Day 51
Thursday, July 28
Cruise to Juneau

6:30 came awful early this morning as we had to get up and around for our trip to Juneau. We ride-shared down to the small boat harbor where

we gathered waiting to load the Fjordlands for a 2 1/2 hour ride. While we were waiting, Ron called for everyone's attention and read the following announcement:

Original Proclamation

To: Gilbert Hall

As a result of floating a stop sign and the Major Intersection of 3rd and State Street in the Village of Skagway, Alaska, at the height of traffic,

And

After further review of your driver's license and a thorough background check of your past personal history, we the magistrate of the village of Skagway, Alaska, and with full cooperation of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources do hereby:

Resend and revoke your Jr. Ranger status.

All certificates, awards, trophies and cash receipts attained herby this Jr. Ranger must be returned to the Department of Natural Resources.

All said certificates, etc. shall be turned in to your wagonmaster, who in turn shall duly pass them on the the nearest sworn police officer.

By the power invested in me:

Officer Elroy P. Catchem
Alaska Police Force


How devastating!!! They wanted to take away the Jr. Ranger badge that I earned while touring the Kenai Fjords National Park. I swore that I would fight this injustice to the bitter end!!

After this horrible announcement we loaded the boat and took off for Juneau.

  The Fjordlands is a catamaran that cruises at 18 to 20 knots on the 120 mile trip to Juneau. We made a stop in Haines, Alaska to pick up two more passengers and then proceeded to Juneau. On the way the captain watched for wildlife and would stop the boat to allow us a better view. We ran into a large pod of humpback whales and watched them for several minutes.  
 
Repeatedly the would come to the surface to spout and dive back under. I was able to get a few shots of their spouting, humps, and a tail or two.   We all waited anxiously for one to really breach, but that must be something that only happens in commercials since we didn't see it.


We saw several beautiful waterfalls that came from the glaciers high above us on the mountaintops.
 
 
  The fog was so thick you could only catch fleeting glimpses of the glaciers and the beginnings of the falls.

We saw schools of dall porpoises and a few otters, stellar sea lions and lots of scenic views as we completed our run into Juneau. It was an incredibly smooth trip considering the wind was fairly stiff and the waves were a little high.

While in Juneau, we took a bus tour of downtown and had a little time to look around downtown. Three cruise ships were in port while we were

ther so it was a little crowded. We did see the state capital building. The driver proclaimed it the "ugliest state capital building in the United States." He said there were plans to build a new building shortly after statehood, but the chose to save money and not give representatives a comfortable place to be.

Following our free time in downtown we reloaded the bus and went to the Mendenhall Glacier.

 

The Mendenhall Glacier is one of 38 glaciers in the Juneau Icefield.  

It is several miles long and fronts into Mendenhall Lake. Many blue icebergs were floating in the lake. Last week a large glacial lake on the top end of the Mendenhall Glacier broke though the ice dam that held it back and brought flooding conditions to the
lake and the surrounding area. No homes were flooded, but it did raise the lake level by 5 feet. They didn't expect this to happen at were momentarily at a loss as to what was happening. It is feared that this could be a yearly problem due to global warming.

We left Juneau aroud 5:00 for our return trip to Skagway. The Fjordlands captain was diligently working on an impeller that was malfunctioning when we returned to the boat. It took him about 45 minutes to get things fixed.
 
We spent the time watching the salmon jump out of the water and the Bald Eagles and Seagulls gathering around the stream the salmon were trying to swim up.

Shortly after we started back to Skagway the captain slowed the boat and swung it around. He said he thought there was a mama grizzly and a cub fishing in a stream flowing into the fjord.

 

 

 

 Sure enough, a big mama bear scampered into the bushes and watched us approach. When she realized we weren't coming any closer she came back out, followed by her cub, and began to fish. We watched them for several minutes as they clambered around in the water catching fish. The mama would catch a fish and give it to her cub. It was fascinating to watch.

Later we circled a lighthouse in the middle of the fjord and watched otters in the water and seals on the rocks.

 

Around 8:00 we arrived back in Skagway after a fun-filled day. We saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed our time on the boat. They did serve us muffins and juice on the way and seafood chowder on the return trip.

Tomorrow is a free day, but most of us are going on the White Pass Yukon Railroad for a trip up the mountain used by miners in the 1898 rush for gold in the Yukon. I'll tell you about that tomorrow. Till then - Happy Trails!!