CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 2
SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN
GOLD RUSH INSIDE PASSAGE – JUNEAU TO SEATTLE
August 15, 2010 to August 25, 2010
JUNEAU PRE-CRUISE
JUNEAU AND HELICOPTER AND DOGSLEDDING ADVENTURE
¬¬After our delicious breakfast of fresh bagels and warm coffee at Silverbow Bakery in Juneau, we took off to explore the town. We walked all the way from one end of town to the other and back again several times searching for different items we couldn’t leave behind. We enjoyed going into the different gift shops to see the different offerings. Many of the shops are owned by the native locals and offer native Tlingit art from wooden bowls carved, shined and polished to a beautiful gloss out of birch wood to detailed totem poles or canoe oars.
Lunch today was at Roma’s Pizza located in the blue wooden hangar building near Marine Park. All of us had a slice of pizza with a salad and iced tea. It was delicious margarita style pizza with a nice sauce and lots of cheese. Our salads all had vinaigrette dressing.
Once we went back to the hotel to freshen up and grab our cameras we were off on our helicopter dog-sledding adventure with Coastal Helicopters. The van came and picked us up from the lobby of the Goldbelt Hotel. We were driven out to the heliport which is near the Juneau airport. We were all given special glacier boots to put on over our shoes and given our safety talk and then walked out to the helicopter. There were six of us on this trip – Mark & Debbie, me and Jim and another couple of Australia. Mark and Debbie were seated in the small front bench seat of the helicopter and the other four of us were in the small back bench seat squished in between the two helicopter doors.
As we lifted off the ground from the heliport, it seemed very calm, almost as if we were floating in a balloon above the ground. We never felt any turbulence. We gained altitude and flew over the southern part of Mendenhall Glacier over to Herbert Glacier which is to the northwest and adjacent to Mendenhall Valley. The weather in downtown Juneau was a bit cloudy, but once we rose above the clouds, the sun was shining and it was an absolutely glorious day. The suns’ rays shined down onto the glaciers below and they glistened brightly.
We flew further back into the river of ice that the Herbert Glacier has formed until we reached a large open area where we eventually saw the dogs and the mushers’ camp. The helicopter gently landed and the door was opened by Jake Berkowitz, our musher. Jake has red hair and freckles and has competed in the Iditarod four times. He has seventy dogs altogether, but only forty were with him on the glacier today. The dogs are transported to the glacier on the same helicopters that we were flying in except they remove the seats and put the dog kennels in their places.
Jake took us up to introduce us to the dogs. We slid and sloshed through the mushy, glistening snow. Even though we had on our glacier boots, it was still very slippery. There were two sleds hooked up to our team of 14 sled dogs. Mark and Debbie rode in the first sled with Jake as their driver standing behind them. A rope tied our two sleds together; and I sat down on our sled with Jim standing behind me as our driver.
And off we went! The initial start is a jolt for those sitting because the dogs suddenly begin running; and I found myself holding on for dear life. Once we were underway, we glided over the snow. It was not a smooth ride as there are many different bumps and areas thicker than others with the glacial snow that caused ruts. There were times when we were gliding along where we would pass thick clear frozen ponds that were a deep blue or deep turquoise color and absolutely gorgeous.
To our surprise, our ride was extended by Jake; and we continued on our venture for 5 or 6 miles instead of the 1 or 2 that we had anticipated. We traveled in a circle 8 configuration and kept traveling closer and closer to the face of Herbert Glacier. After our ride was over, we were taken to meet the dogs and to visit with some of the dogs in their kennels. We saw the cooking tent where things were set up for cooking for the two mushers. They said they ate a lot of chicken. There were some very large shallow holes dug into the ice where they said they would gather the dog hair after brushing them and then scoop them all up and fly it down back to Juneau for waste.
Our helicopter ride back to Juneau took us back up over Herbert Glacier and then across the face of Mendenhall Glacier and through the valley back to the heliport. It was a calm flight and as we always say, over too soon.
JUNEAU AND OUR PHOTO SAFARI BY LAND AND SEA
I think what we all want most is for our vacation experiences to live up to our expectations. Our Photo Safari by Land and Sea that was offered through Gastineau Guiding did not disappoint us in any way and gave us memories we shall cherish forever.
Our afternoon began around 2:00 p.m. when our group gathered and we met our guide, Adriane. We were taken by a shuttle bus out to the Mendenhall valley. On our way there, Adriane asked about our photo experience and explained that we would be hiking for about a mile up the back side of one of the mountains to where we would have beautiful views of Mendenhall Glacier. After our hike, we would then be taken down to Auke Bay where we would board a whale watching boat and head out to find some marine wildlife.
