We’ve had a busy couple of days playing “tourists”. Yesterday we took an adventure tour by boat over to Juneau. The only way to get to Juneau is by air or water so we booked a day on the Fjord Express. We left the dock in Skagway at 8am and didn’t get home until 8:30pm. It was a long and exciting day!
Soon after we took off in a 65 foot catamaran, we were stopping by waterfalls and spotting bald eagles. There were lots of things to see on both sides of the boat as we headed north out of the inlet. Everyone on board had an excellent seat and our captain was constantly on the lookout for any type of living creature he could find.
Within 30 minutes we arrived at a dock in Haines, a small fishing village, and picked up a few more passengers. We saw lots of fishing boats in the marina and small houses along the shoreline. Fort Seward, visible from the dock, was built in 1903 and is now privately owned and contains some businesses and a bed and breakfast.
We continued north and stopped to view a couple of humpback whales circling and feeding. They were very hard to capture in a photo. Their tails were not out of the water very high because they were not diving down deep. They stayed at the surface with a fin sticking up and going in circles, often cornering fish up against the deep rocky shoreline.
The captain then drove us up the fjord to see a colony of Stellar Sea Lions. The males were huge and there were quite a few babies. They growled/grunted very loud as we trolled along the rock formation that they use for sun bathing. This colony has been in the same place for many years because it is very protected from predators.
We sped up to reach Juneau before 3 cruise ships pulled into the port and we saw at least 12 more bald eagles. They looked so majestic as they sat perched at the very top of the tall trees and looked down at the water to score their next salmon meal. We wanted to get ahead of the cruise ships so we could eat near the water pretty quickly and spend the rest of our time walking around downtown. We ate at the Hanger restaurant that overlooks the sea planes as they take off and land.
We took a state capital photo and bought some souvenirs at a couple shops, but the laughing really started at the Red Dog Saloon. I was totally drawn to it because of the Scottie dog out front and had to buy some of their stuff in memory of my sweet Harley. My dad had already planned to stop in for a beer and that’s what we did until the bus came to take us to our next tourist attraction. The piano man was super fun and it was like a dialing piano bar, with sawdust on the floor and lots to look at on the walls. I highly recommend stopping in if you are ever in Juneau!
From downtown, a bus drove us to the Mendenhall Glacier. It is the most visited glacier in all of Alaska and I can see why. Buses upon buses are lined up to drop people off and it is crowded! This was my least favorite hour of the trip. I was hoping to get a little closer, but the glacier has retreated so much that you can only get near it by kayak. We saw the kayaks out paddling around, but I am a bit afraid to go for fear of falling into the frigid cold water. We are definitely planning to see other glaciers as we visit other cities. Especially ones that we can get up close to or hike upon.
We were taken by bus to the boat dock and started our journey back to Haines and Skagway. We spotted more whales, eagles, dolphin, and sea lions. I took so many pictures, but I’ll add a few of my favorites.
Toward the end of the day, we also got to see a lighthouse and a double rainbow. The day started with clouds, a little rain, some sunshine, clouds again and a little rain. Juneau is the rainiest city in the state with 230 days of measurable precipitation. All in all I think we were pretty lucky. We got to do everything on the tour and didn’t get soaked. It warmed up quite a bit when the sun came out.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you about the yacht we saw. It rents for $800,000 a week and it was parked in Juneau. I looked for a movie star but didn’t see anyone as we left the marina. Maybe we’ll see it at another harbor during our travels. Can I be a stow away please?
