Greetings from Juneau

We had a blast today. Turned out we had beautiful weather for our adventures today. All the locals we encountered said today’s weather was rare this time of year, but welcomed.

We started our adventures today by a bus ride out to Glacier Gardens. I originally wanted to go to the gardens to see these upside down trees being used as planters. And I gotta tell ya, I was so surprised just how beautiful these gardens were. We not only got to see the upside down planters, but then were whisked to the top of this mountain in golf carts (and I use the word “whisked” lightly) through the temperate rain forest. Gorgeous. At the top we got to walk out to this boardwalk ledge that overlooked the Mendenhall Valley. The valley was once covered in ice and as we stood there you find yourself amazed at the beauty and wonder that is Alaska. And we had sun, which made it way more beautiful.

From there we were put on a bus and off to Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is part of the Alaska ice field which is ridiculously large. It was yet another beautiful glacier with the aqua blue showing through the crevasses. We learned today that the ice is so compact and that the white ice is absorbing all the light – thus making it white. And blue is the only color not absorbed, which is why you can see it.

The glacier area had a small creek running alongside where they’ve been having some serious bear sightings. We didn’t see any, but we saw their scat. Good times. We also got to see some Coho salmon making their way up the creek to spawn.

From the glacier we got back into downtown and since the sun was shining we decided to hop on the Mt. Robert’s Tram way and make our way to the top of Mt. Robert’s to see Juneau from above. The 7 minute tram ride was nice and offered a beautiful view of Juneau. At the top we got to meet Lady Baltimore. Lady Baltimore was a bald eagle who was shot from some dumbass and so is blind in one eye. Because of that they can’t release her back into the wild. So she’s well cared for by the park rangers and she loves the visitors who come to witness her beauty.

After taking the tram down we walked ourselves down the main road to a friend’s brother’s restaurant, Hanger on the Wharf. I had THE BEST halibut and chips I’ve ever had. It was so good. We got a chance to meet the chef (KA’s brother) and had a nice 15 minute chat with him about Juneau.

Following that Blueberry drug me through all these damn jewelry stores to get all this free stuff. Ugh. But while she was shopping I found a bear and a moose in Juneau!