Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Ferry to Ketchikan

I boarded ferry about 2am. As I deposited my hazardous gas cans into the paint locker, I headed up to the purser's counter to get the cabin. MV Columbia, my ferry boat for this leg of the trip is older than MV Kennicott and little more luxurious. Same type of the cabin, roomette, was 100% better on Columbia vs. Kennicott. I had my own private bathroom and sink as well as clothing rack with hangers and power outlets. I went immediately to sleep. Little after noon we arrived to our first stop, Sitka. Sitka used to be the capital city of Alaska before Juneau existed and was cultural center in the Russian days.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Juneau Days

I got to Juneau on Saturday afternoon of the Memorial Day weekend. It was raining so I decided to get shopping out of the way and hope for drier weather in days to come so I can visit attractions around the town. Sunday was also rainy. I had to do something else than shopping so I looked for indoors attractions, like museums and churches. I visited Juneau Douglas City Museum and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. Douglas is a town on the island across from Juneau connected by the bridge. I have no idea why they even bothered making a different city, I'd just call it West Juneau. That was a short lived excursion, so I went for a drive. There are not that many roads you can take so I headed to north end. I went as far as the road can take me, unpaved as well, to the Echo Lake. This is a heaven for ATV, crossers, campers and outdoors enthusiasts. FJ Cruiser was the smallest truck in the parking lot. Every single vehicle was largest possible pickup truck you can imagine, many lifted. Reason? They carry ATVs in the bed of the pickup truck, sometimes making platforms so they can carry two at the time. Anyway, this was not a place for me, so I headed back all the way south. In the end I ended up at the coffee shop, reading book for the rest of the day. On Monday they predicted only 20% chance for precipitation, so this was my attractions day.

Mendenhall Glacier is only 5 miles north of downtown Juneau. I did my standard touring stuff. First I visited the visitor center, where I got to see 11 minute video on Mendenhall Glacier. Then I walked around the exhibition to read up on history and other interesting facts. Lastly I headed up to the photo viewpoint to snap couple of pictures. To the left of the Mendenhall Glacier is a waterfall. That waterfall at one point was depositing its water into the glacier creating caves. With the glacier retreating over the years waterfall is now visible in its entirety. You should check out the photo album for week five for pictures and more details on the glacier.
Glacier used to stretch past todays visitor center back in 1930s. I trekked to the waterfall so I can get closer look of it and the glacier. It looked like a short hike but it was almost mile and half. I know that is short as well but I was trying to convey the message that it was a deception I was faced with. Anyway, waterfall is massive up close and loud. On my trek back to the parking lot something interesting happened. Piece of the glacier broke off. You can see which piece broke off because of the blue color of the glacier. Ice formations of the glacier trap all other colors of the spectrum except for blue. As you can see fairly large piece broke off. While in the 1990 glacier retreated only about 80 feet per year, in last five it has been more like 220 feet per year. Soon this glacier will be no more :(

Alaskan Brewery Tour - Brewery is in the industrial park for the obvious reason, space. They offer narrative tour and sampling of the different beers but have no food. State law prohibits food serving where large amounts of beer are produced and Alaskan Brewery is not a micro brewery. Of all the beers they make, I liked Smoked Porter and Oatmeal Stout the best. Their ESB (Extra Special Bitter Ale), Summer Ale, IPA (India Pale Ale), Pale and Amber were also excellent. Winter Ale was not in season, imagine that :) Beer is only distributed throughout the western United States. You can find out more at their official web site. Since the brewery was between the downtown and my motel, I stopped by couple of times for free samplings.

Mt. Roberts Tram - This is a must do attraction while in Juneau. You have couple of options depending on the time of the year. You can buy round trip tickets for the tram, or you can hike up the mountain trails and purchase $5 ticket to get back down. Also, if you spend more than certain amount of money at the restaurant or in gift shops they will waive the $5 fee. However, trails were not open this early in the season, since Mt. Roberts is at above 1500 feet and Juneau well at sea level. I took round trip ticket and hiked the available portions of the trails. I also stopped by the Juneau Raptor Center, which is a volunteer organization dedicated to the conservation of birds of prey (raptors). They offer rehabilitation to the injured birds and as well as educational programs to school groups and other community organizations. Currently they were caring for bald eagle which was found shot through the wing and is blind on one eye. I also had lunch at the restaurant and got probably the best seat in the house with wonderful vistas. I could see tram, downtown Juneau, all the cruise ships, whole of Douglas and Douglas bridge.

That pretty much wraps up my Juneau stay. If it did not rain as much I would probably have hiked couple of trails. Trails are abundant and seemed challenging with mountains so close to the coast, vertical gains are big and terrain is beautiful. Early in the morning I caught ferry to Ketchikan.