Alaska Adventure – Juneau

Alaska Adventure – Juneau

Prior to arriving in Juneau, our ship went up the Endicott Arm towards the Dawes Glacier.  Endicott Arm is a 30-mile fjord that snakes through the Tracy Arm-Fords Wilderness Area. At the head is the majestic Dawes Glacier.  

Taking out ship up the fjord was not easy – although the depth along the valley walls is quite steep and thus very deep.  

It was hoped that as we got closer to the Dawes Glacier we would be able to see it – but weather conditions did not work in our favor – while we got about a mile away from the face of the glacier, it was completely hidden behind the low hanging clouds!  

There were various drifting blocks of ice along the way but nothing so big to be a concern.  So, the Captain turned the ship around and headed towards Juneau

Juneau is the capital city of the state of Alaska.  Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle.  The Greater Juneau Borough municipality is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.  Downtown Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2020 census, the City had a population of 32,255, making it the third-most populous city in Alaska after Anchorage and Fairbanks.  Juneau experiences a daily influx of roughly 6,000 people from visiting cruise ships between the months of May and September.

 
The city is named after a gold prospector from Quebec, Joe Juneau, though the place was once called Rockwelland then Harrisburg (after Juneau’s co-prospector, Richard Harris). Juneau is unique among the 49 U.S. capitals on mainland North America in that there are no roads connecting the city to the rest of the state or North America.

The absence of a road network is due to the extremely rugged terrain surrounding the city. This in turn makes Juneau a de facto island city in terms of transportation, since all goods coming in and out must go by plane or boat, in spite of the city’s location on the Alaskan mainland. Downtown Juneau sits at sea level, with tides averaging 16 feet (5 m), below steep mountains about 3,500 to 4,000 feet (1,100 to 1,200m) high. Atop these mountains is the Juneau Icefield, a large ice mass from which about 30 glaciers flow; two of these, the Mendenhall Glacier and the Lemon Creek Glacier, are visible from the local road system. The Mendenhall glacier has been gradually retreating; its front face is declining in width and height.

We had not signed on for any excursions for our port of call in Juneau – which was very disappointing as we didn’t get to the Mendenhall Glacier (so NO proof there any glaciers in Alaska as far as I’m concerned). Once we escaped the ship, we walked around the city a bit and window shopped.  There are clearly several interesting spots along the way.  Red Dog Saloon has been provided food, drink and entertainment since Juneau’s mining era and continues today serving the hungry locals and tourists. 

 Further along the road we found Tracy’s King Crab Shack serving king crab legs by the ton!  They serve four different kinds of crab – Red, King, Snow and Dungeness along with battered shrimp and a variety of sides.  

We ventured in and I order the ‘small’ order of Red King Crab while Janeen ordered the Crab Bisque.  

We looked at the possibility of taking the Mount Roberts Tram to the top of the mountain but the line seemed to be at least an hour long so we did a pass. 

 Clearly there is a lot to do in Juneau but our visit was a bit disappointing as the two major highlights – Mendenhall Glacier and the Tram up the mountain would have been enjoyable – so another visit to this place needs to be on the agenda.