As expected this morning was a bit rainy and gloomy.
I started the day with breakfast at TK Maguires in a nearby hotel. I had the prime rib burrito as suggested by the waitress and it was excellent. It was also much larger than I could possibly eat.
prime rib burrito. more prime rib than egg
After breakfast I got my camera ready for Mendenhall Glacier. I had planned to walk downtown and do some trinket shopping, and nearby is the visitor center where the bus to the park departs from.
The view from the hotel room window along the way to the blue bus
In addition to the tour bus that goes to the Glacier, there is a public bus, but it’s nearest stop is over a mile from the visitor entrance. To save time I decided the expensive blue bus was the way to go.
public transit
Along the way the driver gave us some information and made an attempt to make some jokes…. let’s just say he won’t be quitting the job driving the bus anytime soon for his comedy career.
After the bus dropped us off I took the long route along the steep creek trail towards the visitor center. I didn’t actually see any salmon, but it was a nice walk. I stopped at the pavilion to take some photos of the Mendenhall glacier and nugget falls.
the view from the pavilion
At the park entrance I was recommended by the park ranger to take the nugget falls hike (and stop at the photo point). I left the visitor center for the end of the visit and started the hike. The trail was in good shape except the end near the falls where there was a small flooded section to walk through, but I was prepared with my rain boots.
view from photo point Mendenhall glacier and nugget falls
On the way from photo point to the nugget falls trail we found an injured porcupine being held by a park ranger. Probably one of the many dogs (bear food) that people seem to be walking with attacked it.
flowers along the trail injured porcupine
There was a nice stream and interested trees with moss on the way to nugget falls, but of course the waterfall at the end was the reward for the hike.
i liked these zen-like trees covered in moss small stream almost there ta-da nugget falls at the end of the trail you can see the small flooded part where I waded through the water I liked this angle with the rocks and the glacier although you don’t see much of the waterfall
On the way back I saw these interesting curly plants I have no idea what they are.
I stopped at the visitor center before leaving; they had some displays, a time lapse showing the glacier moving and it was actually one of the better locations to take a photo from despite it being further away.
view from the visitor center
I returned back to the hotel to decide where to go for dinner…
current view from the hotel room
After looking over all the options I decided to go back to Deckhand Dave’s. It had really good food. This time I ordered the salmon fish and chips and if I remember correctly “Trash Bear” which was blackened rockfish with their mild and spicy crema sauce on top of fries.
“Trash Bear” – yes it was awesome salmon fish and chips…. good, but i preferred the rockfish
At dinner I bumped into a few other passengers from the ship, by chance they mentioned they had issues getting a taxi – they had gotten a pickup at 3 am for their 5:30AM flight. Luckily they called the taxi service and managed to get us on the list for pickup. Otherwise I might have been walking to the airport…..
After eating dinner (and having a couple of beers) I decided to walk around and see some of Juneau I missed now that the weather was dry and the sun was still out for a while. The first stop was the Russian Orthodox Church…
I then decided to walk to the whale statue by the bridge, which by chance took me past the Governor’s house and a lot of nice gardens.
another church next to the Russian Orthodox Church nice pedestrian bridge view from the pedestrian bridge Governor’s house front of Governor’s house I couldn’t follow the description with the actual totem. perhaps it’s mixed up, or a replica was installed and not made correctly…
Here are some photos of some really nice flowers I found in the gardens while on my walk.
“Gold Creek”
I arrived at the park with the whale statue just before the fountains turned on. With the right angle it could look like a real whale in the water.
I walked back to the hotel and took a few more pictures. One with the Mt Roberts Tramway visible and a few of the old Standard Oil pier, it just looks interesting as well as a bald eagle that decided to land on a pole nearby and the hotel.
Mt Roberts Tramway abandoned Standard Oil pier I like this angle with the lumber sticking out over the edge, it was obviously a pipe rack the hotel The UnCruise office and pier across from the hotel
Now it was really late (even though it still looks light out) and I needed to pack because the taxi was going to pick me up at 3:00 AM. But at least I took advantage of the long daylight to maximize what I was able to see in Juneau.