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Juneau, Alaska 8/25/05
Juneau, AK 8/25/05
A highlight of Alaska that I was looking forward to was a break from the hot and humid, day and night, weather of South Florida. Well today I got that completely out of my system. In fact today I was down right, teeth chattering cold. No complaints though because my cold blood was to be expected. After all, I was standing on a glacier.
The Mendenhall Glacier sits, or crawls rather, just outside Juneau. It is one of the most accessible ice fields in the world which I suppose is a trade off since Juneau is one of the least accessible cities. Some fun trivia I learned is that Juneau is the only State capital that you can’t drive to. Planes or boats are the only vehicles to get you in and out and if today’s weather is reflective of an average day in Juneau, well air travel would be far from reliable.
Today is cool, grey, and a steady rain has fallen all day. It wasn’t bad when I was walking around this morning in town. I left the boat at 7:30 a.m., again walking directly past the tourist shops that were not even open yet. As I wandered around I was able to stay dry by just hitting the occasional awning. Well the rain picked up a little by the afternoon and then when you remove the buildings, climb a few hundred feet in elevation, and stand in the middle of a mile wide river of ice, well that steady rain quickly soaks you and chills you. Oh well, just part of the experience and what an experience it was! I will never forget it!
The helicopter hauled me and 7 others to the camp on the glacier; another cool helicopter ride through mountain valleys but about twice as long as the rafting trek in New Zealand, my first helicopter experience. Through a lucky break in weight distribution I was placed in the front seat, window side, which just made the flight even better.
The glacier was amazing! It was like another planet with craters
and crevasses spreading out for miles in every direction. I felt very much “out there”, to steal a feeling from Ebby "Nuke" LaLoosh. This was not a controlled environment. This was National Geographic esq. Well maybe not quite that level but it is as close as I have gotten….so far.
I took lots of pictures that I hope will do the scenery justice but I’m sure they won’t.
Also the truly great parts could not be captured by photographs. Like slamming your crampons into the ice toe first as you climb a steep wall while slamming your ax in above you, well obviously your hands are busy at that point and it’s raining so hard you don’t want to leave your camera out in the hands of a stranger that is also trying to keep warm and dry.
I also know the photos from my little digital camera won’t sum up the scenery well because I noticed just with the naked eye it’s hard to judge size or distance on the glacier. There are not many features to give you a scale or perspective. We would hike up, down, and around for an hour and then you would finally get a view of the camp and realize you still had a long way to go.
My camera is currently drying out and the battery is recharging. I’ll check the photos tomorrow. In the least they will help trigger the memories, which is really the goal of all my pictures.
After the flight back off the glacier, in the same seat I arrived in, I have a new appreciation for low visibility in regards to flying. I’ve flown in bad weather before and it has never bothered me; blind trust in the pilot to do their job I suppose. But that’s usually in a plane at 30,000 feet while I’m reading a book. In a helicopter, flying low with jagged mountains on both sides, I will admit I was a little nervous…especially since before boarding we found out that we were the last group off the glacier and they had stopped bringing groups up hours earlier because of the weather.
We were on the glacier for around 4 hours, a long time to be out in the rain on a 19 mile long chunk of ice….and worth every minute. Afterwards I went back to the boat to dry out. It was only 5:30 when I got there and we are not scheduled to leave port until 9 p.m. so back into town I marched. Did I mention it was raining?! Did I mention I don’t like to spend much time on the boat?!
Downtown Juneau is a curious mix of government offices and tourist shops; perfect for me because I could find some “local places”
easier. After hitting Silverbows Bakery for a bagel sandwich I cruised back to the Juneau Public Library, literally located between two cruise ships…and here I sit; patiently waiting for one of the “30 minute work stations” to open up for what I hope will be free internet access. I have my WPB Library card ready to go just in case but I probably won’t need it, not that I think it would actually do me any good either. Then again I met a guy from Villa Grove in a tree yesterday. Maybe a former WPB Librarian now works here!
OK, now it is time for random thoughts to finish off this entry and page (I write these entries in a paper journal):
- I might need to seek professional help to discuss my paper conservation issues. Do I seriously need to fill every space of white on the paper in order to feel like I’m not being wasteful and destroying the planet?
- What should I do in Skagway tomorrow? My climbing trip was cancelled which is probably a good thing. I think I need to pack the day pack and set out on my own instead of a cruise ship coordinated activity.
- I finished another book off of my “Pulitzer List” yesterday. I think I’ll start my next one when I get back to the ship. It’s called Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer. It seemed appropriate for the trip.
