The Adventures of Myron and Dorcas: Juneau AK

Our ferry passage to Juneau was scheduled to depart at 4:45 am on Sunday on June 18. That meant a 3:45 am check in at the terminal. A major hiccup was that the gate at Starrigavan Campground is locked from 10pm to 7am. DANG! So we packed up and relocated the motor home to a spot on the highway just outside the gate and were parked again by 9pm. At least one other camper taking the ferry did the same thing. Ironically, on this evening they did not close the gate. Perhaps they leave it open to accommodate folks arriving or departing from the ferry after hours.

Loading up on the MV Matanuska at Sitka

On every ferry passage I have either had to back in or back out of the vehicle deck. This was a back-in space.

Once again on the MV Matanuska

A misty morning on the passage to Juneau

A raft of sea otters

A room with a view: the solarium on the MV Matanuska

Dorcas relaxing on the solarium deck

They even have free live entertainment

Mendenhall Glacier from Auke Bay. Is it cloudy or clear?

We are scheduled to depart on June 24 on the FVF Fairweather, which runs about five days a week between Juneau and Skagway. The Fairweather is a "fast ferry" and can make 32 knots vs. 16.5 knots for the MV Matanuska. It also burns 600 gallons of fuel per hour vs. 234 gph for the Matanuska, even though it is only half the length and about 1/8 the displacement. A ferry officer said the AMHS regrets building the Fairweather and its sister ship the FVF Chenega, due to their high operating costs.

MV Fairweather departing Juneau

Juneau is the capitol of Alaska and, with a population of just over 30,000, it's the third largest city in Alaska. While Juneau is located on the mainland, it can still only be accessed by boat or plane. Juneau is named after Joe Juneau, a gold prospector from Quebec.

All of Southeast Alaska is in a rain forest. The day we arrived in Juneau it was a rare sunny day. While Juneau still gets a ton of rain, about 65 inches per year, the average rainfall has steadily decreased as we have moved north from Ketchikan (150 inches/year). We monitor at least three on-line weather sources, The Weather Channel, WeatherBug and WeatherUnderground and find them to all provide inconsistent and inaccurate forecasts. The most accurate forecast is from WeatherRock.com. If the Weather Rock is wet, it's raining; if it's not wet, it's not raining.

We have Site #65 reserved for 6 nights. This site has 50A service, water, sewer and we are getting 3 bars of 4G service. HEAVEN! Plus we get discounted camping using our federal geezer pass.

Site #65 at Mendenhall Glacier on a rare sunny day

Mendenhall Lake

"Woof! This water is cold!"

Alaskan Brewing Company makes some of my favorite brews, and their brewery is in Juneau. Their distribution network is limited, and their products are not available in NC. Consequently, I always cram the cargo bays full with Alaskan Brewing Company products before heading home from Minnesota each September. Between the Alaskan Brewing products and Big Sky Brewing products (Moose Drool Brown Ale) that I transport, I probably break a half dozen interstate bootlegging laws.

Visiting the Alaskan Brewing Company

They have a tasting room at the brewery. When we were here in 2011 they offered free samples in 6 oz glasses. The sign said two samples per visit, but as long as you didn't get rowdy or fall on the floor, they didn't seem to notice how many samples you took.

Let's all belly up to the bar

I was looking forward to more free samples and intended to visit the brewery at least twice a day while we were in town. But au contrair! When we entered the tasting room, there were prices on the menu!!! What??? No more free beer??? CRAP!!! Turns out shortly after we left town in 2011, they changed their policy and began charging for samples. They said it was necessary after some yahoo from North Carolina came through and drank all their Smoked Porter.

Availability of drafts changes daily

I have defined growlers and squealers (AKA growlettes) in a previous post, but there is another term that needs mentioning: the flight. A flight is a sampling at a pub or brewery of a variety of beers, usually served in 4oz glasses on a wooden tray. We had a flight of Smoked Porter, Schwarz Bier, Resonator and Barrel Aged Smoked Porter.

