One If By Land, Two If By Sea

A vacation of this kind is only for the strong of heart. I've spent almost every waking moment of the past 2 and 1/2 weeks with various members of my family. We've been in cars, trailers, boats and buses together. I've learned more about them than I ever thought I would learn - or would need to learn. We've all been a party to each others quirks and quips - many of which have become inside jokes. One would think that a vacation of this magnitude could only end in bloodshed. However, the only blood shed was when Mom got a bloody nose due to a change in altitude.

Alas, our time together finally came to an end in Juneau. My parents got fed up by my late-night drinking escapades and my sarcastic wit. They ditched me to take their own tour - a float trip down the Mendenhall River. But more on their time later for I must have my say first.

So they threw me out early to go on my own tour - another hike. This one also included Mendenhall as we hiked to a point overlooking the Mendenhall Glacier. I awoke at 7 am when room service knocked on our door. I looked outside to see that it was....raining! Hooray! Hiking in the rain. That's the only way I'd do it anyways.

Met the tour group by 750 a.m. and boarded another bus that took us to the trail head. On the way, we got a short history of Juneau and here are some points of interest.

Quick Facts:
- Juneau is the only U.S. capital that cannot be accessed by car. You must come in on either a boat or plane. Spread that trivia around.
- Juneau has two McDonalds. When the first one arrived 20 years ago, there was a line that surrounded the building twice. People bought 20 burgers a piece - for everyone they knew. Also a plane came in and took over 200 burgers to another town nearby that has no McDonalds. It was a huge moment.
- Juneau just recently got a second high school. Find another U.S. capital that only has one high school. Crazy. Those who play high school sports in Juneau must either fly or take a ferry to play other schools. Lots of fundraising.
- There is one major road - called The Road. It is 39 miles long. At both ends there are signs that say "The End." Both have bullet holes in them.
- Juneau has more trails than roads.
- Also, Juneau has about 250 days of rain and 270 days that are overcast. Not much sunlight to be had in Juneau.

My hike commenced at 830. We climbed high into the Tongass National Forest. There was a 600 ft. elevation change - not too bad - and the hike was about 3 miles round trip. One of the worst parts of the hike was the rain but that is to be expected in Juneau. Another bad part was the 200 stairs. Right before the scenic overlook, you had to walk up 200 steps. It was like a slap in the face after spending most of the first part of the hike going uphill. We all made it to the top and then took a short path to the scenic overlook. Got some beautiful views of the Mendenhall Glacier that can only be seen by those who hike there.



Then we began our descent - all downhill...of course. Stopped for some more shots of the glacier and some pretty waterfalls.





Despite hiking in the rain, the tour was awesome and I was able to truly experience Juneau for what it is. And despite the weather, I think I could live in Juneau.
We got back to downtown Juneau by 1230 and I met up with my parents. We did some shopping and then boarded the ship to get lunch and relax for the rest of the day.

Now, since you are all sick of reading my writing, here is a recap of my parents trip - written by my mother.

Juneau - A Family Divided!
(written by Betsy, with permission by Kate)

We finally were able to ditch Kate (or maybe she ditched us??) and Ed and I headed off on a tour of the Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenhall River Float Trip. Unfortunately we have caught up with the true Alaskan weather and today it was raining and quite cool, with patches of fog - a little difficult to even see the glacier. However, as always, our tour guides make it fun as they handed out colorful bib overalls for us to put on, along with rubber boots, rain slicker and life jacket - think of Charlie Brown getting dressed to go out and play in the snow - you can hardly move once outfitted. Ed's favorite part was when I was issued ORANGE bib overalls - yes, ORANGE - that favorite color of Ed's that we give him so much grief about - well this time I had to wear them and he was quick to snap a picture of me.


Attractive? You bet.


My favorite picture of the cruise.

Sidenote: Did we tell you that Ed actually lost his orange overalls and rain slicker in Nilnichik? Now I know you are probably thinking that Kate or Tim or Jackie or I had something to do with them disappearing and it would have been a pretty neat trick on our part but honest, we have no idea where they went. Ed put them in the back of the pick up truck and next thing we know they are gone. Could there be someone else out there who likes to wear that color besides Mr. Ed?