An Alaskan Adventure with Meredith: Part 2

Meredith's 2nd Day in Juneau

  

Meredith’s next day is not as strenuous as her first.  She decides to spend some time on the beach near downtown Juneau.  Most of the beaches in Juneau are not sandy beaches; they are rocky beaches, with worn rounded rocks all along the shore.  Tides can be crazy in Juneau.  From the lowest point to the highest point, the tide can change up to 18 feet!  Meredith stands on the beach at low tide, which she will not be able to do in 3 hours.  The channel that runs between Juneau and Douglas is 75 feet across right now, but when the tide rises it will be closer to 200 feet across.  

Meredith climbs around on the rocks searching for shells.  She finds mussel shells mostly, but some clamshells also.  There is seaweed everywhere she walks.  She carefully makes her way around the seaweed, since it is very slippery.  She even finds some anemones in some of the tide pools. 

After going to the beach Meredith walks along the pier, looking over Gastineau channel at Douglas.  During the summer the channel would be filled with cruise ships, but right now the channel is empty except for a few small fishing boats.  

On the pier Meredith sees a man that is throwing handfuls of small fish out into the channel.  Bald eagles come swooping in to pick the fish off the top of the water.   Twenty or thirty eagles circle around where the man is throwing out fish, soaring down towards the water with their talons outstretched, flapping their wings forward, hard, as they near the water.  Their tails drag across the water, as if the eagles were skating on a frozen pond.  

Then, with their target in hand their great wings thrust them upward.  They perch together on some of the buoys, eating their free meal, while others take their turn diving in for their share. 

As Meredith watches in awe a sea lion swims out from underneath the docks, like a submarine.  He looks up to make sure none of the eagles are coming at him, then plucks the tiny fish off the surface of the water with his mouth, just barley breaking the surface of the water, does an underwater summersault and heads back under the dock to eat.

Meredith could watch this show all day.  The eagles swoop in from ever direction, narrowly missing each other at times.  Ravens have gathered at the docks also, hoping to get in on the easy lunch, but they know their place.  They wait until the eagles have had their fill before they pick up the remaining fish off the channels surface.  Finally the man empties his bucket. 

The eagles still circle around, scouring the water’s surface for any missed fish.  Soon they realize that they have eaten all of them and fly back into the high pine trees on the mountain.

Meredith walks down the pier towards downtown Juneau, marveling at what she had just seen.  I have never seen so many bald eagles in one place!  They were so majestic and beautiful, she thinks as she strolls along.  She comes to the east edge of downtown, near the tram stop to the top of Mount Roberts.  During the summer the streets would be flooded with tourists, streaming off of cruise ships to find fun trinkets to bring back home.  

Many would buy some of the fresh fish sold in the stores and in the restaurants around town.  Now though, only half of the shops are open, almost none of the restaurants are, and there are only the locals around.  Meredith walks past shops with toys, t-shirts, mugs, fudge, and items from the native people of Alaska.  Many of the shops are closed, but some of them are open so Meredith goes in to check them out.  She really likes the Alaskan Fudge shop!

After getting some walking around treats from the fudge store, she heads west to Mendenhall Glacier.  This is one of the easiest glaciers to see as it sits right on Mendenhall Lake and there is a visitors center right at the edge of the lake.  

The glacier is huge, spreading over a mile wide and 12 miles long.  It starts in the Juneau Icefields and flows down into Mendenhall Lake.  The front of the glacier is close to 100 ft. high in places. 

Although the glacier looks like snow on top it is actually made of tiny ice pieces, similar to sleet.  This makes the glacier dangerous to walk on top of without the proper equipment.  Making it even more dangerous are the deep crevasses of blue ice that plunge hundreds of feet down to the bottom of the glacier.  

Meredith would love to explore the glacier more, but she only has her boots and is not prepared for such and adventure.  

She enjoys it from afar wondering what the glacier looked like 100 years ago.   Mendenhall glacier looked very different back then due to the fact that it receded 100 feet or so a year.  If I ever get back here again…I wonder what the glacier will look like then?

Meredith ends her day where she started it, on the beach…well a different beach.  She finds one of he sandy beaches on the west side of Juneau.  The water is so clear she can see the rock below the surface.  It looks wonderful for swimming, but it is cold, not even 50 degrees.  Brrrrr!   So she is content to walk along the waters edge, looking for seashells, watching for whales and sea lions. 

As daylight fades, the sun sets below the mountains.  Meredith watches a beautiful sunset full of vibrant blues, purples, oranges, reds and yellows.  It is a beautiful sunset and a great end to a wonderful trip!

Hope you enjoyed Meredith's Trip!

An Alaskan Adventure with Meredith

Meredith Travels to Juneau

Feeling nervous and excited at the same time, Meredith steps onto the airplane.  She has never traveled by plane before and is not quite sure what to expect.  She finds her seat by the window and settles in.  It’s going to be a long trip.  There is an almost 4 hour flight to Seattle, then another 2 hour flight to Juneau, the city she is visiting.  She watches as the crew on the ground load last minute bags into the plane.

