CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 1

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE No. 1

SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN

GOLD RUSH INSIDE PASSAGE – JUNEAU TO SEATTLE

August 15, 2010 to August 25, 2010

Pre-cruise in Juneau

We flew from San Diego to Juneau on August 12, 2010 (three days pre-cruise) in hopes of being able to explore Juneau a bit more than we have been able to do on past cruises. Our weather could not have been better. We had clear skies and 75 degree weather. It was spectacular in every sense of the word.

After we dropped off our bags and checked into our room, we headed out for a bite of lunch and then a trek out to Mendenhall Glacier. We enjoyed some halibut fish tacos outside on the deck at The Hangar. The Hangar is a small building that houses several restaurants and boutique shops along with Wings Alaska which is where we took our float plane trip out of last month. Around the corner is Marine Park, dedicated to the gold miners. There is a very large octagonal cover made of huge wooden timbers and concrete bench type seats underneath. It provides much shade and a nice resting place after walking the city.

The city bus system in Juneau only costs $1.50 to ride from downtown Juneau out to the drop off point at Mendenhall Glacier; so we decided to give that a try rather than do an organized tour. The bus is a regular city bus with many stops as you pass through town. After about 30 minutes we were dropped off on Glacier Loop Road where we began our hike into the glacier. On the surface, a mile and a half did not seem that far – but believe me – this was a l-o-n-g hike in to get to the glacier. There is a paved walking path along the road to keep you out of harms’ way of the oncoming cars. We passed thick, dense forest with the ground covered with several different kinds of moss. Not only was it growing out of the dead trees on the ground, but it was also hanging from the trees above.

We trekked over a small bridge with crystal clear mountain water and red salmon spawning and swimming upstream. As we walked on, we came across a small pond of standing water with barren grey tree trunks standing in the water. In the distance, however, was the beautiful Mendenhall Glacier. The water in the small pond was so still that it was mirror-like; and the reflections were unbelievable.

Once we finally arrived at the entrance to Mendenhall Glacier, we found a small nature trail that is built of wooden planks over the babbling brook below. The salmon were swimming upstream, splashing and jumping up through the incline of the stream. The walkway has short wire sides with wooden top rails for your safety. This is bear country. Although there are 17 bears that live in the area when the salmon are spawning, we did not see any of them.

As you walk through this area, there are several places where you have spectacular views of the glacier itself.
Mendenhall Glacier is the only known glacier to be within city limits in the United States. It is part of the Juneau ice field and a very popular destination. There is a beautiful round visitors’ center above that offers several exhibits and a nice movie about the glacier and how it has receded.

We grabbed a taxi back to town and walked around a bit before stopping for a hamburger at The Mesa Grill. The Mesa Grill is a little orange shack on a side street just up from Broadway (the main street in Juneau). The wooden building is painted orange and a Tlingit Indian woman owns it. She told us that she used to have an actual building that was burned down several years ago. She was told she had to build another building to replace it; but she chose to go smaller and build this small shack instead to cut her expenses. She specializes in grilling Angus burgers, reindeer sausage and chicken kabobs. Our burgers were very tasty and quite juicy. We sat outside at a small round table and enjoyed our burger along with a local man who sat there chatting with us for a bit about the area and what there was to see and do. Our friends Mark and Debbie arrived in Juneau that evening and after meeting them in the lobby of the hotel, we all headed off to our rooms with much anticipation of what was before us in the coming days.

During our few days in Juneau we enjoyed a lot of fabulous local food. In addition to The Mesa Grill we had a delightful light lunch at Romo’s Pizza in the Hangar building where we had a piece of pizza, a small salad and a glass of thirst-quenching iced tea. We also ate at The Hangar and enjoyed some halibut fish tacos one afternoon. Another afternoon we had lunch at The Twisted Fish – which was the nicest of all of the restaurants we visited in Juneau. For breakfast we enjoyed bagels at The Silverbow Bakery and pastries one day at The Paradise Café. Dinner one evening was delicious at the Goldbelt Hotel where we stayed. We ate at their restaurant “Zen” and filled our tummies with some delicious Chinese cuisine. Another one of our favorite places to grab a bite to eat in Juneau is at Tracy’s Crab Shack next to the dock in downtown Juneau. She won Third Place for her Seafood Chowder this year on the East Coast. It is delicious!