Before you reach the entrance to Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center, there are several hiking paths leading from Mendenhall Valley Road. We gathered on a bridge that crossed a small river full of spawning salmon. The salmon were turning bright shades of red and were very easily seen through the clear, shallow water of the river. Everyone once in awhile, one of the salmon would jump and splash in the water creating a lot of commotion. This was seeing the “circle of life” come full circle as these salmon were swimming back to where they were born to lay their eggs and be fertilized before they quickly died.
As we walked up the trail, Adriane would point out different interesting aspects of the forest from trees that had fallen because beavers had gnawed on the trunks, several varieties of forest mushrooms, different berries that were ripe for the picking of the 17 black bear that live in the area to the beautiful mosses, ferns and wild-flowers that blanketed the forest floor. The mushrooms were all different with some being in clusters and some standing alone. Adriane also offered suggestions on settings for our cameras to take certain pictures and was helpful to several of us who did not have as much experience as some of the others in the group.
There were ponds of water still and clear as a mirror with dozens of mosquitoes flying above. As we climbed higher, we crossed several streams that were gently flowing down the mountain. You could hear the babbling of the water as it flowed softly over the rocks. The forest floor was thick with moss and ferns and lichen gently falling from some of the tree limbs indicating that the air at that point in the forest was the purest air there is, thus allowing the lichen to grow. We all stood on the trail and took in deep breaths. Most noticeable to me was the pine scent from the trees surrounding us. There were several rock markers along the trail that indicated the ice from Mendenhall Glacier had been there at one time in the past.
As we crested the trail and started down, Mendenhall Glacier appeared in the distance. The views of the glacier were spectacular. The sun was shining which added a deeper hue of blue to the cracks and crevices of the glacial mass. We hiked on down to ground level, where we went out to the edge of Mendenhall Lake and were able to see icebergs floating in the frigid waters within a few feet from us. Icebergs are also known as “bergie bits”. There was one bit floating near the shore that was completely transparent. You could see the ice crystals in it. Others were much larger and were beautiful shades of turquoise or deep blue – and yet others were still white on top from just breaking off the face of the glacier.
After we left Mendenhall Glacier, we headed to Auke Bay which is north of Juneau about 15 miles and the harbor where most of the fishing boats call home. Adriane introduced us to our boat captain; and after our safety talk, we were off and gliding across the calm waters of Auke Bay into the Lynn Canal in search of marine wildlife – hopefully – whales!
We traveled up along the coast for about half an hour or so along Shelter Island and Lincoln Island with Herbert Glacier off in the distance to the east. As we reached the northern tip of the island to our west, we came upon a pod of humpbacks who were feeding in the plentiful waters of the small ocean inlet. We have never been so close to whales before. Our captain turned off the engine which allowed us to just ¬float quietly amongst these gracious mammals and watch as they would crest the water then dramatically hump their backs and dive down for their feast. As they would dive down, their tails would glide out of the water so majestically. They were within about 50 feet of the boat, and everyone was clicking pictures as fast as they could to be able to get the succession of pictures from each whale as they began feeding below. There must have been about half a dozen humpbacks around us. It was an incredible experience; and when the captain told us he was going to leave, we all moaned and groaned – until he told us he got word there was a pod of orcas about half a mile ahead of us. We all quickly went to our seats and off we went!
The sight we came upon was nothing short of spectacular! There were about four other whale watching boats already in the area when we arrived. Each of the boats had their engines turned off as we did once we came within 100 yards of the whales. There was a group of about five or six orcas who were diving up and down in quick succession and all staying very close to each other.
After we had been there for several minutes, it appeared that the whales became curious about the boats and they began swimming to each boat as if to say hello. The passengers in each of the boats were screaming with such excitement as the orcas would get closer and closer to them. When the orcas came over to our boat, they began diving right under us! One spouted close to us and some of us got wet from the spray. Other than seeing Shamu at Sea World, I’ve never been so close to an orca before! It was thrilling and incredible and absolutely the experience of a lifetime for me. I couldn’t take pictures fast enough.
These majestic black and white mammals swam around and graced us with their presence for several minutes. They seemed very gentle and playful; and I never felt in danger of them being so close. When they swam away from our boat and swam on to the next, we were all so disappointed. Though they were only a few hundred yards away, it seemed like miles compared to having them diving right next to us a few moments before. We stayed in the area for quite awhile watching this spectacular show, but then had to leave to head back into Auke Bay as our tour time was ending.
The waters in Auke Bay were calm and serene and like a mirror when we entered the harbor. The sun was just beginning to settle in the west and a light pink hue was on the clouds. There were a few sea lions on one of the buoys as we entered, and as we passed one of them barked like he was saying hello. We pulled into the dock and saw several fishing boats that had fishermen proudly showing off their catch from the day. The salmon derby was being held in Juneau the weekend we were there – so all of the fishermen were hoping to catch “the big one” and win the trophy.