Ohhh…I can’t wait to get to Alaska! She thinks.  The front door closes, the flight attendants go through their safety instructions, and then the plane races down the runway and lifts off.   Meredith’s tummy tightens and does a little flip as the plane climbs into the sky.  She’s still nervous, until she looks out the window at the beautiful sky.   

They are soaring above the soft white comforter of clouds.  She stares out the window for a very long time, marveling at how beautiful and perfect the clouds look, every once in a while spotting the ground below as the plane passes over a hole in the clouds.

The time passes quickly and before Meredith knows it, the plane is descending into Seattle.  She gets off the plane, finds her next gate, and not long after is boarding her plane to Juneau.   The plane to Juneau has hardly anyone on it.  Meredith actually gets a row all to herself.   By the time she gets to Juneau it’s nine at night.  Exhausted, she curls up in bed and falls asleep.  Tomorrow she will hike up Mount Roberts, in downtown Juneau.

The next day, Meredith is up early, preparing for her trek up Mount Roberts.  She packs a lunch and some snacks, puts on warm clothes and hiking boots.  She has heard that Alaskan trails can be a difficult hike, so she wants to be prepared.  Mount Roberts is one of two mountains that tower over Juneau, the other being Mount Juneau.  In the summer months there is a tram that goes up Mount Roberts to the lookout area that she will be hiking to, but in the spring, the tram doesn’t run.   As Meredith starts out on her hike there is a small amount of fog.  The sun pierces through the fog, lighting up the pine trees and creating streaks of light throughout the forest.  It’s beautiful!

Meredith comes upon a bench that is placed at a perfect spot to look down on the city of Juneau.  She stops to rest and take some photos.  

So far, the trail has been mildly difficult, but she is still at the base of the mountain and has not started really climbing.  Most of the trail is covered in roots and rocks.

As she looks up the path, she sees that it narrows and begins to switch back as it climbs the mountain.  She gathers her things and begins hiking again.

As the trail starts to intensify, with steep natural root stairs, narrow rocky paths, and sharp drop offs, Meredith makes frequent stops to catch her breath and to take in the beautiful scenery.  

Most of the forest is coniferous, but there are stray leafy trees every once in awhile.  Being a rainforest, the ground is completely covered in greenery.  

The fallen trees are covered in moss and ferns, so thick it is impossible to tell what is underneath the blanket of green.  Meredith loves the lush green everywhere.  She wonders what it must be like in the summer.

She stops along the path as she sees amazing areas.  Wow! Look at these trees!  The roots are intertwined so much that you can’t tell which goes where.  Meredith stops by many of the trees to marvel at the roots.  

Some are entwined together in a tangled web that criss crosses across the path and the forest floor.  Some of the roots leave hollow spots that Meredith imagines house animals some of the time.  I can’t believe how cool these trees are!

The trail begins to switch back and forth, climbing higher and higher.  As Meredith goes, it begins to snow, lightly in the forest, but she can barely see Mount Juneau when she gets to a clearing.

The further she goes up the mountain, the more snow is covering the ground.  When Meredith gets to the tram station she can’t see down to the city and there is two feet of snow in areas not covered by trees.  

The pure white snow contrasts with the bright green moss growing on the trees, creating a whimsical winter scene. 

Meredith ends up putting on her snowshoes to walk on part of the path, until the point that she can’t see the path anymore.  

The snow is packed on the path from the people that have walked on it before, but just off the narrow path she sees foot prints that fall off at least a couple of feet. She does not want to get stuck and fall down the mountain. 

Even with her snowshoes Meredith doesn’t feel safe traveling to the peak of Mount Roberts, 3,900 feet up. Instead of traveling up the dangerous trail to the top, she walks around some of the trails around the tram station at 1,700 feet up.  

On one of them she finds a tangle of tree limbs, growing wildly in all directions.  She thinks the tangle would look really creepy at night, but right now, it just looks really cool.

Further along the trail, she comes upon a tree with a Tlingit Indian carving in it.  It reminds her of a totem pole carving, but this is just a single carving.  

It looks like it is a carving of a bird, maybe an eagle, but more likely it is a raven.  She takes some photos of the carving.  I can’t wait to show this to Kyla, she loves art.  I bet that she would really love this!

She wonders around the trails for a little while longer, enjoying the snow and the quiet.  There is no one up here but her right now.  It's very peaceful.

Meredith keeps her snow shoes on as she starts down the mountain, but soon does not need them.  The snow has lightened up and has turned to a drizzle of rain now.  

She stops along the way to take some photos by some more of the amazing trees that she finds.  Some are covered in moss so fine it looks like bright green paint rather than something growing.

She stops at the lookout again, using her binoculars to pier at the buildings of downtown Juneau and to the city of Douglas across the channel.  Meredith can't believe how far up she still is.

The climb down is not as strenuous and takes much less time, but Meredith is very tired at the end of the hike.  She heads back home to rest for the next day.

Check back for more of 

Meredith's Alaskan Adventure next week!