Visit to Juneau, AK Aug 15, 2007

Last Sunday we took the ferry from Haines to Juneau, Alaska, where we were met by my cousin Henry. (Henry is the grandson of my Aunt Quack and Uncle Henry.) We left our RV and car in Haines. Juneau is about 50 miles from Haines. Although it is the capital of Alaska, there are no roads to Juneau. One has to get their by airplane or boat! However once you reach Juneau, there is an excellent road system running about twenty miles along the coast and over a bridge to Douglas Island, where my cousin lives.

We saw spectacular scenery on the ride down on the ferry. We were in the Lynn Canal (which seems like a long wide fjord to me, certainly is not a man-made canal) which is the northern part of the Inland Passage. We sailed out of the fjord, in which Haines lies, and sailed down between spectacular mountains, many capped with snow, and with views of various glaciers on the way. We took the “fast ferry” so the ride down took a little over two hours, while the return trip on the regular ferry took four and one-half hours – so you can see this is a very pleasant boat trip and a way to see the spectacular costal scenery of the Inside Passage.

We did a little walking in the forest on Douglas Island, Sunday. The natural growth along the coast is rain forest – not too unlike that seen on the Olympic peninsular in Washington. Juneau usually has over 200 days of rain a year, but we have been very fortunate to have beautiful sunny days on our trip to Juneau, and during most of our stay here in Haines.

The next day after we arrived, we went on a whale-watching trip. We went out on a boat into the bay. We saw several hump backed whales. Mostly we saw their backs, as they lay floating and then a spume of water as they blew (exhaled, I guess). Then we saw their tails as they dove. We were in the midst of a groups of two or three whales, at times within twenty or thirty feet from us. Toward the end of our trip we had a special treat. A baby whale, feeling exuberant, jumped into the air, showing off according to the guide with us. The whale did this three times! It all happened so fast, that Madeline found it impossible to get a picture.

We returned to port. Then Henry took us up to the Mendenhall Glacier. This glacier, which is a National Park, is just a short ways from downtown Juneau. One can easily walk on paved trails to within 150 yards, of the glacier. A large pond full of icebergs is in front of it. Pictures really do not do justice to the view. The glacier front must be fifty to eighty feed high, with a blue cast, but decidedly dirty from all scouring of the mountains. The flow lines in the glacier, as it proceeds down the mountain, are obvious, so one can readily tell that glaciers involve the movement of ice.

The next day we got up early, boarded the “slow” ferry, and had a leisurely ride home. We arrived back at Haines around 1:00 pm. Yesterday afternoon we went to a local museum that is involve with the history of hammers. There are hammers there of every description and designed for every use imaginable, such as hammers used by cobblers, coopers, farriers, blacksmiths, doctors, brewers (to hammer in bungs), carpenters, wood workers, and on and on. It was quite interesting, as are most collections of tools – but a bit overwhelming by the size and complexity of the collection.

Tomorrow we will take the RV and car on the ferry and go to Skagway --- a one-hour trip of about fifteen miles. Skagway and another nearby town, Dyea, were the principle places where the stampedes to Dawson City started during the Klondike Gold Rush. Haines and Valdez, which I have described in earlier blog postings, also had trails to Klondike, but were of far less importance and impact than from Dyea and Skagway.