Day 5 Juneau

Day 5        Sunday          June 24, 2001         

Juneau, Alaska  (10:00 AM – 10:00 PM)

We enjoyed incredibly good weather while in Alaska, and this day was no different.  It was sunny and warm with temperatures mid 50’s to mid 60’s.  Once again, went for an early morning jog.  I was told that I’d have a better chance of spotting whales in the channel (we were in the channel approaching Juneau), but I still did not see any whales while jogging.

The ship docked in Juneau as we were eating breakfast in the Windjammer Café.  We decided to start our time in Juneau with a walking tour of the town.  Prior to our trip, I purchased a book entitled Inside Passage Walking Tours, by Julianne Chase.  The book had walking tours for each of the ports that we would visit: Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Ketchikan.  There were 25 points of interest on our tour of Juneau.  It pointed out things such as the Red Dog Saloon (sawdust floors, swinging door, Wyatt Earp’s pistol), numerous historic buildings, St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (1894).  One of things that I liked the most about this walking tour was that it took us through neighborhoods.  We could get a better feeling for what it was like to live there.  Also, we did get see quite a few gardens of both flowers and vegetables. 

That afternoon our decision was to go up the mountain (right next to where the ship was docked).  It was about 2000 feet to the top, so we took Mt. Roberts Tramway to the top.  There was a 1.5-mile trail that had excellent views.  The trail started from the where the tram let us out.  We stopped frequently on the trail, not from exhaustion, but from exhilaration (from the views).  We saw bald eagles soaring.  I had never seen an eagle soar until that day.  It was incredible.  They appeared to soar and glide, forth and back, effortlessly.  I would guess their wingspans were 4-6 feet.  There were many of them.  At the same time, as it was such a clear day, just below the eagles soaring, numerous floatplanes were landing in Gastineau Channel.  I do not know the numbers, but there are many float planes in Alaska.  Especially in Juneau as one can only get there by either sea or air.    Juneau is the only state capital in the USA that you cannot drive to.  As we walked higher, the snow got closer.  Finally we were in the snow (June 24^th). 

Not far away on the trail, we noticed a cross in the ground.  Quite a few people were taking pictures with the cross in the background (and of course behind that were incredible views of the channel).  As we got closer, we saw a sign that said “Father Brown’s Cross”.  In subsequent investigation, I read that the cross was actually a remake of Father Brown’s original cross.  The story is that Father Brown would tie the Tlingit Indians to the cross and whip them because they would not convert to Christianity.  The story also goes on to say that a group of Tlingit Indian subdued Father Brown one day, tied him to his cross and threw him down the mountain.  Hence, the remake of Father Brown’s Cross.  As I was not there, I don’t know what really happened.  But the cross is there for some reason.

We continued around to the Alpine Loop Trail.  At every turn we were just spoiled with more great views.  As we neared the tram, we noticed two bald eagles sitting in a tree not far away.  Once again, it was another photo op. 

Instead of dinner on the ship that evening, we opted for salmon at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake.  The bus picked us up around 5:30 PM and took us over to Gold Creek.  The brochure we saw went something like:

Surrounded by great mountains. Seranaded by a nearby waterfall and folk musicians. Tempted by the smell of fresh Alaska salmon basting over an alder wood fire. The bounty of the Great Land is at your table.

The salmon was plentiful, and this was Alaskan King Salmon.  No Atlantic farm raised salmon served here!   :-)   Spoke with the guy doing the grilling.  He told us his ‘secret’ was to cover the fish in cottonseed oil before putting them on the fire.  Besides that, the only other ‘stuff’ he put on it was his special ‘sweet sauce’.  And that was only if you wanted it brushed on after he took it off the grill.  It was very good.

It was a very pleasant evening.  After dinner and marshmallows over a campfire, we walked to a nearby, old gold mine.  It was boarded up, but still intriguing.  As we made our way back to the bus, we came upon a display of pictures of days during the gold rush.  Those people had it rough.  The bus brought us back to the ship.  We did a little shopping and then back onboard the Rhapsody.  Once again, the hiking, the wilderness, the eating salmon in the woods and after all of that, you go back to a five star floating hotel.  Hey, things could be worse!

As we walked around the ship that night, we ran into Peter and Cathy.  It always felt good to see the people that just three days prior, were total strangers to us.  We headed to the Schooner Bar.  I had an Alaskan Amber Beer as they finally got the shipment in now that we were in Juneau.  Chatted a while and off to bed.

Day 6 - Skagway