Tuesday, June 9 found us coming in early once again to the amazing port of Juneau, the capital of Alaska...it's interesting that there are no roads going into or out of Juneau, so it is a de facto island, you can only get there by ship or by air...I would think it would be hard to have such limited access to your state's capital...I know Alaska tried recently to move the capital closer to Anchorage, but it failed because of lack of funds.
There is so much light out, the sun does go down, but not deep or for very long at this latitude...it sort of only gets dusky and then begins to get light out again at 2 or 3 in the morning.
So I was up around 4:30 am and walked out on deck to find an Orca whale playing of the side of the ship! We saw several sightings of predominantly Orca whales as we traveled, their distinctive blow spouts and tails coming up out of the water being their signature. I tried to get a good picture of it, but I couldn't get my camera working well or in time, so this pic is the only evidence I have for it...but they were fun to see and we gazed out over the waters often trying to get a glimpse!
As we pulled into Juneau, these are some of the sights we saw...
When we got into town, we began to explore, going to shops and local markets. It's interesting that the cruise ships often get into the towns very early, like 7 am and the shops are all open...tourism is the major industry in these towns and the shops are happy to accommodate! While we were walking through the town, we saw a bunch of ravens or crows as most people know them. There was a guy on the street (the guy closest to the pole in the pic below) calling out in "crow" for the birds to come feed and he was throwing out bread crumbs for them...these big black birds were happy to take him up on his offer...I found out that there is a rivalry in the native people's lore between bald eagles and ravens and you can see it played out in their teaching and on totem poles, which were ubiquitous in this place...
I got to go up in a sea plane, which was really a high point (no pun intended...ok, let's get serious, the pun is always intended!) for this trip! Wow, was that a great experience. I got to see 5 glaciers that I wouldn't have been able to see at all because they were remote, but close to Juneau. These glaciers are responsible for carving out these amazing fjords that we traveled through and are powerful as the progress and recede throughout the year...one thing you will notice is the deep blue ice in the middle of these glaciers. I learned that the blue ice is caused by air bubbles compressed by the weight of the glacier and the resulting ice absorbs the spectrum of light except the blue spectrum, resulting in the blue hue...I think it's really cool looking! Here are some pics from the experience...
There is so much light out, the sun does go down, but not deep or for very long at this latitude...it sort of only gets dusky and then begins to get light out again at 2 or 3 in the morning.
So I was up around 4:30 am and walked out on deck to find an Orca whale playing of the side of the ship! We saw several sightings of predominantly Orca whales as we traveled, their distinctive blow spouts and tails coming up out of the water being their signature. I tried to get a good picture of it, but I couldn't get my camera working well or in time, so this pic is the only evidence I have for it...but they were fun to see and we gazed out over the waters often trying to get a glimpse!
As we pulled into Juneau, these are some of the sights we saw...
When we got into town, we began to explore, going to shops and local markets. It's interesting that the cruise ships often get into the towns very early, like 7 am and the shops are all open...tourism is the major industry in these towns and the shops are happy to accommodate! While we were walking through the town, we saw a bunch of ravens or crows as most people know them. There was a guy on the street (the guy closest to the pole in the pic below) calling out in "crow" for the birds to come feed and he was throwing out bread crumbs for them...these big black birds were happy to take him up on his offer...I found out that there is a rivalry in the native people's lore between bald eagles and ravens and you can see it played out in their teaching and on totem poles, which were ubiquitous in this place...
I got to go up in a sea plane, which was really a high point (no pun intended...ok, let's get serious, the pun is always intended!) for this trip! Wow, was that a great experience. I got to see 5 glaciers that I wouldn't have been able to see at all because they were remote, but close to Juneau. These glaciers are responsible for carving out these amazing fjords that we traveled through and are powerful as the progress and recede throughout the year...one thing you will notice is the deep blue ice in the middle of these glaciers. I learned that the blue ice is caused by air bubbles compressed by the weight of the glacier and the resulting ice absorbs the spectrum of light except the blue spectrum, resulting in the blue hue...I think it's really cool looking! Here are some pics from the experience...
After I got off the plane, Paula and I went up the Mt. Roberts tram that rises about 1800 feet above the city for a beautiful view. There are hiking trials and tremendous surroundings. In the picture of the trees, the bowing in their trunks results from snow fall that rests heavy on them during their formative years and makes them bow, they stay that way for life...there also was a bald eagle that they rescued that had been injured by a gun shot...amazing to see these birds up close and personal!
The picture below is a couple of guys working on a new totem pole, they are carving it by hand, pretty cool...
We left Juneau about 2 pm and headed back a little ways to a place called Tracy Arm...more about that next...thanks for tuning in!
Amazing shots from the airplane. That plane looks like something Indiana Jones would fly around in. :)
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