Alaska Cruise, Part Four - Juneau

On day six we reached Juneau, the state capital.  (Edit:  click on the pictures to biggify.)

And right off I got my boat plus flying thing picture!

There were so many cruise ships in port that we couldn’t dock.  Had to anchor.  That meant tenders to shuttle passengers from the ship to the dock. 

The black arch-shape to the left in that picture is the bow of the Dutch ship I mentioned earlier.  Out at anchor is our ship.

There are many planes in Alaska because so much of the state can only be reached by air.

I did not take a little boat excursion.  This was the only port where I didn't get off the ship and get on a boat.  I went inland on a bus to Mendenhall Glacier.  In the rain.  It rained all day.

The boulder was scratched by rocks carried by the glacier as it passed.  Above it is the visitor center.  The lake is glacier melt water.  The bergy bits and the glacier itself look blue because air has been compressed out of the ice and it’s so dense it reflects blue light.  (Why blue and not some other color I don’t know.)  The next shots are from the visitor center.

Northern climes are experiencing more visible signs of climate change than areas like the midwest where I live.  In the 1990’s the glacier was retreating at an average of 30 feet per year.  In the early 2000’s that increased to about 200 feet a year.  In 2011 the glacier shrank by 540 feet.  In about 40 years it will no longer be visible from the visitor center. 

After the glacier, our tour went to the Juneau Rainforest Garden, established and maintained by two naturalists.  There was a trail through the woods with markers and explanations.  The wet climate means there are many kinds of moss.

After our walk, they gave us spice tea while they talked about the area.  The next stop was the Alaska State Museum back in town.  It’s a small museum that focuses on the people and wildlife of the state.  This is a Thunderbird painting near the entrance. 

I had originally planned to return to the glacier in the afternoon, hoping for some good pictures in the setting sun, but it was seriously raining so I wandered around town instead.  I walked through the swinging red doors of the Red Dog Saloon in search of lunch.  There were no empty tables!  And very few empty chairs.  I got dirt from the floor (the place has a dirt floor!) on my shoes, heard a little of the banter from the piano player, but didn’t get lunch or a sample of the beer.  But I’ve been IN the Red Dog Saloon!