Juneau, Alaska - Salmon Bake and Mendenhall Glacier

After our morning excursion we headed over to the Gold Creek Salmon Bake which turned out to be quite a treat!  I wasn't too sure after reading some of the reviews, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Thankfully the weather was nice because it was all outdoors.  There are translucent canopies over all the tables and food areas so I'm sure a little rain would have been ok.

We had salmon grilled over alder wood that had a delicious brown sugary/maple syrupy kind of glaze that was very good.  The sides included baked beans, couscous, scalloped potatoes, several salads, cornbread, and blueberry cake for dessert.

After you eat you can go to the campfire and roast marshmallows.  I could have sat here all afternoon but we still had another stop before getting back to the ship. 

We couldn't leave this place without walking through the woods to see the Salmon Creek Falls.  Another beautiful place to stop for picture taking. 

Oh - and we did run into a bear on the trail.  He didn't seem to be much of a trouble maker though!

Next stop - Mendenhall Glacier

We had our first glimpse of the glacier from the highway.  It's one of the few glaciers in Southeast Alaska that you can drive to.

Glacial ice at the face of Mendenhall Glacier has flowed for 200-250 years on its 13 mile trek to Mendenhall Lake.

We took a little hiking trail to Nugget Falls which is to the right of the glacier.  The waterfall drops 377 feet onto a sandbar in Mendenhall Lake.  It was so pretty to see the beautiful falls with the glacier in the background.

There's also a very nice visitor's center at the beginning of the trail but we didn't have time to go inside since our ship was leaving Juneau at 6.  Oh well, another reason for us to go back!

“A man who keeps company with glaciers comes to feel tolerably insignificant by and by.”   

― Mark Twain

 

Thanks for stopping by and for all your nice comments.

We’ve already had a couple of cool fronts here in Southeast Texas and can’t wait for another one! One more week til Fall is officially here!  Hope you enjoy some peeks of fall soon wherever you are.

Jeanne

Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier

After cruising through a very foggy Pacific Ocean where we heard the fog horns blow every two minutes, we finally started seeing clearing skies and mountains off in the distance.  We were in Alaska!!   

Stephens Passage was where we first started seeing beautiful scenery and whale action all around us.  

We started seeing an occasional ice berg as we cruised through Holkham Bay and headed towards Tracy Arm Fjord, which was one of the highlights of our trip.  The Fjord is probably about ½ mile wide and is surrounded by steep mountain peaks that reach over 7,000 feet.  They are covered with lush green trees and shrubs and many waterfalls. 

  

 The smooth as glass water is a beautiful jade color and is dotted with lots of floating icebergs.   

At the end of the fjord we came to the Sawyer Glacier and were able to see a few big chunks of ice break off and fall into the water.  The sound of the ice breaking is like hearing a gun shot.  Pretty amazing!

After leaving the fjord we headed north towards Juneau and were treated to a beautiful Alaskan sunset.  Unforgettable is all I can say!

                                

 

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…. [we left] feeling that, whatever the future might have in store, the treasures we had gained this glorious morning would enrich our lives forever.” ~ John Muir, Travels in Alaska 
 

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