Alaska Day 2, West Glacier Trail

Day 2

Sunday June 3, 2018

     While planning this trip, I came across a few references to the Mendenhall Ice Caves.  Imagine if you can, naturally cut tunnels into the glacier ice.  Sounds pretty intriguing, right?  Well, there’s a spur off the West Glacier trail that leads down to the glacier’s face and the caves.  Or, at least it did. 

     The receding glacier caused the caves to collapse.  It’s a good thing I asked about them the day before.  The spur trail was listed as strenuous in the guidebooks.  But, for ice caves, I would have risked it.  More on that a little further in the narrative.

       This time of year, sunrise in Juneau is around 4A.  So, when I woke up it was already light.  Breakfast at the Extended Stay America is “Grab and Go.”  Translation, there are protein bars and muffins, along with coffee.  That’s it.  Fortunately, I had picked up some fresh fruit at the Safeway.  Lesson learned along the road.

      I left around 6A, headed towards the trailhead for West Glacier.  The guidebook was vague on the actual location of the trailhead, and the map had it somewhere in a campground.  I found the campground easily enough, but no trailhead.  Eventually, there was a posted map.   The trailhead wasn’t in the campground.  It was a little further down the road. 

       From the parking area, I wandered out to the shore of Mendenhall Lake to shoot the morning mist.  I really need to revisit this a little earlier in the morning.  The mist was gently swirling near Nugget Falls. 

       There were no signs from the parking lot.  The ranger told me it was a fairly wide trail at first.  The only trail I saw was plenty wide.  But, it turned south about ten minutes in.  I knew I wanted to go north, so I turned back around  to the parking lot.

      Eventually, I did spot another trail, this time headed north.  A few minutes up the trail there was a kiosk and one single sign saying this was indeed the West Glacier trail.   The trail  is three and a half miles.  At that point, it becomes the McGinnis Peak Trail.  Where one stops and the other continues wasn’t exactly clear.

      The first two miles are a relatively easy walk through the forest.  At that point, it starts to climb.  This was the first of many points where cables were provided.  That’s when you know the trail is getting interesting. 

       Along the way, I came to an unmarked trail juncture.  I should have gone left.  Instead, I went right.  That’s when the trail suddenly got much worse. This time there were no cables and it required a little scrambling. 

      What I wasn’t expecting was this…

     You know you’re in a different league when they provide ropes to pull yourself up.  Going up was one thing.  Coming down was outside my comfort zone, and I was so glad to have that behind me.    It turns out this is the unofficial spur trail to the ice caves.   When I got to the top of those rocks and continued another thirty feet, I was grateful I had chatted with the ranger the day before.  This is the “trail” down to where the ice caves used to be.  It’s overgrown and very steep.  This is as far as I went.

       Sitting atop that rock, I pulled out my cell phone to take a few photos.  Surprise, I had a decent signal.  So, I took a break and answered a few texts.  This was the only spot in the Juneau area where the signal was strong enough to send photos.  In downtown Juneau it was sketchy at best.  Texts may or may not go.  Sending a photo just wasn’t going to happen.   Overall, no real complaints about that.  At the motel, there was no signal at all.

       Back on the main trail, I stopped at the overlooks to take a few photos before moving upwards and onwards. When the trail curved away from the glacier and became significantly more rocky, I turned back.  I took these on the way back down.  The harsh lighting had subsided.

      I asked back at the visitor center and the last clear overlook was the end of the West Glacier Trail.  This was the McGinnis Peak Trail.  It would only get more rocky as I climbed.  Yeah, I was glad to have stopped when I did.   While I was certainly enjoying the exercise, the sunshine and fresh air, the near constant drones of helicopter tours did get a little old.

      In the end I have no idea how many miles I hiked.  But, I started up the hill at 7A and got back to the car at 3P.    

      It was way too early to call it a day.  I stopped into a family style restaurant next to the motel.  It’s a place called Donna's..  

My sandwich was good and the staff was great.  One thing though, on the menu was something called a Britain Burger.  I comes with bacon, American and Swiss cheese.  Odd. 

     A few miles north of the motel is the turnoff for the Luna Point Trail.  It’s a mile each way. I could do another two miles.  The first stretch is all on elevated boards.  

     The rest is forest floor with a whole lot of roots to step over.  The payoff…

      I was feeling like I had earned a cold one before calling it a day, so I drove into downtown Juneau.  With three cruise ships docked, there were people everywhere.  So, I ditched the car and found my way into the Red Dog Saloon.

     Seeing dollar bills tacked up on the walls was nothing new.  Police department patches was definitely something different.  I asked the bartender about them.  Jokingly, he said it was to appease the local police because the dollar bills on the walls were all signed by customers and technically “defaced.”  The real reason, who knows. 

     The bar was obviously geared towards tourists.  They had stereotypical saloon doors in front and the staff dressed somewhat in period costume, or like something out of a western movie.  There was even sawdust on the floor.      

      Hanging on the wall over the bar is an old gun they claim used to belong to Wyatt Earp.  Legend has it, he had checked his gun with the Marshal’s office as required by law.  He never claimed it.

      The Alaskan Amber Ales and a pretty good band made for a nice ending to the day.  I slipped a couple of dollars into the band's tip jar and strolled out into the still bright evening that's June in Alaska.

Coming Up,

Dodging raindrops…and bears