Alaskan Travelogue: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

WHITTLE FOR RECOVERY

Juneau, Alaska

We used the day to catch up on our whittling and to recover from our
hike on Perseverance Trail.
Our walking sticks for the most part are a work in process; KC and I
are using the Totems viewed in our travels as inspiration.
Larry is using his construction experience as his inspiration and
considers his stick complete. He plans on using the stick as
a bear deterrent and has used it on our last couple of hikes;
unfortunately it has not helped him persevere on the hikes any better
than KC and I.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Sunday, June 28, 2009

PERSEVERANCE - A BEAUTIFUL DIVERSE TRAIL

Juneau, Alaska

Today we toured the Last Chance Gold Mine Museum before hiking about 8
miles on the Perseverance Trail.
This trail follows Gold Creek, which is where the first gold was
discovered by Joe Juneau and Richard Harris.
Their discovery of gold began the Juneau gold rush and the development
of the city.

The Perseverance Trail is a beautiful trail. It climbs the mountain
side to the bottom of the snow capped
mountain tops traversing steep rock cliffs, roaring waterfalls, clear
water streams and virgin rain forest.
The pictures do not reveal the trail's raw beauty and the roaring
sounds of the streams and waterfalls.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Saturday, June 27, 2009

THE MANY SIDES OF DOUGLAS ISLAND

Juneau, Alaska

It's Gold Rush Days on Douglas Island.

We ended up hiking on the Treadwell Historic Trail, an old mining town
from the early 1900's and skipped the Gold Rush Days events.

We stopped at Douglas Harbor before venturing to the north end of the
island for a quick driving tour.

We discovered a unique display of skis along our drive.

Friday, June 26, 2009

SIGHTS OF JUNEAU

Juneau, Alaska

We spend the day touring the city of Juneau.
The city is considered the San Francisco of Alaska.
It is nestled in the mountain side along the Gastineau Canal.
The highlights for the day were hiking the Flume Trail which
passes by the govenor's mansion and the Evergreen Cemetery
where Joe Juneau and Richard Harris the founders of the city
are buried.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

AN EVENING STROLL

Juneau, Alaska

We spend the day at the Mendenhall Wetlands State Refuge Park.
The park is supposed to be a great place to bird watch and ironically
is located at the end of the main airport runway. The bird watching
was disappointing, but the area was unique.

We spend the evening hiking at Auke Village and the Eagle Rock area.
The weather has been quite rainy and cool. The bugs are bad, the
mosquitoes are huge -- tonight we tested our mosquito head nets.