Juneau – the capital of Alaska, and the largest capital city (by land area) in the country. There is no access to Juneau by roads, so there are only three ways to arrive in Juneau…. by boat, plane or you were born here.
I’ve spent a fair amount in Juneau before. In the past there was a bus to the Mendenhall Glacier National Park, but I didn’t see that option available. I decided to book the Goldbelt Tram as the top of the mountain has a nice view and there is a nice, short hiking trail.
Our arrival time was set to be 11 AM, however we started docking around 10:15 AM. I took some pictures as we arrived in Juneau. The weather wasn’t so great in the morning as you can see, but the seaplanes and waterfalls were nice.
As we arrived we could not see the top of the Goldbelt Tram…. Maybe you can see it if you use your imagination….
With the cloud on top of the mountain and the excessive line for the free shuttle into town I decided to wait a while until the clouds lifted and recorded a time lapse video from the ship.
I also enjoyed the sea planes buzzing the ship…
I took advantage of the time to get a quick bit in the buffet before leaving the ship.
Finally – the top of the tram was visible.
I hopped on the free shuttle bus and it dropped me off at the tram station.
By this time there wasn’t any significant line. and the ticket was good for unlimited rides which I wish I knew earlier as I would have went up in the clouds even though I wouldn’t be able to see anything.
I took some photos as the tram went up.
Although there are observation platforms along the hiking trails the best viewpoint is actually from the unloading areas of the tram, so I make a point to stay and take some photos from there before going inside the building. The employees don’t mind you enjoying the views.
There are a couple of trail maps at the top. Maybe one day I will take the trail down to Juneau, but not today. Today I only took the 0.5 mile loop trail.
I always like taking pictures of the maps so I know I am still on the trail…
I chose to walk in a counterclockwise direction. From this side a waterfall is visible across the valley.
I got some nice photos of the cruise ships from the observation points. Carnival just arrived and was docking and the Viking Ocean ship was tendering guests ashore since there wasn’t enough piers. From the top of the mountain the ships looked like toys in a bath tub.
I could see the cross, but I was not motived to hike to the cross. From my last adventure the view from here was just fine.
I got a couple of pictures of the sea planes buzzing the ship. Yes they were flying that close.
I recorded a video on the way down with my GoPro. The lighting was a bit harsh though.
I walked around the city a bit. They had some nice totems along the promenade.
I managed to get another picture of a sail plane with the ship.
I walked over to the bridge where the whale statue is.
I stayed a while at the waterfront park and watched a couple of the ships leave.
The city of Juneau have nice information signs on the light poles.
I went to dinner at La Cucina tonight. I am a bit surprised to see pizzas on the menu since a slice can be had for free at the buffet. Obviously the buffet doesn’t have Prosciutto on the pizzas.
I ordered the Carbonara despite that it has Pancetta and not Guanciale.
For my main I had the beef tenderloin with the blue cheese ravioli.
I had a little room left for dessert. I tried the ricotta cheesecake. I still don’t like cheesecake, I should have went with the cannoli.
After dinner I went to the production show, Le Cirque Bijou. It was okay, but not great.
Time for some more colortinis. The 1980’s MTV disco was really good. I miss seeing music videos.
Today’s timeline:
