the building and walked right in, no security was apparent to us. We visited 4 of the 5 floors of the Capitol and in the Senate Chambers we met one senator’s assistant. We discussed an upcoming special session where a decision has to be made as to whether to reduce the oil dividend to each resident or to drastically reduce services. With the fall of the price of oil over several years, Alaska’s oil revenues have declined. An accumulated surplus has been used up over the past several years to fund the budget. Now Alaska is basically bankrupt if the dividend is not reduced, not a politically popular move. Our drive around downtown continued and we visited the Wickersham House, a State Historic Site. We were the only ones there at the time and had a very nice conversation with the house’s volunteer, a retired gal from Texas who summers here and lives in the house’s upstairs. James Wickersham (1857-1939) was a district judge appointed by President McKinley in 1900 and who brought order to Alaska’s third district which was plagued with claim jumping, jury fixing and embezzlement. He also became the Alaska’s delegate to Congress and introduced the first Alaska Statehood bill to Congress in 1916. Next was a walk around the shops downtown with our only purchase a couple cans of beer from the Alaska Brewing Company. We walked to the Whittier Avenue location of Tracy’s King Crab Shack. Really a couple of shacks on gravel, one to take orders and one cooking the food. We ordered and took our seats in a tent with a large roll of white paper on each table. This was my first ever experience with King Crab so I was a amazed when the menu items were basically one leg with an option for a second leg for an additional $25. Turns out one leg weighs about half a pound. So we each go with the special - one leg, 4 small crab cakes and a cup of crab bisque ($38). Fantastic meal! And Rosemary only ate one crab cake so I got 7! The crab was excellent, better than lobster. Rosemary says better than stone crabs but I could debate that. However, much easier to eat than stone crabs with huge chunks of crab falling out of the shell. Hopefully this won’t be our last partaking on this trip. Back to the coach and early to bed, at least for us, at 10:30 after a long full day. And its was not even dark yet.
Day 85, June 25, 2019, Tuesday. Alaska Marine Ferry in the Alaska Inside Passage
For only the second time on this trip we had to set an alarm clock so we could unhook from the campground, attach the car to the coach and drive to the ferry terminal by 9:15 am. While waiting in line to board the ferry to our destination of Juneau, AK, the ferry crew came by to give me an unwelcome option. I could back up the coach onto the ship or back up to get off in Juneau. The usual way we have experienced ferry trips in the past is to enter one end of the ship going forward and exit the other end going forward. Not this time. I elect to back up onto the ship as we arrive in Juneau at 5:45 am and will probably be a bit sleepy. Rosemary was not too fond of having to drive the car onto the ship bit at least she could do so going forward. So I begin to back up onto the ramp expecting to go up the ramp but because the tide was low I was descending. That meant riding the brakes the entire time. It was a slow process as the ramp is just wide enough for the coach but with little room to spare. As the back wheels reached the end of the ramp I heard a loud command to “stop” which I did immediately. I then had to go forward to the next section of the ramp while the crew lowered the ramp as much as possible so my back end would not bottom out on the ship’s deck. Sitting in the coach on the ramp while it was being lowered was not the most warm and comforting feeling. Continuing in reverse, inch by inch, while a crewman had his head on the deck watching the rear end of the coach, I finally get on the ship. Next was a hard right to get into the assigned line. Although I paid for the length of the tow bar (ferry fare is by the foot) and to keep the car attached, they backed me up too close to our car to attach the tow bar. We finally got to our stateroom and dropped our stuff off and headed on deck. The water was like glass which was most welcome. Smooth sailing and beautiful scenery and a 6 pm arrival at our first stop, Wrangell, AK. During the 45 minute stop, I headed to the car deck and turned on the generator to run the refrigerator (LP gas must remain off so no power to the fridge when sailing). Although I had packed some ice into the fridge earlier, I figured every little bit helps. I was able to lower the fridge 3 degrees. Dinner on the ship included a salmon special. When I got to the front of the line, I ordered 2 salmon dinners but was told only one was left. My consolation was a sloppy joe and fries. It was the least offensive looking of the other options. Our second stop, Petersburg, AK, required us to go through the Wrangell Narrows which brought the mountains very close to us. Reminded me of our European river cruise but without the castles. In Petersburg I had another 45 minutes to run the fridge but this time I had some room in front of the coach so I pulled up a few feet which gave me room to attach the car. Leaving Petersburg we saw lots of snow covered mountains, bald eagles too numerous to count and seals in the water and crowding on top of several buoys. We watched the sunset, first from outside and when it got too cold, from inside. Then quick showers and to bed as we had an early arrival coming in Juneau.
