doreenandgeoffsblog: Juneau-Alaska

Juneau – 13^th May

We sailed up the Inside Passage, arriving in an enchanting and misty Juneau. Today we were going on separate tours. Doreen to the Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake Combo and Geoffrey on the Dogsled Adventure by Hellicopter.. However Geoffrey was full of foreboding when he found out that the date was Friday, 13^th, compounded by the fact that the flight that was due for 9.30am had been postponed until 2.30pm. But as it turned out it was a blessing in disguise

Doreen set out on her coach trip at 9.30am to the Mendenhall Glacier. This was only about ten minutes coach ride from town, but none the less, it was still very beautiful. The glacier is a moving river of ice 1.1/2 miles wide and thousands of feet thick. This ‘blue’ glacier ranks as the largest glacier in Southeast Alaska. Following the glacier we drove to a salmon hatchery and learned all about the process of harvesting the fry. From there we went to an extremely nice Salmon Bake, with Alderwood smoked salmon, chicken, cornbred and many salads. All very enjoyable.

After this excursion I wandered around the town, which I found extremely interesting with some lovely shops.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey having had his early morning flight postponed he walked towards town and boarded one of the first cable cars going 1800 feet up the mountain overlooking Juneau. As the cable car ascended it passed through the early morning mist to provide magnificent views over the valley above the mist. A truly unique sight. Geoffrey spent two hours walking around capturing the wonderful sights and meeting the local bald headed eagle (see photo). Geoffrey then returned to the ship to recharge the camera before his helicopter trip.

After lunch, he joined the rest of the group of eleven to drive to the Helliport, where after a brief safety talk we donned out glacier boots and boarded two helicopters for an exhilarating 20 minute flight over the massive Juneau Icefield to land at the dogsled camp on the Mendenhall Glacier. The helicopters then left us and we spent twenty minutes meeting our huskies and learning all about dogsledding. Then came our opportunity to drive the dogsled. I initially was put at the back to control the balance and braking as we set off for a two mile ride across the glacier. Unfortunately the guy in front had problems and I ended up tipping my passenger and myself off the sled. After remounting we continued our journey around the glacier. On route it decided to snow but this did not dampen our enthusiasm and enjoyment. All too soon it was time to leave and our helicopters arrived to pick us up and return us to Juneau. A truly magical experience, difficult to describe in words.