Jammin' in Juneau

Early in the morning of our third day in Alaska, we pulled into Juneau.

I watched the whole event from my treadmill, getting my 4 miles in. What surprised me most about the actual docking of the ship was that it was smooth and quiet. Every time. We used to have a ski boat, and later a pontoon. Never did our captain "park" our little watercraft so precisely.

After the previous day's upper body sea kayaking workout, this day's scheduled activity was lower body all the way. Biking and hiking. By 9 a.m., we were off the boat and standing next to a young man named Matt, a newly minted Juneau high school junior, who was our transportation to a ski resort where we'd be given a bike for a 10-ish mile, mostly downhill ride. 

Also in our group, a 70-something woman from out east who was wearing bike shorts and brought her own helmet. She immediately started telling us the story of her 80-something husband who had been killed in a bicycle crash this past April. (He'd been t-boned by another biker on a trail and didn't survive the impact.) They'd scheduled this trip before he passed and she knew he'd want her to go anyway. She admitted she hadn't been on a bike much since the very sad circumstances and was a little nervous, mostly worried that she'd hold us up. We assured her that she wouldn't and off we went. 

(Side note: I think I've told you that I rarely talk to strangers when I travel, and if I do make small talk, it's just that. I certainly never discuss anything significant. I am always amazed by people who share deeply personal things like the story above within 4 minutes of meeting someone. When it's self-aggrandizing, I just marvel at it. But when it's not, like this, I admire it. I would be willing to bet this woman makes more friends than I do and leads a very interesting life.)

(Second side note: How many 80-somethings die in a bike crash? Quite honestly, I don't think it sounds like a bad way to go, given some of the more sad and depressing alternatives.)

Here's the rest of the day in photos: 

Yay! We got TREK bikes! These were still on the trailer of the van/
sag wagon that traveled behind us the whole trip, should anyone
 need a replacement bike, emergency assistance or simply a ride. 

The crew, making sure all of the bikes were in working order. To be honest,
they needed chain lube and a few adjustments. Our cruise was early in the
season and not all systems were running like clockwork just yet. Matt is on
the right. If a surfer dude landed in the bush, he'd be Matt. Adorable. He
invited us to his house for supper. I bet his mom would have been thrilled.

More than halfway down the mountain, it occurred
to me that I could hang my good camera around my
neck and shoot one-handed. While I missed the snow-
topped, pretty peaks, I managed to capture the cute
butt that rode in front of me the whole way.  

The cute butt was attached to the cute face on the left. To his right, over
his shoulder is the Mendenhall Glacier. Like most of the glaciers in Alaska, it
is retreating, not advancing, and its front face is declining in both width and
height. All guides were reluctant to discuss "global warming," per instructions
from their employer. Don't quote me on actual numbers, but Alaska has "thousands"
 of glaciers and all but a few, like five, are retreating. 

Random spots of gorgeousness like this surprise
waterfall popped up everywhere. Forgive the cropping.
Again, I'm shooting one-handed from a moving bike. 

No words needed. 

After the bike ride and lunch, we took a tram to the top of Mt. Roberts. You
are looking at Juneau. Pretty much all of it. If you compare the size of our ship
to the city, you can see it's not that big. Juneau is the state capital and boasts
32,000 residents. It's the third largest city in the state. Geographically, the city
sits on as much land as nearly ALL of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
Fun fact 1: There are no roads in or out of Juneau. You can only get there via
boat, plane/float plane or rail. Fun fact 2: More than 1 million tourists visit each year.

Here we are after hiking some of the trails at the park at the top of Mt Roberts.
A good day indeed.  

Exercise: 4 miles on treadmill and probably 3 miles total between Mt. Roberts and stepping around town
Food Splurge: Halibut fish and chips to die for! Chocolate croissants for breakfast! Huckleberry gummy bears. Beers at the Red Dog Saloon.
Hair Day Rating (1=worst, 10=best): In spite of a bike helmet being involved, 6.