Sailing to Alaska, Day 5 – Juneau
Cathy and I have been to Juneau many times, so although the “must-see”, Mendenhall Glacier, was on our itinerary, we also wanted to get to new places as well. Renting a mini-van was the only way to go to make that happen – it cost $135 total for the day, but the shuttle bus to the glacier alone would have cost us $96 so it even made financial sense.
Approaching downtown Juneau at 05:25, cloudy but without the forecast rain.
The Norwegian Jewel arriving just after we docked.
The National/Alamo car rental office was at the far end of the docks, the AJ Docks. Although they have shuttles, I chose to walk the mile – I have to wear off some of the food I’ve been consuming aboard the ship!
The first stop was Mendenhall Glacier, where we walked the new Nugget Falls Trail. There were a lot of people there – very disappointing for me, as this used to be a wonderful place to enjoy with nobody else around.
Nugget Falls is a great place for “I was there” photos.
This is why the falls are visited by so many people now – the trail is excellent.
The trail starts with this beautifully-crafted bridge that takes walkers through a little canyon that was clearly cut with a glacial runoff river that’s long gone.
Our next destination was the Shrine of St. Therese, where we were met by this lovely little lady. 🙂
The stone chapel was built in 1938.
This old shed is near the entrance to the Shrine property.
In all my visits to Juneau, I’d never been to the Eaglecrest Ski Area, so that was our final destination. I was surprised at how high it is, and how much snow there was.
These fellows had walked up to the top of the mountain and skied/boarded down. Pretty cool.
A look at Mendenhall Glacier from across the channel.
An Alaska state ferry departs from the Auke Bay terminal.
The Sapphire Princess at the south end of Gastineau Channel at 9:55 pm.
Tomorrow we’re only 100 miles from home – this is our port visit to Skagway, were we have our car parked to tour with.
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