Alaska: Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier

Saturday, August 11, 2012

This morning it was raining, but Dave, Joe and Jackie still went out to Mendenhall Glacier for a hike. Dave lives in the Mendenhall Valley on Mendenhall Loop Road, only a few miles from the glacier. Not hard to get lost driving there.

We got the lay of the land at the Visitor’s Center. The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center was built in 1962 (renovated & enlarged in 1999) and was the first visitor center in the Tongass National Forest.

Mendenhall Glacier, 12 miles long. Mendenhall Lake is 220 feet deep at the glacier’s terminus. 

Icebergs in Mendenhall Lake. 

Kayakers among the icebergs.

Nugget Falls.

We then went to hike the West Glacier Trail, 6.8 miles with 1,300 feet elevation gain.

Already closer to the glacier. Photo-op time as the rain breaks slightly. 

Starting to gain some elevation looking down on the lake. 

Spotted the glacier. 

Don’t lick it Joe, it’s dirty. They forgot to clean it. ;)

Mendenhall Glacier. 

Glacial ice appears blue because it absorbs all colors of the visible light spectrum except blue, which it transmits.   

Trying to find the easiest path to the glacier’s edge.

Mendenhall Glacier close-up. 

Just a little bit of a rocky climb to the glacier’s edge. 

On Mendenhall Glacier. 

As you can imagine glacial ice is really slippery without the proper grip gear so we head back out. 

Dave’s photo of the tourists on the West Glacier Trail. 

I really liked this little glacial pond. 

Notice the state of the rock faces where the glacier once stood. 

Glacier’s edge. 

Cool deep blue crevasses.

A little bit of rockclimbing involved on this hike. And stream crossings. 

Looking back at Mendenhall Glacier. 

Nugget Falls from north edge of Mendenhall Lake.

Just gorgeous terrain. 

This may not look like much, but finding the best way down was a challenge. 

More climbing. Coming down is definitely not as fun when its gravel and this steep. 

Alexis said it was pouring in Juneau and she felt bad for us hiking. We luckily were in old forest growth for the first few miles when it did most of the raining and then when it opened up it wasn’t too wet, although I now really regret checking the camera lens to wipe off water spots.

Donuts and beer, great post hike snack! 

We all (Dave, Alexis, Jack, Joe and Jackie) went out to dinner at the Wharf for seafood. We watched some planes land as we waited for our table. 

Seaplanes with only one cruise ship at port for the night. This dock with the blue awning is where we embark on our boat tour of Tracy Arm Fjord the next morning. 

After dinner Dave, Joe and Jackie walked through downtown Juneau to get a few drinks at the Red Dog Saloon. 

The Red Dog Saloon has had several different locations in Juneau since its mining days, but it still has its swinging doors, sawdust floors, furs, guns, and stuffed mounted animals. We started with a varying round of Alaskan beers and the local shot – a Duck fart.