Back to Juneau (July 10th - 12th)

Boys at the Beach - Gustavus

Wednesday 7/10  With our 3:30p departure from Gustavus, we arrived back at Juneau via the ferry around 8p and immediately caught the shuttle back to the Driftwood Hotel. I was impressed the owner of the Driftwood, a guy by the name of Chuck, was there at the ferry terminal greeting guests and managing the onslaught of passengers looking for shuttle service. Our ship was a little early, and another arriving about the same time, was a little late, so there were a lot of people looking for transportation into town.

About the hotel shuttles, here in Juneau, all of our lodging choices offered free shuttle service to/from the airport and the ferry terminal.  It was very convenient and quite reliable. I  was surprised at the number of people who apparently hadn't done their homework and took taxi's to their hotels.  All of these logistics were part of my front-end research and the reason why I didn't mind paying a slightly higher price for rooms.  You could pay $150+ and use taxis . . . or pay $150-$200 and have the free shuttle service.  It seemed like an easy decision for us, especially when the Alaska TourSaver Coupon booklet provided 2:1 lodging at both the Frontier Suites and Driftwood Hotel.

I will post separate blogs on both Hoonah (Thursday 7/11) and our whale watching tour (Friday 7/12).

Juneau this time around, for these couple of days, was really more of a landing spot for us to coordinate travel to Hoonah and reposition to head on to Skagway by the ferry on Saturday 7/13.  Most of the rest of our time in Juneau these couple of days was down time, catching up on some rest and some DVRed television shows we had with us.  It was good to not always be GO GO GOING, especially given how long some of our days were with being up early and back late.  Our day in Hoonah was like that . . . up by 4a and not back until close to 10p; with an early morning whale tour pick-up at 7:15a the next day.

Gustavus, Glacier National Park and the Tlingit People (July 8th - 10th)

Monday 7/8 we were on the 7a ferry up to Gustavus. The shuttle service by the Driftwood Hotel was very appreciated, even if we did have to leave at 5a! It was a relatively short ride, and with great weather. (Juneau and the surrounding areas, as well as much of Alaska, was experiencing unseasonably warm weather.) Once at Gustavus, the Glacier Bay Lodge had transportation via an old school bus (think "Denali Shuttles") for the 8 or 10 of us arriving by ferry. We were lucky to be able to check in a little early (2p) so we could take a short nap. Both David & I were pretty tired after the very early morning on the ferry. Dinner at the lodge was nice, but pretty expensive. We were prepared for it, however, having check out their menu on their website. The atmosphere was wonderful. No TV or internet in the lodge rooms . . . but you could get a WiFi signal in the main lobby of the lodge.

Tuesday 7/9 we had booked the day boat trip up to view the glaciers and hopefully some wildlife along the way. It was roughly an 8 hour day, which included a clam chowder snack mid morning and a deli type sandwich lunch, along with free soft drinks and beer (for purchase). We didn't see a lot of wildlife . . . some mountain goats on an island, a few eagles and humpbacks, plus one brown bear way off the shoreline, and only for a brief moment. The time at the Margerie Glacier's face was nice; only disappointment was we didn't see calving. Lots of ice in the water around us though. If you take this trip, be prepared to spend around 45-60 minutes of the trip on taking and picking up backcountry campers & kayakers. I get why they do this service, but I just didn't expect to have around an hour of our tour spent being a water taxi. Back at the lodge, we enjoyed the evening's scheduled video at the NPS Visitor Center upstairs above the main lobby before dinner.

 

Wednesday 7/10 we had the day (until mid afternoon) to see more of what was around the lodge. There was a noontime video scheduled, after which, we walked down to the Huna Tlingit Clan House. It was a beautiful experience, including the ranger's presentation. Ranger Sonya is Tlingit and provided information and stories about her ancestors at this special place. The Clan House was only recently (2016) completed and opened to the public. Hand carved and built, this is a very special place. We arrived by ferry back to Juneau that evening, with the Driftwood Hotel's shuttle ready to greet us right on schedule (8p).

