Day 1
Saturday June 2, 2018
Just like the trip
to Texas in February, this one started ridiculously early. Unlike the trip to Texas, there were actually
Uber drivers available. Tianna arrived
promptly at 3:30A and was excited to have seen a deer on her drive over.
Since my flight
was so early, the TSA Precheck lines weren’t open yet. Fortunately, I wasn’t randomly selected for
the body scans. It was also too early to
get a cup of coffee in the airport. That
was probably a good things since I did manage to sleep for an hour of so on the
flight to Seattle.
The odd thing
about my fellow passengers though, a large percentage of them were headed to
Seattle to take an Alaskan cruise. I
heard a lot of people talking about their plans . The couple in my row were traveling with
their two grown kids and their spouses. Some
were excited, others were just wary of the whole cruise thing. In hindsight, I’m glad I explored the state
on my own.
Once in
Seattle, my connecting flight was in
another concourse, naturally. Unlike the
trip back from Texas, I had plenty of time to get there, as well as grab a
sandwich. The flight to Juneau,
uneventful. Though, it is pretty cool to
see Mendenhall Glacier on final approach.
The reason I
left so early is simple. I had my checked
bag and my rental car(a Subaru Impreza) and was on the road just after 1P. Not too bad.
The Tlingit
called the area that became Juneau Dzantiki He’eni, which translates out to
Base of the Flounders River. When gold
prospectors arrived, they named it Rockwell, then Harrisburg and eventually
Juneau, after Jon Juneau, a Canadian
prospector.
In 1970, the
city merged with neighboring Douglas and large swaths of the surrounding
area. At 2,701 square miles, it’s larger
than Delaware and Rhode Island. But,
it’s still the second largest municipality in the country. The city of Sitka, Alaska covers 4,811 square
miles. Yes, Alaska is huge.
A short drive
from the airport is the visitor center for the Mendenhall Glacier. I came here on my first visit and was
surprised how different it all was. Like the first trip, I started with the Steep Creek Trail. It's an easy loop and a great way to stretch the legs. Seven years ago when I did this, I saw a mother bear and three cubs. This time, it was just a nice walk.
As for the Mendenhall Glacier itself... These shots are from my trip back in 2011.
And from this
trip…
Not only has the
glacier receded, the icebergs are all but gone. I asked about it at the visitor center. Not only has the glacier receded, it’s also
thinned. The park ranger lives downtown
opposite the cruise ship births. When
she moved here in 2003, there would be icebergs floating by her house. Not
anymore.
The other
casualty of the melting glacier are the ice caves. There’s a trail that used to work up the
other side of the water and bring you down on the far side of the glacier. From there you could access the ice caves. Imagine if you can walking back into a cave of
blue glacier ice. Sadly, the last of the
ice caves collapsed a year ago. You can get an idea of what I was hoping for in this posting from Divergenttravelers. You can see why I was bummed out about it.
Fortunately, I had asked the ranger about those, too. While I was bummed about the caves, it did save me a trail that could best be described as treacherous. More on that later.
Fortunately, I had asked the ranger about those, too. While I was bummed about the caves, it did save me a trail that could best be described as treacherous. More on that later.
One of the motel
staff asked how the trip was going. I
mentioned I was bummed about the ice caves.
He had borrowed a canoe and paddled to the base of the glacier a year
and a half ago. He showed me a picture
of a cave on his phone.
From the visitor
center, there are a number of easy, short trails out to a beach closer to the
glacier, as well as Nugget Falls.
The toe of Mendenhall Glacier...
I spent a little under two hours here before moving on.
One last trip to the overlook and I got to talking with a fellow photog. She pointed out a small iceberg in the distance. Sitting atop the ice was an eagle. This is close as I could get with my 300 lens. Seriously, how much more Alaska can you get?
And cropped...
My plan was
originally to take a four mile trail along Auke Lake. It’s a paved and level trail and perfect
after a day on airplanes. In the end, it
wasn’t meant to be. The leaden skies let
loose with a steady rain. Instead, I
checked myself into the Extended Stay America and waited out the weather. It abated eventually and I went back out and
took a stroll along the Mendenhall River.
When the rain
returned, I called it a day. The five
hour time difference and the early morning was catching up with me.
As for the
Extended Stay America, I could have walked from the airport terminal in five
minutes. Granted, my room was in the
back, but I never heard the planes in the room.
Coming Up,
Something unexpected on the trail
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