Enjoying a flight of Alaskan brews

I have always liked Alaskan's Smoked Porter. But I had never had their Barrel Aged Smoked Porter, which is a new product and is not bottled. The Barrel Aged Smoked Porter is a limited run of regular smoked porter aged for 6 months in used whiskey barrels harvested from a distillery in Colorado. The brew absorbs residual alcohol and flavor from the barrels as it ages, increasing its alcohol content to 11.4%, and giving it a sweet bourbon flavor. It is a very fine porter. I filled a growler with the Barrel Aged. They said it would only stay fresh for a day or two. No problem. When I returned to refill the growler, I was horrified to learn that the Barrel Aged Smoked Porter was all gone. DRAT! The bartender couldn't say when more would be ready to tap. I had to settle for a growler of the standard smoked porter.

A growler filled with Barrel Aged Smoked Porter, my new all-time favorite

Auke Bay is about 12 miles north of Juneau and is where the ferry terminal is located. It's name comes from the Tlingit "Áak'w" meaning Little Lake.

They come in all sizes at Auke Bay

A note from the Small World Department: We are camped near a couple from Missouri, and have spent a little time getting to know them. They came up to visit their son Brian, who is spending his second summer in Juneau performing mission service. While eating at a small cafe at Auke Bay Harbor, a young man noticed my NC State hoodie and asked if I was from North Carolina or had attended NC State University. It turns out that he is currently a junior at NC State. We chatted a bit about the NCSU now and NCSU way back when. But that's not the small world part. He went on to say that he was spending the summer here performing mission service. That's when something clicked, and I asked if he happened to know Brian from Missouri, also here doing mission work. That's when all three of the young men at the table pointed to a fourth, saying "That's Brian!" Small world.

A busy day on Auke Bay

A load of fish hounds at Auke Bay

One day we had an uninvited visitor at camp. Dorcas and I were both in the coach when I saw a large black shape pass by the window behind the sofa. What was that? When I looked out that window again it was gone. But then I looked out the windshield, there he was, checking out our camp. At one point he was standing up with both front paws on the Honda, looking in the back window.

A visitor in camp: a growler of the 4-legged kind

He passed between he car and the coach and came by and knocked on the door.

Is anybody home?

No handouts here. I guess I'll leave now.

When nobody answered the door he turned around and left, headed down a path behind our site. As far as I know he hasn't come back.

Bye. Bye.

The Macaulay Salmon Hatchery is located just south of downtown on the Gastineau Channel. They harvest returning salmon, collect the eggs and sperm and rear young fish for release. Before release, the young fish are kept in large net pools to imprint that stream on them, so they will return to this exact spot to spawn after about 4 years at sea.

The fish ladder at Macaulay Salmon Hatchery

Salmon fry in the rearing tank at Macaulay Salmon Hatchery

Mr. Halibut and friends at the hatchery aquarium

Mr. Alaskan crab up close and personal

You can't spit around here without hitting an eagle

A pretty cool fishing pier on the Gastineau Channel

We enjoyed a lunch and a brew at the Imperial Bar in downtown Juneau

There are typically 4-6 cruise ships in Juneau each day. At about 3000 passengers each, they dump over 15,000 tourists into town each day Downtown Juneau largely consists of jewelry stores, fur stores, t-shirt shops and bars. The traffic is horrendous.

Downtown Juneau

We are camped at the foot of Mendenhall Glacier, on Mendenhall Lake. Mendenhall Lake was formed in 1929 when the glacier began to retreat. The glacier has retreated 1.75 miles since 1929.

Mendenhall Glacier on a sunny day

Sometimes when you look up you can find a porcupine

The Shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux overlooks the Lynn Canal north of Auke Bay. Situated on 46 acres, the site contains a stone chapel, crypt, labyrinth, columbarium, lodge, cabin, and retreat. In 1925, St. Therese was named the patroness of Alaska.

The chapel at the Shrine of St. Therese

The chapel is located in deep woods on a small island seen at the left.

The Labyrinth. No way to get lost!

We splurged a bit and bought tickets for a whale watching excursion out of Auke Bay. Humpback whales summer and feed in Alaska, and then migrate as far as 16,000 miles to Mexico or Hawaii to breed.

Can we see whales yet?

Sea lions on a channel marker in Auke Bay

On this day we saw perhaps 6-8 humpback whales, mostly from quite a distance. They are very difficult to photograph because you don't know where they will appear, and they don't sit still for long. First you would see the blow. Once the whale shows a blow or two it will typically roll, displaying its distinctive humpback, as it prepares to dive.