Ferry Return Petersburg to Juneau (July 6th & 7th)

We returned to Juneau from Petersburg after another overnight voyage aboard the MV Malaspina.  It was a nice trip, during which we also saw a pod of humpback whales off in the distance . . . the way distance.  Our arrival was late enough in the afternoon Sunday, that we were ready for supper.  For this part of our trip, we were staying at the Driftwood Hotel near downtown, but not really walking distance for me and my gimpy knees to the "touristy" area.  Fortunately there was a nice Chinese restaurant adjacent to our hotel, so we enjoyed a nice meal there before setting in for the night.

Getting a good night's sleep was important, as we had a 7a ferry up to Gustavus and Glacier Bay Lodge scheduled the next morning, which would require us to be up and out by 5a on the hotel shuttle.

We picked the Driftwood for this night, as well as the three nights when we return back to Juneau from Gustavus because we could leave the bulk of our luggage behind in storage at the hotel.  This proved to be very convenient given the amount of stuff we packed for both cool rainy weather and the heat wave happening throughout all of Alaska in the forecast for our time there.

Sunrise on the ferry Sunday morning

On to Petersburg (July 3rd - 6th)

We departed Juneau at O-DARK-THIRTY (roughly 2am) on Wednesday night/Thursday morning on the AK Marine Ferry aboard the MV Malaspina.  She was a gorgeous ship shimming as she was docked at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal.

We arrived at the required two hours prior to sailing, so it was needless to say, a long night.  But once aboard, we were able to get to our berth and settle in for a good night's sleep.   But more about our ferry accommodations later in the blog.

We arrived in Petersburg as scheduled, mid-afternoon on 4th of July.  Most of the village celebrations, including fireworks, were the night before.  There were some festival type events happening around town including cookouts and music, but we opted to get to our hotel, and figure out something for dinner since most places in town were closed.  Turns out, pizza delivery was our best option, which was pretty darn good!

For Friday 7/5 we had a car reserved for the day to provide us with an opportunity to cruise around the island, and up into the rain forest.  Tongass National Forest is stretched throughout SE Alaska, and our time here provided an adventure to hopefully see some of the "real Alaska" away from tourists and the trappings that come with the cruise industry in this region of Alaska.  Petersburg was the perfect first stop given very few ships come here, and those that do, are smaller boutique style adventures.

As we headed up out of town, we didn't have to get very far to be into the forest and to see some of the beautiful "Sitka Deer" that are found throughout these islands.  She was initially hidden in the brush on a hill along the road.  She looked up at us, and posed as if to say "You can't see me!" so I snapped her photo and moved on.

We eventually left the paved road and headed up into the USDA National Forest land, on well maintained gravel roads.  We had a map to help us navigate, but at times it wasn't much help because it was difficult to know which "roads" were for cars and which ones were more for ATV/4-wheelers.  But we managed alright, avoiding any catastrophes along the way!

Once up in the mountains, the scenery was beautiful.  The forest was lush and thick as you would expect it to be given the amount of rain and daylight, especially during the summer.  Weather for our trip was particularly warm, which we believe affected the activities of wildlife (especially bears).  This island is known to have both black and brown bears, although we only saw a single black sow with a first year cub during our morning drive in the forest.

I'm pretty sure the animals up here are very skiddish to any human activity or noise, so our car driving up on a gravel road would have them scampering off.  That was the case with the black bears we saw, as they were a mere flash along the treeline.  I was fortunate to get this shot before *poof* and they were gone!  As you look at the photo, you can barely see her along the edge of the forest.

We also saw one of the more illusive mammals from the Alaskan forest . . . a wolverine!  It was more than a couple hundred yards away, crossing the road on the hill across from where we were.  By the time we got to a stop so I could take a photo, it was gone.  Just like that . . . another *poof* and gone!  Once we had ventured as far into the forest as we felt it safe to go, we turned around and headed back towards town.

