Juneau!

The Green Dragon (our two door, 16 year old, Easter-egg green Honda Civic with 220,000 miles on it) has been doing some good hard work. In honor of her service, in order to see southeast Alaska (accessible only by boat or plane), and so that we could take a different route home down the west coast, we booked tickets on the state run Alaska Marine Highway. Our first leg was Haines to Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Originally the plan was to go on a 4-5 day kayaking trip, but that was condensed due to weather. So we spent the few sunny days hiking and kayaking, and the rainy ones in the library writing curriculum for school, reading, and going to see Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Part II (omg!).

We thought this sign posted on the ferry dock was pretty funny. "Everything is normal people...FREAK OUT!"

Juneau from above. Not a great view, but downtown Juneau is tiny and is basically built into the side of this mountain. A walk around town involves navigating steep little streets and staircases.

We finally saw spawning salmon in a creek! These salmon are King Salmon, one of the 5 types of salmon found in Alaska and the US northwest. If you aren't familiar with the life cycle of a salmon, here's the short version. Salmon are born in fresh water streams/creeks where they live for a year or more in the safer waters until large enough to venture out into the ocean to spend their adolescence. After 3-5 years of frolicking in the open ocean, they begin their death march back up the same exact stream that they were born in (in a high percentage of cases) to spawn. I say death march because as soon as they begin to venture back up the stream, they stop eating and their bodies undergo the most incredible body modifications ultimately ending in their death. The hormonal changes triggered during this stage cause them to change color (in many cases turn a bright, neon pink) and change shape (the males grow a hump on their back and their snout turns into a gnarled hook). The females lay their eggs in the gravel of the bed at various points along the stream, and protects them until she dies. The males vie with each other for fertilizing rights and then promptly die. The dead salmon fertilize the surrounding riparian ecosystem, the eggs hatch, and so begins anew the life cycle of the salmon. Scientists aren't sure how exactly the salmon know which stream to go back to, but the prevailing theory that we've come across in museums and literature is that it somehow involves the distinct smell of each stream. Salmon are amazing...and soooo tasty.

Mendenhall Glacier is about 10 miles from Juneau and visible from the "burbs" of Juneau. There is a lake at the bottom with floating chunks of ice. We heard it calve (break off) and it sounded like a loud gunshot and felt like an earthquake.

Cool reflection of the clouds and bergs in Mendenhall Lake.

We met a few girls in a hostel we stayed in the first night that made martinis with the floating ice chunks. I wonder how that giardia is treating them now?

Neat reflection picture of Mike in his explorer pose.

Nugget falls, a gigantic waterfall that leads into Mendenhall Lake. Those are people gathered at the bottom on a silt bar.

Seemingly divine omen of the good weather to come after 3 straight days of rain.

We rented kayaks and took them out into Mendenhall Lake to explore the icebergs and glacier up close. This top heavy iceberg was floating in front of Nugget Falls (in the background).

Mike at the foot of Mendenhall Glacier in the back of the two person kayak.

Can't get enough pictures of the icebergs. The different shades of blue and textures were mesmerizing.

Oh yeah!

We then took our kayaks out to Auke Bay to paddle around a few islands in search of wildlife. Our rudder broke on the way out though, so we spent a hilarious and frustrating 3 miles getting back on a zig zag course.

In between these adventures we ate the most amazing crab, camped in a semi-tropical rainforest, watched the US women's World Cup game (booo, but good for Japan), worked out, threw, and explored the city. It was a restful and productive 5 days. Next stop is Petersburg, where a mountain cabin and some unlucky Dolly Varden (trout) await our presence!

- Cara