Part of the reason I chose to live where I did is the access to trials for biking and walking, so I’m trying them out!
Today’s post-work walk took me to the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area- a labyrinth of trails that weave through Mendenhall River area just downstream of the glacier. There are many route options.
It ‘s the map!
Today I basically stuck to the west trail segments and did Back Loop Bridge, Dike Trail, and part of River trail.
It was beautiful, relatively flat and traversable (with a few low trees and obstacles), and I only ran into about 5 people (weirdly all at once, on bikes, heading in different directions).
Mendenhall River with the glacier in the backgroundThis way to adventure
Moose Lake
Moose Lake
Glacier casually peeking through…
I found several spots to stop and take in the views. My final spot was on Moose Lake where I sat and threw rocks into the glassy calm water and watched the ripples disappear.
This route did not disappoint. The perfect weather and lighting didn’t hurt. I’m excited to explore more of the routes!
In Denver, I tossed all of my recyclables in Trader Joe’s paper bags, put them outside my apartment door, and each night they were magically whisked away to recycling land. In Juneau, recycling is an event.
I have lived in Montana, Utah, and Colorado, and visited Alaska twice and have never seen a bear outside of the zoo… until today!
The salmon are returning to spawn, and the bears are hungry, so it’s prime bear-spotting season in Juneau. Figuring my odds are good right now, I’ve been scoping out some bear-sighting spots for the past few days, and today it paid off, big time.
I found myself, with many other onlookers, watching a mama bear wander around the meadow eating plants voraciously while her two cubs moved around up a very tall tree. Should you be concerned for my safety, I can assure you that I was standing on a high boardwalk-type platform, with a can of bear spray in my pocket. Despite a crowd of people whispering, cameras clicking, and footsteps, mama bear seemed fiercely disinterested in our presence.
Mama bear getting some snacks until the salmon entree arrives.Baby bears in the trees!
Initial impressions
She’s not a HUGE bear. I know I was up on a platform about 10 feet above her, but I couldn’t help thinking she wasn’t as big as I expected her to be. Another woman taking photos explained that she was a new mom, so maybe she’s a smaller mama bear. She (the woman) seemed to be a regular, who knew all about the local bear community.
Bears in trees are funny. I experience a combination of awe and amusement seeing something as large as a bear hanging out up high in trees. They don’t seem particularly agile, and it seems like one wrong lumbering move and they will fall right out.
She (the bear) truly did not care about us, at all. She didn’t even look in our direction once. I was surprised by her indifference, and wondered if she would have behaved differently if we were at ground level with her.
Juneau smells lovely in the rain.
NOM NOM NOM
Ah! What an exciting experience, under very favorable circumstances, to meet my first wild bears. I’m going to keep up the hunt for the next few weeks to see if I can meet some more!
One more step towards becoming an official Juneauite – complete!
No app. No kiosks. No reserved seating. No problem. I finally ventured out to the movies for the first time.
Apart from seeing more people in one place than I have seen the whole time I’ve been in Juneau, I have to say one other thing about going to the movies in Juneau stood out:
The seating shuffle.
In Denver, all theaters have reserved seating you book ahead of time. Occasionally one will arrive at their reserved seat to find an occupant, and muster up the courage to kick them out of the seat. In the worst case, the errant occupant has not made a simple error, but has chosen to ignore the system altogether and doesn’t understand what the big deal is. Is it a big deal? Well not really, but just sit in your assigned seat (which you picked out) so we don’t have to do this.
In Juneau, there are no reserved seats, and the seats are not arranged “stadium style”. There are also not that many seats (maybe 8 x 8 seats?). You know, like all movie theaters used to be.
I was curious to observe seating etiquette.
Not only was there no scuffle over reserved seats, but there was a team effort to help give everyone a clear view of the screen. As people chose seats and settled in, one woman lead the effort to stagger people so that no one’s view of the screen was blocked. I did my part and adjusted to fit the new pattern, moving over a seat when the people behind me moved behind my seat.
I can’t conclusively call this a “Juneau thing” yet. It warrants further study.
ROAD TRIP 