Alaska

Due to the upcoming tourist season, bad weather, and an unfavorable geopolitical situation, this blog will be closed for maintenance and construction until May, 2008.

Thank you for your understanding,

Management
The Most Awesomest Blog in the World

Since another rainy week is in the forecast, I tried to enjoy the nice weather as much as possible, even though it was too late for any afternoon hiking after work during business days. The highlight of the week was me getting lunch to go and consuming it at the cruise ship docks, without any ships, people, or tourists blocking the Lunch View. Considering that the docks will be crowded in just a few days with the start of this year’s rubberneck season, this must be a pretty unique experience, with the combination of nice weather, that is.

The last time I went to the docks, I spotted a fairly large bird flying at my shoulder level to my left, passing just nearby. “Not a raven”, I thought. And, no, it wasn’t. It was a bald eagle. I never saw a bald eagle, so it was pretty amazing to see one up close. However in context, this is less than amazing, since Alaska has the largest concentration of bald eagles in the world. The eagle parked on top of the downtown library, and patiently set there until I finished my lunch, walked up, and took the picture:

I visited the beginning of Perseverance Trail a couple of times as well, since it was such a target-rich environment for my camera. Avalanches were happening all the time, with the sudden arrival of continuously warm and sunny days.

Just another avalanche in Juneau

Two ladies were kind enough to lead me to a point where I could spot a mountain goat, which was apparently just chilling right in the middle of the avalanche zone, not worried about getting, uhm, iced. I have a picture of the goat on the mountain.

Oh, I am sorry, you can’t see the goat. That’s the joke, but the goat is there. Here is some visual aid. You have to look between the waterfall and the cluster of trees in the lower right - mentally draw a line from the middle of the tree cluster, and look for a bright white dot.

And finally, on Friday, I hit the East Glacier Trail one more time to plow through some snow once again, but most of the snow was already gone.

I am sure the tourists will be thrilled.

If the sun is shining in Juneau on a weekend and you are staying home, you need help. So I grabbed my backpack and took a bus to the Mendenhall glacier. Juneau’s transit line stops about a mile or two from the glacier, and the fare is only $1.50 one way. While there will be a direct shuttle during the summer, it’s a nice walk to the visitor center.

In April, there are very few outside tourists here . Mostly it’s the locals jogging, biking, walking their critters, or in case of college girls from UAS - never shutting up.

No offense, ladies.

The most boring thing you can do is just stare at the glacier, as nice as it is. The visitor center built around it is very impressive, in fact, to the point where it takes away the “wilderness” aspect of it.

There are a couple of notable trails around the glacier - the East trail and the West trail. The East trail is the easy one, the West trail is the cool one (ice caves, Juneau ice field views). However, the latter is longer, and more difficult so, as an amateur Alaskan hiker, I took the East Glacier Trail first…

It was nice to be able to plow through so much snow after being deprived of any major snow storm in two years in the tri-state area. As I always say - if you are able to find your car, it’s not real snow. Here your car won’t get lost, but do keep Fluffy on a leash.

I actually spent a few minutes just stomping snow in. While being incredibly fun, it will confuse the hell out of other hikers as well.

Just as the loop trail starts turning around, you do not want to miss the “scenic overlook” sign to your right, since that’s the whole point of this trail:

The experience is much more impressive in real life, since no picture can really convey the scale of anything Alaskan. It’s hard enough to judge distances when you are actually there, let alone in a 2D image.

I loitered here for about half an hour, while hearing multiple micro-avalanches rumbling in the distance. If you spend enough time downtown, you can actually catch a lot of these happening during the day, and the deep rumbling noise resonates across the city, while the locals go to the supermarket, paying no mind, to buy potatoes and some tomato juice.