Juneau, AK

Thursday, March 31, 2016, I was up bright and early right after getting back from the Olympics the day before.  I picked up Bryce and we headed to the airport.  Flight loads were looking pretty dismal at that point, and I wasn't optimistic about making the 5:00 to Seattle.  The plan at that point was to try for the 5:00, then fly to Boise, then Seattle, and then get to Juneau in the afternoon.  It wouldn't be ideal and give us a lot of time, but at least we'd make it.

I was surprised when my name was called and we did get seats, in First Class too, and we were able to get to Seattle in time for the 7:45 flight to Juneau.

The flight to Juneau had plenty of open seats, and I got my own row.  When we were starting our descent into Juneau, however, the pilot suddenly aborted his landing and pulled back up due to the fog being too bad.  We circled for 1 hour until it finally cleared.  I was worried we'd end up in Anchorage and all of our plans would be ruined.  It was such a relief to finally touch down!

I picked up our rental car- a tiny Chevy Spark- and Bryce and I headed into town to get some lunch.  A friend from mechanic school told me The Hanger is a really great place right on the water to get some food, so we went there.  We had excellent baskets of fish (cod) and chips, and I threw in a bowl of clam chowder too.  After we finished eating it was off for adventures!

We headed out to Mendenhall Glacier first.  It's only a ten minute drive out of town, on the only highway, Alaska 7.  It's tucked away in the Mendenhall Valley, and there is a small lake at the end of the glacier.

We then decided to make the 2 mile round trip hike to Nugget Falls.  From the distance, it didn't look that big.  But when we got up close we realized just how gigantic this waterfall really is.

It was impressive to see a clear distinction between the clear silt free water from the falls flowing into the silt laden water in the glacial lake.  I wanted to go up and try and get some post cards or souvenirs from the visitor center, but was disappointed to find out it was closed for a private event.  So Bryce and I loaded back up into our little car and continued on down the highway.

Periodically we stopped to take pictures of the gorgeous views of the mountains.  Pictures can't even do the views justice.

We did finally reach a pull off for a trail-head leading to Herbert Glacier.  We set off at a brisk hike through tall groves of spruce.  We seldom got any opens, but when we did the views of the mountains were once again, magnificent.  Bryce had begun using his GPS to track how many miles we had hiked and by 4 miles we were seriously beginning to wonder if this glacier even existed.

Once we reached 4.5 miles, however, we rounded a rock wall and finally, there was Herbert Glacier!

Bryce and I took a short break, took some pictures, and I set up my tripod to get a good picture of us together.  Then we hit the trail again.

We speed hiked back to the car.  In all, our hike took 3 hours, and we covered 9 miles.  That was record pace for me!  But we wanted to continue on to the very end of the highway.  And we did, right up to a sudden iron gate that stopped at the edge of trees.  It was end of the road, so we turned back and drove all the way to Juneau to get dinner.

The night we drove through downtown Juneau (which I thought it hilarious there is even a downtown.  The city is so tiny).  A coworker had recommended we go to Red Dog Saloon.  Bryce and I found it, and the place was very neat.  You walked through the swinging wooden doors you see in the saloons in movies.  The walls, tables, and everything inside was very rustic.  There were even a couple guys singing and playing banjos and guitars.

By the time we got our food and were done, Bryce and I were wiped out.  Really exhausted.  We drove back over to the house we were staying in, on the upper floor.  We took showers and crashed into bed.

The next morning we were up in time to return the rental car and catch the 7:15 flight back to Seattle.  It had a quick stop over in Ketchikan, but we stayed on the plane.  Then we had no problem making a flight back to Spokane.  I was able to go home for a couple hours before I flew to Boise that same night.  But it was a nice, very fast paced trip to Juneau!  Great adventure, and a fabulous break from work and school!