Juneau

I think my old body might be starting to adapt to the long span of daylight.

I think, I slept a little later this morning.

Although, I was up early, but maybe not as early as previous mornings.

The captain and crew are nudging the ship toward Alaska’s capital city, Juneau.

As we work our way toward the dock, I was greeted with by my usual shades of gray sky and gray water. But, that’s ok. There is still a stunning beauty in those shades.

Then slowly, the gray lifts ever so slightly, and the colors along the shoreline begin to appear.

After breakfast today, we’ll be heading out to the Tongass National Forest. Our focus will be Nugget Falls, Mendenhall Lake, and Mendenhall Glacier.

From our location, we are about twelve miles away from the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center. The center was opened in 1962, and its dedication plaque contains these words: “To The Furtherance Of Knowledge And Enjoyment Of Glacial Phenomena.”

Clearly, there is lots to be learned and much to enjoy visually at this location.

We started with a two-mile round trip hike to capture a better view of Nugget Falls. With a measured length of 377 feet, the falls are spectacular. The sound of the water cascading down into Mendenhall Lake will clearly catch your attention. Another feature here is the beach. It allows visitors to roam toward the falls and the lake.

As we start the walk back to the visitor’s center, there are numerous opportunities to enjoy the beauty around you. Just a few steps to your right or left shows the lushness of the greenery on either side of the trail.

Additionally, a sheltered viewing stand is available to look toward the Mendenhall Glacier. Even on this cloudy day, we are impressed with the depth of its mass as it winds back into the Mendenhall Valley. The glacier is 13.6 miles in length, and as you might guess, the glacier is receding.

And one more tidbit, the glacier was originally named after the Auke Indians, but was renamed in 1892 to Mendenhall. This was in honor of Thomas Corwin Mendenhall.

Mr. Mendenhall was the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Under his leadership, the international boundary of Southeast Alaska was surveyed. (US Forest Service/Tongass National Forest)

Soon, we were on our way back into Juneau.

We had lunch at the Twisted Fish. I enjoyed my perfectly grilled halibut sandwich and a well-made local Kolsch style beer. Noted on the menu were King Crab legs. A customer could order two legs for eighty dollars.

We spent the afternoon exploring Juneau.

There is lots of repetition among the shops with jewelry, t-shirts, and assorted trinkets dominating the store fronts.

We took a tram ride that was enjoyable. The cloud cover limited our view a bit.

Dating back to 1893, we came across the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. The church has roots to the Russian Mission Society who supported its founding. Its octagonal shape and gold dome make it easy to spot, and in 1973, the church was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Our wandering continued as we worked our way down the stairs of a steep hillside heading toward the city’s waterfront park. Getting there we came upon a small Veterans memorial, spied a juvenile eagle a top a streetlight, and admired the statue of a life size whale leaping out of the water.

Here we are in this pretty setting on the Gastineau Channel with the Canadian Coast Mountains overlooking the city, and just on the outer fringe of the waterfront park, we come across a singular encampment with a homeless person. Poverty has no boundaries. America, can’t we do better?

We continue our walk figuring out how to make it to the ship’s berth on the dock.

Once there, we re-enter, and then catch back up with our friends for dinner.

Seemed like we curtailed our post-dinner roaming this evening. Or maybe, the busy day, and the long daylight hours were catching up with us.

That bit of weariness seemed to be settling in on Marian. She wasn’t feeling well.

Before committing to sleep, I spent a few minutes out on our balcony. The local time was 9:30 p.m. I took a picture of the shoreline as we were departing Juneau. Back home in Richmond, it would be totally dark.

I really enjoyed our trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. Lots to take in between the energetic Nugget Falls, the placid Mendenhall Lake, with formidable, but shrinking glacier in the background.

I appreciate the respect that is being shown to preserve this precious land. I just hope we are wise enough to keep respecting and preserving it for our future generations.

My hope is tied to us always remembering the words on the plaque at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center: “To The Furtherance Of Knowledge And Enjoyment Of Glacial Phenomena.”