The Capitol of Alaska is Reachable Only by Boat or Plane

06-21-13

This morning we arrived in Juneau, the capitol city.  And yes, it is reachable only by boat or airplane.  And I must say float planes were flying right regularly in the skies, and the harbors were full of boat traffic.

Terry and I first went on a tour of a glacial rain forest, located in Tongass National Forest.  Our destination at the end of the walking tour was Mendenhall Glacier.  This glacier has receded 2.5 miles since 1500, with 1.75 of that since 1958.  It was also in 1958 that Mendenhall Lake was formed.

The rain forest was very pretty  There is a lot of moss throughout the floor of the forest and it expands up tree trunks and even over rocks.  It is very thick.  Many wild flowers were in bloom, including the beautiful lupine that we've been seeing for days, along with the dandelion.  There were others, but I just can't remember the names.  On the way to the glacier, we passed a kettle.  A kettle is a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers.  It was very small and surrounded by beautiful flowers.
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After seeing Mendenhall Glacier, we boarded the bus for a short ride to a harbor.  We hopped aboard a boat and went several miles out looking for whales.  Our boat driver was a cool dude.  During the summer he is in Juneau taking our tour groups to look for whales.  In the winter months he lives in Hawaii and drives a boat for a whale research team.  So, did we find whales?  You betcha!  We saw many whales and this guy was whooping along with the rest of us. And I don't think he was doing it just to get good tips.  He was really enjoying himself.  

On the way out to look for whales we passed a big hunk of rock that must have had 5 or 6 bald eagles on it.  There were both mature and immature eagles. It takes about 5 years for a bald eagle to get the white head and tail, which indicates maturity.  

We saw some whales and then we came upon a whole bunch of sea lions on rock next to the shore.  It was neat as heck to hear those guys talking to each other and fussing at us for entering their territory.  Some of them were realllllly big, too.  

Our driver told us to watch one particular area where the water was bubbling.  This indicated the whale was getting the fish to go into a ball, and then he would dive and scoop them up.  Terry knew the whale was going to breach, or jump out of the water, and he got his camera all lined up for the shot.  Just as it happened, some lady moved in front of him and he missed his shot of a lifetime.  As you'll see below, he got the end of the jump.  He was heartbroken.  Dog!

This was a fun day.

Moss grows on everything

A type of dogwood

Kettle pond

When there is rain, the raindrops form a "diamond" on the lupine

Getting a lesson on how the lupine pollinates

Mendenhall Glacier

Terry and Bon Qui Qui

Bald Eagle in the harbor

Mature and immature eagles

I never tire of seeing them fly

The bottom half of the breech

Humpback whales can be as big as a bus

That distinctive hump

Just as we were riding by, this sea lion hopped on this buoy

It's so neat to see and hear them blow

The fluke