JUNEAU

Juneau Day 

Our plan for the day is to get a rental car we arranged and then go to Mendenhall Glacier and do some hiking. 

A very uneventful arrival in Juneau and we are docked the farthest out. After breakfast we were off to find the Avis Car Rental location in town. Easy find but the Avis desk person was late. We got our car and drove to Mendenhall Glacier. We had our packs and boots on and were soon on the trails exploring the area. First we hiked the Nugget Falls Trail to a point close to the glacier and a big waterfall. 

We then returned to the Visitors Center and learned the trails are shorter than they appear on the map, as the proportions are not to scale. Next we hiked the Trail of Time and noted spots where the foot of the Glacier was in the early 1900’s. Here we saw a squirrel. The trails were nice and well maintained. We returned to the rental car and grabbed our lunch and had a picnic. We then hiked the Steep Creek Trail where we were told there would be critters. We saw a merganser and a swallow in the distance. I feel the reason was we were there mid day. While there were clouds, it was just not the best time for critters. 

We then took the rental car and explored a good bit, driving along the river. We eventually made it back to town and bought gas and dropped off the car. We then walked along all the rubber tomahawk tourist shops. We did get sucked in to one for some items and The Boys got some Salmon Treats. I hope they like them. 

We made our way back to the ship and had a snack and caught up on logs. As it got close to sail away time we made our way to Deck 10. After casting off we sailed south with a few clouds and a good bit of blue sky, retracing our route into Juneau.  While sailing south we did see some Bald Eagles and a few whales. 

Juneau is a nice town but, for me, the smaller ports are more intimate. Yet we did fall prey to The Alaska T-Shirt Company. Well, The Boys will get some Salmon Dog Treats and we now have a bottle opener in our stash of stash of utensils that we carry with us.