Before getting into Petersburg, we stopped at the Blind Slough Picnic Area, which was also near their fish hatchery.  There, we enjoyed watching the kids playing in the water, jumping off the bridge into what they said was around 10 feet of water.  When asked about touching bottom, one girl said "Oh it's way deep, I've only touched the bottom once ever!"  Given the air temps were close to 80f, these Alaskans were cooling off in any way they could.  (I should note . . . not a single hotel we stayed in over our three weeks had air conditioning!)

As we cruised through the "downtown" area of Petersburg, we noted places we would want to visit on Saturday when we have the day to walk around and visit the museums, shops, etc.  On the other side of town was another park area at Sandy Beach.  There we saw a local family along with some kids from a nearby campground paddleboarding in the bay.  Swimming with them was a small otter who was as curious about them as they were about it.  Unfortunately, we couldn't really get a decent photo of the animal.  It was fun to see these folks enjoying the water, without a care in the world.
 
We had the rental car available to us until 10a on Saturday, but I opted to sleep in rather than venture out to try to find bears at daybreak.  The fact was, the area was too remote, and without cell service, for me to be out and about by myself.  If the car were to breakdown or I would get a flat tire, I'd be stranded for who knows how long. It just wasn't a safe thing to do, and I knew David didn't want to get up at 6a if he didn't have to.

We checked out of our hotel as scheduled, leaving our bags with them until we needed to be taken down to the ferry later in the day for our return ferry trip to Juneau.  We walked around town, visiting the Clausen Memorial Museum, the Petersburg Visitor Center and the shops along Main Street.  At Coastal Cold Storage, I was interested in seeing the inside because they had been recommended as "the best place to eat seafood" but it really looked more like a retail fish market.

They had a full refrigerated case area with lots of local fish just caught and prepared that morning or the afternoon before.  They did offer some prepared food items inside as well, including a chowder that one lady told me was outstanding.   Having already had a rather large breakfast before leaving our hotel, we weren't really very hungry so we passed on lunch here.

Outside, I talked with a fisherman who was rummaging through a large tote of ice.  He pulled up the large scrap piece of a recently filleted halibut.  He told me he uses the scraps for his crab pots, which he would be setting out shortly.  Truly in the Alaskan culture, nothing goes to waste. I like that!

All in all, we both enjoyed Petersburg.  Located on the Mitkoff Island originally inhabited by the Tlingit Tribe, people indigenous to this region of Alaska for centuries.  Explorers from Norway discovered and settled here in the 19th century to establish a flourishing fishing community.  I liked this is still just a small fishing village, with the livelihood of the locals dependent on the waters around them.  The large canneries are feeding their people (through jobs) and others around the world perhaps, with delicious salmon and other fish.  Check out the trash cans seen around town, depicting the various canned fish processed here in Petersburg.

We were told that these island villages are often very moderate in temperature with little snowfall in the winter; and without the high summer heat, although the recent week or two, was an exception. If only it wasn't so remote . . . or maybe because it is so remote?  I would love to live here!

A House On the Water

Sons of Norway Hall - Bingo on Friday Nights!

Von at the Clausen Memorial Museum

The Adventure Begins in Juneau

Well July 1st finally arrived!  A trip that was nearly five years in the making was finally going to happen.  It was a very early morning out of Casa Bennett, for our flight out of O'Hare.  Christopher was kind enough to get us to the intermodal station in downtown Milwaukee in time for our 6:40a shuttle bus service to Chicago.

The flights were comfy, as we flew first class using American Airline miles . . . O'Hare to Seattle to Juneau via Ketchikan on Alaska Air.  We finally arrived in Juneau right as scheduled at 9:50pm.  It was a total travel day of 19 hours, but we made it.

On Tuesday morning we took it easy for most of the day.  Having rented a car for these two days in Juneau, it allowed us some flexibility to see stuff at our own pace, and outside of the downtown area.  (Our hotel was out by the airport, so having a car was very convenient.)