MJF
A highlight of Alaska that I was looking forward to was a break from the hot and humid, day and night, weather of South Florida. Well today I got that completely out of my system. In fact today I was down right, teeth chattering cold. No complaints though because my cold blood was to be expected. After all, I was standing on a glacier.
The Mendenhall Glacier sits, or crawls rather, just outside Juneau. It is one of the most accessible ice fields in the world which I suppose is a trade off since Juneau is one of the least accessible cities. Some fun trivia I learned is that Juneau is the only State capital that you can’t drive to. Planes or boats are the only vehicles to get you in and out and if today’s weather is reflective of an average day in Juneau, well air travel would be far from reliable.
Today is cool, grey, and a steady rain has fallen all day. It wasn’t bad when I was walking around this morning in town. I left the boat at 7:30 a.m., again walking directly past the tourist shops that were not even open yet. As I wandered around I was able to stay dry by just hitting the occasional awning. Well the rain picked up a little by the afternoon and then when you remove the buildings, climb a few hundred feet in elevation, and stand in the middle of a mile wide river of ice, well that steady rain quickly soaks you and chills you. Oh well, just part of the experience and what an experience it was! I will never forget it!
The helicopter hauled me and 7 others to the camp on the glacier; another cool helicopter ride through mountain valleys but about twice as long as the rafting trek in New Zealand, my first helicopter experience. Through a lucky break in weight distribution I was placed in the front seat, window side, which just made the flight even better.
The glacier was amazing! It was like another planet with craters
and crevasses spreading out for miles in every direction. I felt very much “out there”, to steal a feeling from Ebby "Nuke" LaLoosh. This was not a controlled environment. This was National Geographic esq. Well maybe not quite that level but it is as close as I have gotten….so far.I took lots of pictures that I hope will do the scenery justice but I’m sure they won’t.
Also the truly great parts could not be captured by photographs. Like slamming your crampons into the ice toe first as you climb a steep wall while slamming your ax in above you, well obviously your hands are busy at that point and it’s raining so hard you don’t want to leave your camera out in the hands of a stranger that is also trying to keep warm and dry.
I also know the photos from my little digital camera won’t sum up the scenery well because I noticed just with the naked eye it’s hard to judge size or distance on the glacier. There are not many features to give you a scale or perspective. We would hike up, down, and around for an hour and then you would finally get a view of the camp and realize you still had a long way to go.
My camera is currently drying out and the battery is recharging. I’ll check the photos tomorrow. In the least they will help trigger the memories, which is really the goal of all my pictures.
After the flight back off the glacier, in the same seat I arrived in, I have a new appreciation for low visibility in regards to flying. I’ve flown in bad weather before and it has never bothered me; blind trust in the pilot to do their job I suppose. But that’s usually in a plane at 30,000 feet while I’m reading a book. In a helicopter, flying low with jagged mountains on both sides, I will admit I was a little nervous…especially since before boarding we found out that we were the last group off the glacier and they had stopped bringing groups up hours earlier because of the weather.
We were on the glacier for around 4 hours, a long time to be out in the rain on a 19 mile long chunk of ice….and worth every minute. Afterwards I went back to the boat to dry out. It was only 5:30 when I got there and we are not scheduled to leave port until 9 p.m. so back into town I marched. Did I mention it was raining?! Did I mention I don’t like to spend much time on the boat?!
Downtown Juneau is a curious mix of government offices and tourist shops; perfect for me because I could find some “local places”
easier. After hitting Silverbows Bakery for a bagel sandwich I cruised back to the Juneau Public Library, literally located between two cruise ships…and here I sit; patiently waiting for one of the “30 minute work stations” to open up for what I hope will be free internet access. I have my WPB Library card ready to go just in case but I probably won’t need it, not that I think it would actually do me any good either. Then again I met a guy from Villa Grove in a tree yesterday. Maybe a former WPB Librarian now works here!OK, now it is time for random thoughts to finish off this entry and page (I write these entries in a paper journal):
- I might need to seek professional help to discuss my paper conservation issues. Do I seriously need to fill every space of white on the paper in order to feel like I’m not being wasteful and destroying the planet?
- What should I do in Skagway tomorrow? My climbing trip was cancelled which is probably a good thing. I think I need to pack the day pack and set out on my own instead of a cruise ship coordinated activity.
- I finished another book off of my “Pulitzer List” yesterday. I think I’ll start my next one when I get back to the ship. It’s called Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer. It seemed appropriate for the trip.
MJF
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