THE ALASKAN ADVENTURE Day 70 July 24, 2009 Juneau, AK Mendenhall Glacier

We awoke Friday morning to what sounded like someone firing a gun very close to us. Upon further study we realized it was the ice moving and cracking on the glacier which is only 4 miles down the road from where we are staying. It is unbelievable how loud it is.

We decided to quickly pack up and head up the glacier to see not only the glacier but the black bears that inhabit the area. They are hanging around Steep Creek as the salmon have started the run and there are spawning pools right near the glacier.

The only problem with early in the morning is the tour bus brigade and there were only two ships in town. We watched for bears for awhile and Kathy actually got a picture of one.

In talking with a couple of tour guides who were up there on their day off ( go figure ) they told us to come back later in the day and the crowds would have thinned considerably. Upon hearing that we decided to go for breakfast and tour the downtown area.

We had a nice breakfast at Donna’s ( where the locals eat ) and headed downtown but didn’t stop. We kept going until we came to the end of the road which is about 10 miles south of town. It was a nice drive and we stopped at the Sheep Creek Hatchery and watched the salmon coming in. There were thousands of them fighting to get up one stream. We were surprised that there were no bears as it would be easy pickings.

We came back into town and did a little shopping and had a look at Juneau but didn’t do much else. We looked into taking the tram that goes up Mt. Roberts but it was so overcast you couldn’t see anywhere close to the top. It might be nicer tomorrow and if so we will head back here.

It was while we were trying to leave downtown that we finally found a bear that Kathy could outrun.

After losing the bear we headed back up to Mendenhall Glacier but not before stopping at Starbuck’s. Kathy is becoming addicted. Oh,all right, so am I. Upon arriving we sat and watched the glacier for awhile hoping to see it calf. No luck, but we did get a bunch of pictures. When we had enough pictures we headed inside the information centre to have a look around. There was a short film on the glacier so we sat and watched it before we left.

By now the crowds had thinned quite a bit so we headed back over to the walking area to see if the bears were around and if we could close enough to take a few pictures. A mother bear and her two cubs were in the area sleeping. The cubs had been sent up a tree and the mother was sleeping on the ground. Shortly after we arrived they awoke and went back to feeding. We watched for quite awhile and took a lot of pictures.

After while the bears moved on and so did we. We headed back to the camper for an early supper of BBQ’d Salmon. It was pretty good, even if I say so myself. As we were eating supper the glacier starting shaking and baking again and we could here it quite clearly. It seems to be the most active very early in the morning and early evening. We talked about and decided to make a late evening trip before we leave Juneau.

It was a good day.