Moominmama's Adventure: Juneau, Alaska

In which Moominmama visits glaciers and rides a tram high above the city of Juneau...

Mendenhall Glacier is visible from the ferry entering the port of Juneau - actually, there are two ports. The cruise ships arrive at monster piers in the downtown. The workhorse ferry docks in Auke Bay to the north. 

But the Mendenhall was one of the glaciers I'd come to visit so it was exciting to see it in the distance. 

I would see it again from my campground on Mendenhall Lake. And a few days later, I would be in a canoe with a dozen others, beaching our vessel on the rocky lakeside for a closer view. Visitors are not allowed onto the glacier because it is too volatile. 

Warmth and gravity mean those big blue chunks are shifting constantly and can drop into the water at any minute -- and they can kick up quite a wave, so we were not even allowed to get close.

Moominmama will much closer to a glacier north of Anchorage in a few days. But in Juneau, the best I could do was take in that magical blue color from a distance.

The water off the glaciers is a milky because of the silt that flows out along with the water, a chilly 36°F. When glacial rivers flow out into the ocean, you can see the difference between the clear blue salt water and the milky jade freshwater before it sinks below.

Juneau may be best known for the Mendenhall Glacier because it is the easiest to access, but there's an entire Juneau Icefield and multiple glaciers extending from that core. 

Glacial ice is incredibly clear and dense. As it breaks off and floats onto lakes and streams, there are folks who harvest the chunks to serve up to tourists in premium drinks!

This chunk was pulled up onto shore by one of our canoe guides so we could get a closer look. 

Hiking to the Herbert glacier on a different day, I was able to wander a glacial floodplain, with its many intersecting streams. As the glaciers retreat they leave behind a wide area of ground-up rock and powder, in addition to the rocky moraines at the sides. 

Eventually dirt accumulates and small plants will start to grow. The powdery silt will also blow to other locations and enrich the soil elsewhere.

One of the first plants to make an appearance as a glacier retreats will be fireweed, which also appears in the wake of forest fires as the land heals. 

It fixes nitrogen in the soil and helps make the landscape hospitable for other plants. Eventually trees like aspen and willow will grow, followed by spruce and ultimately by hemlock, a process that will take 200 years or more.

Moominmama spent most of her week in Juneau in the area known as Mendenhall Valley, mostly because her first visit to Juneau involved sharing the streets with visitors from no fewer than four cruise ships. 

The local newspaper reported on July 8 that a total of 627, 220 cruise ship passengers visited Juneau in the first half of the tourist season this year. Juneau has a population of less than 32,000 people!

Juneau was once Russian territory, sold to the U.S. along with the rest of Alaska. Early American visitors discovered the Tlingit people using gold bullets in their weapons. Where did that come from? Over there in the creek. The gold nuggets were easy for the Tlingit to shape into bullets to shoot game.

And thus the Tlingit land was overrun by prospectors. The area did turn out to be fertile in terms of gold, and gold mining was the major industry in Juneau and Douglas Island across the passage until World War II. 

The Tlingit may have been forced to adapt, but they remain an important part of Juneau and operate a tram that takes tourists 1,800 feet up Mount Roberts to a gift shop, restaurant and spectacular views of the port and the city.

Moominmama hiked an additional 1,000 feet up from there and had hoped to make it to the Gastineau Ridge, but wimped out. In addition to carrying 1.5 litres of water, snacks and multiple layers, she'd bought three books in town, one of them an academic tome looking at indigenous and colonial views about glaciers. It was a bit much to carry! 

Other hikes around Juneau involved less elevation and fewer books. But I would like to know the story behind this particular vehicle on the way to Herbert Glacier!

Moominmama is now on the mainland, having arrived by ferry into Haines on a Tuesday. The first day's drive inland was wet and foggy, with clouds so low, I was driving through cloud-roofed, green tunnels. 

Just as well there weren't any views because the Al-Can Highway has some gnarly sections, even for a someone familiar with New England frost heaves and potholes. I kept my eyes on the road and my foot near the brakes, adjusting to gravel, mud and pavement in varying degrees.

Today, having finally arrived at a campground near the Matanuska Glacier, the skies cleared and Alaska appears in all its glory, larger than life. The scale of this landscape and the Chugach Mountains is hard to wrap my head around, and I look forward to the days and weeks ahead trying to absorb the scope of this wild and immense land!