Day 85, 18 August 2015
Haines to Juneau (by ferry named LeConte)
Not a great day to travel, if you want to see the scenery.
It rained. It was quite foggy. It was chilly.
And the ferry had mechanical problems – the bow thruster was not
working. But after an hour delay for repairs, we were able to load. Visibility
was not great, but you could see enough of the mountains and islands that you
knew it would be really scenic if the sun were shining and the seas were calm. We
were told that this is more normal weather around here and that we have been
really lucky to experience the prior week’s sunshine. We did meet some nice
folks from Canada – Marjorie, from Windsor, ON, and her daughter Nicole, an
environmental impact assessor in Dawson City, YT. Downtown Juneau is about a 20 min. drive from
the ferry terminal in Auke Bay. As we approached the town, we were surprised to
find five huge cruise ships at the piers. I mean HUGE – each much larger than
any building in town. That meant we were about to explore Juneau along with
about 15,000 other tourists. Rather than
strolling through the gift shops in the rain, we headed right for the Red Dog
Saloon – a “must see” in Juneau. Sawdust on the floor, cool signage, good entertainment,
and we had the pleasure of dining and drinking with our new Canadian friends.
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| Jeep in Ferry line |
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| Rainy day at the ferry |
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| Playing cards inside the ferry |
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| View from Ferry |
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| Juneau |
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| Huge cruise ship in Juneau |
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| More cruise ships |
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| Good entertainment at Red Dog Saloon |
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| Having a drink and dinner with Marjorie and Nicole |
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| ITSALAWNCHAIR! |
Day 86, 19 August 2015
Juneau
Breakfast at the Sandpiper Café was delicious. It was next
door to our hotel, and it was rated as one of the best breakfast spots in
Juneau. We drove around town to explore
a bit, then to the Mendenhall Glacier and, when there was a little break in the
rain, wandered around some of the nearby trails. The trail to Nugget Falls was
closed due to flooding from all the rain, but we could get a nice view of the
falls from the glacier overlook. The Alaskan Brewery did not give tours through
their operations, but their tasting room was open for samples, and we took
advantage of that. The Island Pub in
Douglas, across the channel from Juneau, was recommended by our bartender, so
we enjoyed a gourmet pizza dinner at a waterfront table with, of course, an
Alaskan beer.
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| Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier |
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| Nugget Falls |
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| Glacier and Falls |
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| State Capitol building in Juneau |
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| Beer Tasting |
Day 87, 20 August 2015
Juneau to Sitka (by ferry named Chenega)
Had to wake at “O dark 30” to make the 5 AM ferry check in.
The boat was very nice, though - similar to the Fairweather we took to Valdez
from Whittier. The captain said it was
235 ft long, held 250 passengers and 35 vehicles, and traveled at 32 knots. The
sea was relatively calm today, unlike the white caps on our way to Juneau.
Despite the rain and fog, we were anxious to see the beautiful islands we were
told about, but the fog just seemed to get worse. It was a pleasant trip,
nonetheless. We even bumped into Nancy, an epidemiologist who we met at the
Haines Brewery and who lives in Sitka, so we felt at home. Unfortunately Sitka
is dealing with a tragedy – three died and four were missing from a mud slide
two days ago, caused by drenching rain – over two inches in as many hours.
Nancy knew them. Apparently, the trees
grow out of a thin layer of soil over volcanic rock, and the roots don’t grow
deep enough to hold tight, so mudslides are not uncommon. But this was the
first time lives were lost in a slide.
It stopped raining
about two thirds of the way to Sitka. The
fog was slowly lifting, and occasionally some blue sky peeked out from the
heavy cloud cover. Sunlight came through the skylight. Then the sky cleared, and it was beautiful for
the rest of the day. The ferry navigated through narrow channels and around
islands. Sometimes the red and green buoys were separated just enough for the
boat to get through.
“Sitka” is an
abbreviation of “Shee-Atika” (People on the side of the Shee), the expression
the original Tlingit Indian inhabitants used to describe their location on the
western side of what is now Baranof Island. Russian Count Alexander Baranof
occupied the site in 1804 until the sale of Alaska on 18 October 1867 (Alaska
Day). This is a very walkable town, and we found some neat places doing just
that. Homeport Eatery is a great place for lunch. St Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral is
filled with sacred icons, many of which were sent from Russia by wealthy
patrons when the cathedral was first built in 1844. The Sitka National Historical Park (locally
known as “Totem Park”) is Alaska’s smallest – and oldest – national park. Nice
trails, a nice beach, with lots of totem poles carved by natives. We saw a
Tlinget artist working on two of them in a shelter built for him by the park
service. And from the footbridge over the Indian River, one can see hundreds of
salmon spawning. We sampled some craft beers at the Baranov Brewing Company’s
tasting room. A short climb up the Baranof Castle Hill gives a nice view of
town and a historical account of the Tlinget/Russian/American ownership of the
area. And the best restaurant in town for dinner is Ludwig’s Bistro. Not fancy
from the outside, very small inside, a little pricey, but a real culinary
treat.
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|
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| Inside the ferry |
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| Rainy, foggy view |
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| View improved as it started to clear |
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| Beautiful blue sky |
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| Much needed nap after awaking at 4am |
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| Navigating through narrow channel markers |
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| Downtown Sitka |
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| St Michael"s Cathedral |
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| Altar in St Michael's |
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| Last Supper in silver relief |
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| Totem Square downtown Sitka |
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| Our lunch spot |
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| Pedal bar is best way to cycle through town |
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| One of many totem poles at the National Historical Park |
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| Beautiful path in the park through hemlocks and spruce |
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| Beach view from trail |
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| Salmon spawning in Indian Creek |
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| Enjoying the walk in the park |
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| Tlingit native working on totem pole |
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Young woman doing a documentary on the spawning salmon
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| Beer tasting Baranof Brewing Co |
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| Top of Castle Hill - Baranof's guns still aimed at the Tlingets |
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| Downtown Sitka from Castle Hill |
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| Ludvig's Bistro - great dinner! |
