0012 16th May - Juneau Day 2

Once again a fairly late start – We must try to get moving earlier !!  But we both seem to sleep well in the van, and it is always harder to get up when it is cold outside your sleeping bag !!

First of all we had to run around some more to find wifi to finalise hotels and ferries, and then we decided to go into Juneau to see what it was like with 3 cruise ships in town.  The ships dock right beside the road in Juneau, and it is quite imposing to drive down the little streets and have the ships towering over you.  I can only imagine what it must be like with 6 or 7 of them docked all at once.  And all the places we had had to ourselves yesterday were now swarming with tourists – I won’t say any more but suffice it to say we didn’t even stop the car !  Just took a few photos from Douglas Island and drove back out of town.

 

We went back to Mendenhall Glacier again, to do the full walk up to the glacier this time, and also the Nugget Falls, a spectacular waterfall right beside the glacier.  The Mendenhall Lake is also fascinating as it is full of ice floes from the glacier – Yet is a lake ! Unfortunately the cruise ship crowd was there this time, but, as a local said to us later “At least there were only 3 cruise ships in town, and not 6 or 7 like they usually have in summer” !!  I can only imagine what it must be like with everyone being herded around !

The temperature quickly drops as you approach the glacier, and a cold wind blows as well, even though on the other side of the lake the air is still and the temperature is quite warm – The glacier creates its own local weather.    A pleasant walk with the hoards – One lady even had her “carry on” suitcase with her – Pulling it along through the sand !!!  You cannot actually walk to the glacier – So you stand at the foot of the waterfall and look across to it – And see all the many ice floes that have broken off and set off across the lake.  Fascinating.

Then we went off to the camp site just round the corner and picked our spot – The first we chose was right by the lake looking across to the glacier, but the wind was bitter and incessant so we decided to move a bit further around, to where it was quite still.  We walked around the lakes for an hour or so which was beautiful – All the sphagnum (sp ?) moss everywhere, and the ponds with beaver lodges – So picturesque.   After that we lit a fire, and once it was going well we wrapped our chops in tin foil and put them on the coals while we boiled some veggies.  The chops came out absolutely perfect – Hard to get right when you can’t see the meat, but we nailed this one, so will have to try it again sometime.

We had an early (5 am) start to catch our ferry to Sitka tomorrow morning at 7 am, so we decided not to put up our rear tent, and turned in.  How much better can a campsite be ?  Perfect setting the a forest, looking across a lake to a glacier, and a clear blue sky  – Pretty special.

 

Pics here :  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0012Juneau2?authkey=Gv1sRgCO_e57SNo9zTeg#