Here we sit in our camper in Valdez, AK and I will make only a couple of comments on the weather. Today we finally cried ‘uncle’ and bought our very own rain pants. And one more thing … I have altered expectations to say that a day without rain is a very good day … and only high clouds a very, very good day.
Considering that Juneau was a bit ago, I will need to read my journal to remember what I want to share. We have been out 43 days now, and, gulp … things are blurring just a bit. Thank goodness for both the journal and photos. This is a blog in arrears.
And still more highlights:
• Mendenhall Glacier: Arriving off the ferry from Sitka at the still very light 9:00 PM, we first checked out the lake in front of our site at the Mendenhall Glacier National Forest Service Campground. And as you will see, we had our own personal icebergs (and cubes). Hiking the West side of the glacier was easy, moderate and difficult depending on the section of trail … but the views were only spectacular. Reminding you all of the basic physics of light absorption that explains why glacial ice is blue (the ice absorbs all the spectrum of light except blue) … but why it is this absolutely otherworldly blue is, for me, not explained by physics.
• Juneau: Absolutely loved walking the neighborhoods of Juneau (the only state capital that cannot be reached by road). When you walk up (and I mean up) eight blocks you have reached the end of Juneau. Its streets are laced with stairways linking the streets and joining the neighbors. Some folks have their front doors opening off these staircases. And as you can see from one example below, they love to garden. Although grown-up in some ways, Juneau is also very homey and accessible. The Governor’s Mansion is in a regular neighborhood with a bungalow across the street. Space in ‘historic’ Juneau is at a premium. My quest for the world’s best ginger cookie may have been achieved at the Paradise Café. If I can convert her recipe (that she was kind of enough to share) using 4#s of grated fresh ginger, than I will be able to share with all of you.
• Meeting folks: just as we were leaving the campground, we met an Alaskan (Eskimo-Athabascan) documentary film-maker. We do not get reliable enough internet to watch his entire film about a radio station in remote Alaska but watched the trailer and it looked great – check out www.nfb.ca (national film board of Canada) and search for CBQM. His website is www.mackdelta.com I can’t wait to watch it when we get home.
• Saved the best ferry ride for last: While I wish the photos would do it justice, the 4 hour sunny ride from Juneau to Haines on the Malaspina MV was absolutely glorious. My book was unread as I watched one glacier or incredible waterfall after the other appear in the truly rugged Chilkat Mountain Range. The mountains rose 8,000 ft. right from the ocean! And, a bit regretfully, from now on we will have to leave the driving to us.
• Haines : We will remember our campground owner hosting a campground crabfeed-potluck; a sunset at the “end of the road” with grizzly bear (no photo); watching a Dept. of Fisheries young man sitting on a dock in the middle of the river, net catching salmon coming through a break in a weir. They are tracking the returning salmon coming back to spawn (you could say that AK still has a ‘salmon economy’!!); having a gift shop owner ask the best question as he was getting to know us “now what do you know the most about?”
• Another water adventure: Ok, I know what you are thinking. Still a float down a river in the Bald Eagle Preserve when it is possible that you have to get out and push the raft over the shallows, sounded pretty safe to me. And it was. Special moments of that adventure were having a young guide on the bus who had grown up in Haines giving us his perspective of the community; seeing 24 Bald Eagles including a juvenile captured in a photo below (4000 return mid-winter for a late salmon run in February); and learning about braided rivers and the incredible amount of silt coming off the glacier changing the channels from hour to hour (hence the potential to get stuck). Deserving more than a semi-colon was our river guide Aurita … a very special young woman who has just finished her Army tour as a talented linguist serving just recently in Afghanistan. We know that there is much to learn about her and from her but I will leave you with this … at one point, she threw out her arms, encompassing the mountains, the water and the eagles and said – “and this is my office!” She takes nothing in life for granted.
And so dear friends and family … another entry. We will catch up with you again soon. Please take good care and let us know how you are.
As always a special sign to our girls, their guys and our four legged friends.
Until we check in again,
JP and Tom
