Juneau!

"John Muir, the famous naturalist, wrote in his journal that you should never go to Alaska as a young man because you'll never be satisfied with any other place as long as you live. And there's a lot of truth to that." ~ Tom Bodett

September 29, 2021

This morning the Encore shimmied into her berth at Juneau. It's Alaska's capital, but not its largest city. It's not even the second largest. Anchorage leads the pack, followed by Fairbanks. Actually the fact that Juneau has a population of over 30,000 is surprising given the fact that you can't get there by car. Juneau is only accessible by plane or boat. 

In years past, our ships docked close enough for us to walk off and into the heart of town, but today we were far enough from town that we had to take a shuttle in. Probably due to the fact that the Encore is a mega-ship and can't park just anywhere. 

Everyone headed for different places. The DH and I joined #2 Daughter and Nephew on a ship arranged tour of the Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens. 

The Gardens have a very wild feel to them. The exception is the odd introduction of upside down trees that are used as bases for perennial plantings. The story behind them is that Steve Bowhay, the owner and founder, originally bought the property after a massive landslide and rented a big backhoe to try to bring some stability to the mostly vertical land. However he couldn't afford to pay for insurance on the equipment. After working 30 days without incident, on the last day of his rental contract, he was trying to pull up a dead tree, but it shifted and landed on the engine compartment of the backhoe. In frustration, he transplanted it in the dirt upside down, roots snaking upward and sideways. 

It was a eureka moment. He'd discovered something that would set his garden apart from all others. Because we were there so late in the season, most of the colorful plants had already been removed from the tops of the many upside down platforms that dotted the road leading to a spectacular view of the glacial valley that leads back to Juneau. 

On either side of the path, we saw little rivulets finding its way down to the valley floor, but Steve had dug out several little holding pools that kept it from cascading down, taking the precious topsoil with it. 

From the Gardens, we traveled the short distance to the Mendenhall Glacier. Nephew and the DH made the hike to Nugget Falls while #2 Daughter and I explored the visitors' center. It is an achingly beautiful area. 

While we were off on this explore, #1 Daughter & D-I-L took my parents up the Juneau Tram. It's a steep funicular ride through a dense forest of hemlock and Sitka spruce. In 2017 when we got to the top, we were treated to a presentation by the local Tlingit tribe and a musical concert by the Alaska String Band. Sadly, there was nothing like that going on today. 

That's the thing about revisiting the same places. They are never the same, sometimes better, sometimes less so, but never the same.

But as they say in small town papers everywhere, "a good time was had by all!" And we all made it back to the ship for our rather early 4:00 sail away.