Juneau Alaska

[Bluegreen kayak]

And now for something completely different...

My daughter thought we should commemorate my 70th birthday with an Alaskan cruise, so back in mid-July, four of us (me, her, my son, and one of my sisters) descended on Juneau. We arrived a few days before the sailing date, both to see the city environs and in case of flight delays. I would have driven horrible roads and slept in the van to avoid a plane ride, but it was impossible; there is no way for a mere mortal to visit Juneau except by airline or ferry.

I got the hang of the local bus service, which took us to a [mile?] of the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center.  I had never seen a glacier except in pictures; it was striking in real life. 

Mendenhall glacier

We hiked to Nugget Falls near the glacier, and I clambered over the rocks at its base to get a close look at the power of the water crashing down. The falls were striking, in a literal manner too; as I stood watching it, I felt a rock, about fist-sized, hit my right ear. Man, did that hurt!

Nugget Falls


Base of Nugget Falls

This was my first experience with a cruise, but the one my daughter selected was not the usual type with 2000+ passengers and ten decks. This first picture shows the large ships docking in Juneau, with thousands of passengers. Seeing three or four of these behemoths lined up in a row was kind of scary.

Cruise ship

This was our ship, the Wilderness Legacy, with about 80 passengers and only four decks. Much more to my taste.

Wilderness Legacy

The way this cruise worked we didn't go to any cities or have to pay for excursions at stops. Our ship wandered in and out of bays and around islands visiting glaciers and looking for wildlife. Our only touch with civilization was a visit to the Glacier Bay National Park station one evening. Every night we got a briefing about our next destination, and the chance to sign up for whatever activity we wanted to do the next morning and afternoon. Everyday choices were kayak, hike, or skiff ride, with one chance to scuba and one to ride bikes. 

A couple times when I didn't feel like going out (touch of a cold) I hung around on the bridge and watched the running of the ship. It could be very humorous, as when one of the crew radioed the captain to "push the whale breach button again, we missed that last one."

My daughter, whose plan was to stay on the ship relaxing and finishing knitting projects, took many of the skiff rides and ended up seeing the most wildlife of the four of us.

The hikes were not on any established trails; we bushwhacked or went "berry swimming" through the vegetation, while our guides yelled out "Day-O" to notify any bears where to find us (none showed up). I was delighted to find out that there were no ticks or snakes up here, so no worries venturing through the unknown.

Berry swim area. Yep, we just pushed our way through here.


Salmon berry Very mild, almost bland, taste


After wildlife, glaciers were the most interesting sights for me. We saw quite a few:


Lamplugh glacier


Le Comte glacier


Le Comte glacier close  Notice the cave - pieces were falling off around it. Some we caught in the act of calving, but most often we just heard the sound and saw only the resulting splash afterward.


Margerie Glacier through my cabin window

At the Lamplugh glacier, we were able to go on the shore and touch the ice floes sitting there, or hike up the cliff overlooking the ice. As we were exploring, one of the big cruise ships came in the bay, passed and turned around to head out. I could hear the loudspeaker system telling their passengers what they were seeing from far off, and I couldn't resist thumbing my nose and saying "neeener, neener" at them. So mature.

One remarkable sight that had even our crew members excited was a pod of whales "bubble fishing." They form a circle under the water around a school of fish, blow air bubbles to trap them, and come up to the surface, swallowing fish as they rise. Then the whales would submerge and repeat the performance. Each appearance took about 5-10 minutes, and we watched it for about an hour. I wasn't able to get a great photo as most of the action was unseen under the surface, but it was still a thrill to know what was happening.


Bubble fishing whale pod

I did see some bears while on the skiff tours; this one looked skinny and our guide thought maybe it was a young one still figuring out how to survive. At one point it charged across the river as if chasing off a rival predator.


Bear at a distance

Some other animal pictures:

Sea lions noisy and a bit smelly


Porcupine Glacier Bay NP  Our guides knew this fellow would be somewhere around, and they found him for us.


jellyfish One of several I saw from the skiff; not an animal I expected in this cold climate.


Ice floe Okay, not an animal, but one of many odd shaped pieces of ice we kayaked around.

We had a Polar Plunge event which I participated in but you won't see any pictures of that! I mention it because I was surprised to find out that while the water was every bit as cold as I expected, I felt fine, even warm, when I climbed back on the boat. It seems that when you go from 45 degree water to 55 degree air, your body thinks it's an improvement, at least long enough to get back to the shower in my cabin.

Daughter was right - it was a great way to celebrate and I heartily enjoyed it.

[DAW89446]

Now that was a fun trip report!

I've always wanted to take one of those small cruise ships through the Inside Passage. I've never been to Alaska.

I've got a friend that has lived in Nevada all his life, but now lives between Anchorage and Fairbanks. He came to Alaska for the company he works for and works two weeks on / two weeks off at a huge underground mine on Admiralty Island a dozen miles or so off the coast of Juneau. He flies between Anchorage and Juneau to and from work. Bears are an issue at the man camp on the harbor (the mine is a half hour up the mountain), brown bears and grizzlies. He said brown bears are the worst and occasionally gets a man for breakfast. Bear spray is a must have on your person at all times, especially between his room and the mess hall.

[netllama]

Thanks for sharing. Alaska is a spectacular place. I really need to get back up there again some day.

[TacoLand]

Happy (very) belated birthday! What a great looking adventure & thanks for starting my day off on such a great note!

I've never been up to Alaska, nor have I ever taken a cruise ... I thought the only option was enormous 2,000+ people floating cities. Now that I've read about your experience and seen photos of the Wilderness Legacy, my interest is certainly piqued. Loved all the wildlife photos. And, aren't glaciers really freakin’ cool? Especially the glacial fields .... anywho, thanks for sharing. Really lovely stuff.