#11 - Skagway and Juneau

It was raining when the train arrived in Skagway and from the looks of things it had been raining all day, at least. Skagway is a very small town and can be explored in just a few hours. It is one of the ports-of-call for the cruise ships so I was just one of hundreds of tourists roaming the streets and shops. At this point in my journey I was pretty much shopped out, so I just walked around the charming old town, grabbed a quick lunch, read about Skagway's history at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Museum and then caught the ferry for Juneau. 

The six-hour trip between Skagway-Haines-Juneau was quite beautiful. It stopped raining occasionally and the sun peeked out just in time for an incredible viewing of it setting behind a glacier. 

It was so cool to see where the glacial river silt meets the sea. Along a portion of the Lynn Canal there is a definite line where the milky gray, glacial river water meets the blue of the sea. It was quite an awesome sight. 

The ferry had been delayed getting into Skagway so we didn't get to Juneau till almost midnight, too late to get into the hostel. So, I took the courtesy bus into the city. The driver will let you off anywhere you want along the 14 mile route from the ferry dock to the city center. I got off near the The Alaskan Hotel, a charming turn-of-the-century hotel and the least expensive hotel in Juneau. I got the last available room for $84 for the night. Many of the rooms are a little cheaper, but they were gone by the time I got there. 

Juneau is the one city where it is a good idea to have advance reservations, especially at the very popular hostel, which at just $12 a night is quite a deal. I called the next morning and was able to get one of the few available beds. The hostel was overflowing the entire time I was there (four days) with latecomers camped out on the floor. It is the nicest hostel I stayed in, though it was very inconvenient to be locked out from nine every morning till five in the evening. Many hostels have this lock-out rule and at times it was a real pain in the butt to not be able to access my room. Especially when it rained. I spent one afternoon at the library sending emails, reading the news, sleeping and just looking because I was too exhausted to do anything else but couldn't get into the hostel. The Juneau Public Library is on the third floor of a parking structure and overlooks the bay and Douglas Island. When the cruise ships aren't blocking the view (which is rare), it is a lovely place to view the surrounding area. 

Of all the cities I visited, Juneau is my favorite. It reminds me a little of San Francisco, complete with hills, steep streets and charming old houses and also of "The Avenues" section of Salt Lake City, only Juneau has lots more trees and the mountains are much higher. The hostel was just a few, though very steep, blocks from the city center so it was very convenient, except for getting my luggage to and from the bus stop! 

I did more walking in Juneau than anywhere in Alaska. I spent the first day doing the walking tour, which required much up and down of hills. There are several museums in Juneau, and being the capital of Alaska, many government buildings. Of course there are lots of shops catering to all the tourists. And a Taco Bell! Finally, a cheap meal. It's funny the things you discover you miss when traveling. While walking back to the hostel after my meal, I saw three bald eagles fly overhead, one a youth. Cool sight! 

Next morning I woke up to sunshine!!!!!! What a difference that made in my mood. I decided that was the day to hike the West Glacier Trail, though because of the recent rain it would be muddy (something I discovered was unavoidable as it's always muddy). There are East Glacier and West Glacier Trails and I'd been told that the West Trail had the best view of Mendenhall Glacier so that's the one I took. This photo is from a brochure and shows the view from the East Trail. Mendenhall Glacier is a slow moving (two feet per day), 12 mile, 400-800 foot deep river of ice that winds down from the 1500 square mile Juneau Icefield. Besides Mendenhall, this icefield feeds 38 other major valley glaciers. 

The hike itself is three miles up and three miles back plus it was a mile, at least, each way from the nearest bus stop. What a day! It was wonderful. Except for the flies, it was one of the best days of my whole trip. I have never seen so many flies! They moved incredibly slow, though, so I was able to swat them with my hands. I can't imagine how many flies I killed that day. After several hours of hiking and resting I reached the top of the trail, which ended at an outcropping of rock. It was possible to go further along the rock but the view from where I was was magnificent. I could see Mendenhall Towers, sharp spikes of rock that cannot be seen from the valley or the Visitor's Center. I could also see the top of the glacier as it came sweeping down from the icefield, a view that only hikers or flightseers get to experience. I got some awesome shots that unfortunately I'll never get to see. Oh, well. 

I spent a couple of hours at the top, eating salmon pate on crackers (the flies weren't so bad at that higher elevation) and watching a helicopter let off a group of people for a hike on the glacier ice. I got back to the bus stop with about five minutes to spare; otherwise I would have had to wait another hour for the next bus. Good timing! I felt half dead but exhilarated after nine miles of hiking, much of it quite steep, with a pack on my back. Considering I am not in the best of shape, I was quite proud of that feat. 

The next day started out sunny but ended in rain. However, I did spend the morning hiking another trail that started not far from the hostel. I was so exhausted from the previous day's endeavors, that I only made it a couple of miles before I turned around and went back. I did make it far enough to view an incredibly beautiful waterfall. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the library. 

Next morning I visited an old Russian Orthodox Church just a block or so from the hostel. I had passed by it several times but it had never been open. I arrived just in time for a historical presentation by one of the church officials. It was very interesting. He explained how Orthodox Christianity differs from Catholic or Protestant Christianity and about the church itself. It is one of the original churches built by the Russian immigrants back in the early 1800s. 

That afternoon I caught the shuttle to the ferry. Next stop Sitka.