Juneau
It was still early in the morning and the weather was gloriously warm as
we disembarked from the ferry that had been our home for the past four days.
We said our goodbyes to the friends we had made during our passage to Alaska
and climbed aboard the shuttle bus that would take us from the Auke Bay terminal
to Juneau, about 15 miles up the Gastineau Channel.
We were staying at the Driftwood Lodge, a motel in the centre of the town,
and we checked in as soon as we arrived. On the desk they said there was a
package waiting for us which turned out to be all the tickets and prepaid
accommodation vouchers that we would need during the next three weeks of our journey.
Ann from Lloyd's Travel in Oswestry had done us proud organising the paperwork to be
ready and waiting for us.
Having dumped our stuff and grabbed a hearty breakfast in the Heritage Coffee Centre,
we set off to explore the town. Juneau is proud to say that it is the largest city in
America but it still felt like a friendly little town. We headed down to the harbour
and watched the seaplanes coming in to land. Juneau, although the state capital,
is completely inaccesible by road, and can only be reached by boat or seaplane.
In the picturesque main street is the Alaskan Hotel with a saloon straight out of the Wild West. Swinging doors, flock wallpaper, wooden galleries, Tiffany glass and the best ale in town.
Mount Roberts
With a "ride and dine" ticket we took the cable car to the summit of Mount Roberts which overlooks the town. Around us the sun was beating down on the snow-capped peaks. The sea below us looked so close that we guessed it was only a few minutes walk back into town.So, after lunch, ignoring the signs saying "Treacherous trail! Bears sighted recently!
Walkers should wear small bells attached to their packs! Watch out for signs of bear
activity including droppings containing small bells!" etc, etc, we boldly set off
down the steep mountainside.
Hours later, with snake bites, poison ivy rashes and claw marks,
we finally staggered into the upper end of town.
Here, very hot and tired we passed the tiny church of St Nicholas with its miniature onion dome, a reminder that Alaska was until recently part of Russia.
Time for an Alaskan Amber.The Red Dog Saloon
Later that night in the famous Red Dog Saloon, the liveliest joint in town. As the notice says, "You can catch anything in the Red Dog"
The Mendenhall Glacier
Next day we headed out of town to find our way to the Mendenhall Glacier.
The snout of the glacier drops miniature icebergs, which float off into a freshwater lake. The air was full of arctic terns nesting on the shingle banks in front of the glacier. Below the beaver dam, sockeye salmon were spawning in the shallows.
After their migrations upstream from the sea, and the exertions of spawning, these salmon are doomed to die. The carcasses on the shore, and the thrashing of the dying fish in the shallows, attract brown bears.
