Sadly today I disembark from the cruise in Juneau. It was an amazing trip and I highly recommend it to most everyone (you do need to be capable of walking up and down steps).
Before arriving at breakfast one of the other UnCruise Adventures boats docked. I took a few pictures outside before breakfast.
exercise area on 300 deck and all the kayak pfd’s assembly area on 300 deck for the tours, and a nice place to take photos when you aren’t in the wind
Breakfast today was Frittatas, bacon and breakfast potatoes. We were also surprised that the owner of the company, Dan made an appearance and welcomed us back. He actually stayed and talked to several people after the cruise after we disembarked and picked up our luggage.
Captain Dan – Owner of the UnCruise Adventures company
The tour leader gave us information about disembarking – our hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton was literally across the street from the dock. Needless to say we didn’t need a taxi to get there.
I took a couple of more photos before walking up the ramp to get my luggage.
that’s one of the guests doing the headstand
I had already pre-booked a helicopter tour with a glacier landing with a 1:15 PM pickup for today. I checked into the hotel (room wasn’t ready yet) and dropped off my bags. While I was at the hotel I bought discounted tickets for the Mt Roberts Tramway. It didn’t start operating until 10:00 AM, so I wandered about the town for a bit, which was mostly closed except one or two souvenir shops. There were quite a few art deco buildings.
I arrived at the tram shortly before it opened at 10:00 AM so I had some time to enjoy the views before returning for the helicopter tour. I wasn’t sure how often they would actually operate the tram, so I wanted to be on the first one up.
At the top I discovered there were actually hiking trails, so I decided to hike up to Father Brown’s cross (it’s not the original).
perspective of how high the platform is on the way up, the city of Juneau is below I only saw brown bears on this trip…. not even a teddy bear view from the exit platform trails! I didn’t have that much time so I decided to take the Father Brown’s Cross trail some nice flowers along the trail small waterfall Father Brown’s cross. Yes that is snow, and it was covering parts of the trail a nice viewpoint just above Father Brown’s cross Father Brown’s cross Father Brown’s cross replica bald eagle nest this is from a tree that started to grow circa 1824. They estimated it to be 168 years old when it was cut down going back down… Lindblad Expedition ship docked (National Geographic) totem inside the entrance to the tramway
It was now later than I had planned and I needed to grab a quick bite before the helicopter tour. Luckily I saw a food truck called “Deckhand Dave’s” nearby the hotel which I assumed would be quick. Not only was it quick, but it was very delicious.
Deckhand Dave’s blacked rockfish tacos Fish n Chips – Rockfish
I made it back to the hotel to get the stored luggage, get the room key and add a couple of layers for the glacier walk.
It was now time for the helicopter tour. They picked us up at the hotel at 1:15 PM and we headed to the airport. I booked the tour with Coastal Helicopters via Project Expedition.
Today’s helicopter
The view from the helicopter was spectacular. You won’t really get the sense of how amazing it was from the photos and videos I took. It’s amazing how large the chunks of ice were and how deep the crevasses were. And the blue color was just surreal. We landed on Herbert Glacier north-west of Juneau and got to walk around for about 20 minutes before heading back. I did drank some of the glacier water (filled up my water bottle).
Mendenhall Glacier another view of Mendenhall Glacier
The weather took a turn and it got very cloudy and rainy, so I took a break at the hotel and waited for the weather to improve.
The rain wasn’t going to stop, so I decided to put on the rain boots and wander around a bit, I found an interesting restaurant called Pel’meni with Russian dumplings. It only has one item on the menu and a serving is only $7. Now it is a normal person’s portion, but if you are hungry you might want two. It is still by far the cheapest meal in Alaska and it was very good. I always want to try something different when I travel and this was different.
the dumplings. covered in sriacha sauce and I forget what else.
I walked back to the hotel and watched the ships depart from the ocean view room.
the Lindblad ship leaving… view from the hotel room
After the long day it was time for some rest and research the weather for tomorrow. It looked like it might clear up in the afternoon, so I planned to visit Mendenhall Glacier then and just take a leisurely morning stroll trinket shopping while the weather was rainy and cloudy.