We found a nice boat launch area across the water on Douglas Island.  It was nice to just sit out on the bench and enjoy the views.  A group of cruise guests were getting ready to head out on their kayak excursion.  They seemed excited to be heading out to the water with their guide.

It was nice to visit the Mendenhall Glacier area late in the afternoon, when most of the (five) cruise ship passengers were heading "home" for the night.  We enjoyed the short movie in the visitor center, plus the photo ops around the upper walking paths.  We didn't venture out towards the glacier or the adjacent waterfalls due to my physical limitations.

We enjoyed just driving around "sightseeing" and looking for wildlife.  Other than the many eagles seen all around Juneau, there wasn't much to write home about.  Wednesday would make up for that!

I woke up earlier than David the next morning, so I slipped out around 5:15am to go see what I might be able to see.  I knew he needed his sleep and he understands my need to be out early if wildlife sightings are on my agenda.  I headed back across the water to where the boat launch was.

Along that road, I saw a critter eating some of the vegetation.  I thought it was a porcupine, until it stood up to take a peek at me.  Nope, no quills and too smooth a coat.  I thought maybe it was a beaver until it took off running and I could see its long, bushy tail.  I had no idea what it was until I got back to the hotel and David & I researched it on Google.  (Boy do I love the internet!)

MUSKRAT!  I had seen an Alaskan muskrat.  I was told afterwards they are quite illusive and rarely seen.  I felt so lucky, even if it was "just a big rodent."

Later in the day, David & I went back over to the Mendenhall Glacier area as it is a well know area for bear viewing.  Admittedly, we didn't really get out the day prior with the intent of finding bears.

As dumb luck would have it (and knowing what tourists look like when THEY have found something cool to photograph), we stumbled upon a large black bear sow with two COY (cubs of the year - born this year).  I worked to find a safe place to park the car so we could walk down to where the others were.Of course, they were WAY TOO CLOSE.  When asked, one lady told us they saw a bear cub in the forest about 10 feet from the pathway.  I commented, "If there is a cub there, you can best believe Momma ain't too far away!"  About that time, the group of eight or ten people scampered away, saying "THERE SHE IS!"

Dumb asses!!

We kept a safe distance, and found a spot to watch her and the two dinky cubs.  David got some exceptional video, while I tried to crouch down enough to get a photo or two.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a decent photo of all three together, but here's Mom!

I hope to be able to post David's video once he's able to get it off his camera and processed to a file that can be shared here.

The rest of our day (Wednesday) was spent doing other tourist type things.  We took the Mt. Roberts Tram up to the top of the city overlooking Juneau and the five cruise ships in port for the day.  We also had lunch up there, which was very good and reasonably priced considering we were in a mega tourist spot. The view was very nice, especially since we were having great, clear weather.

This is as good a time as any to mention the Alaska TourSavers coupon book.  For $99, you get some great 2:1 deals.  The Mt. Roberts Tram is normally $35pp.  I don't know that I'd be happy paying $70 for the two of us, but for $35 I was pleased.

All tolled, I expect we will save over $1,000 on lodging & tours we have planned for this trip . . . all for a $99 purchase.  And if you buy the book early (as we did preseason) you will save another 10 or 15% on the cost of the coupon book.

Just as you approach Juneau from the airport area, there is a salmon hatchery.  I spent some time early Wednesday morning out there by myself at low tide and later in the evening as David & I were killing time before our 10pm rental car return and trip out to the ferry.  There were a lot of eagles to be seen very far out on a sand bar at low tide in the morning; but not much happening with the tide up in the evening.  Sorry these photos are not very sharp, but the length I had to shoot from plus the less than optimal lighting, created challenges for my hobbyist equipment (Olympus E/520; 70-300mm; f/5.6).

Juvenile Eagle

Beautiful Adult Bald Eagle Soaring High in the Sky

Well enough of Juneau for now.  We will be back here July 10-13 with more to see & do at that time.

I hope folks enjoy the blog and look forward to the next installment soon!