Alaska 2019: Juneau

We made it to Juneau at about midnight last night. When we were loaded on the ferry in Haines, it took a little bit of tricky maneuvering to get both the camper and truck to fit in the space, but the guys on the ship are experts at this type of thing and made it happen. Annie was required to stay in the camper the whole time we were sailing, but she didn't seem to mind. It was raining and very foggy, so we couldn't see any wildlife in the water or on the land. Rox and I tried to hang out in several different places on the ship, but the most comfortable place was on the 6th floor where they had a dark room and recliner seats. Many others were hanging out in the cafeteria playing cards.

Our campsite is wonderful. It is run by the state of Alaska and has electric, water and sewage at the site. Juneau is much different than the places we have stayed over the last few weeks. Instead of being dry and dusty, it is more like a rainforest. In fact, Juneau averages 62" of rain annually. The campground is called the Mendenhall campground and borders the Medenhall Glacier. The glacier is about 1/2 mile wide and rises up about 100 ft from the water. The glacier is feed by the Juneau Icefield, which is the fifth largest icefield in the western hemisphere. It is home to 140 glaciers.

Today we explored downtown Juneau. It was quite busy since 5 cruise ships were in port, but we did have fun shopping and people watching.

Before we left Haines, we visited the Chilkoot River. It was filled with salmon and fishermen. There were also many people with professional cameras hoping to photograph a bear. The one guy told me that they saw 11 bears that morning.