Juneau's just a stop on this 2 week travel schedule. I'm sitting in DFW Airport, on my way back from Cancun, MX from a friend's wedding. I canceled Papi's Alaska Airlines ticket so he can stay home and take care of the kids after our friend had to cancel.
According to my math, as soon as I land in Vegas, I’ll have 3 hours to unpack my warm weather clothes, replace them with cold weather clothes, do a quick inventory of my photography equipment, recharge my phone and some batteries, and sleep a tiny bit. Then I’m due back at the airport to head to Juneau. Luckily, the airport’s only about 15 minutes away and traveling by myself is just the usual.
I got this. It’s 4:30 AM and I’m dragging my ass out of the front door to catch an Uber to the airport. I’m pretty sure I’ve got everything but my brain’s foggy after having gotten about an hour of sleep. Originally, I had 6 hours to unpack and repack and get my life together before this flight, but that 3 hours threw me all the way off. Damn Spirit Airlines. I vow to never use them again but of course it’s a lie. I just love a good deal and those $30 flights to anywhere in the entire West Coast are just too easy to book.
I drag ass through TSA and pick up some coffee before I get on the plane. I love the airport but having spent the last 24 hours in 3 different airports on one hour of sleep has definitely taken its toll on my patience. I have 2 more to go, too before I reach Juneau – San Francisco and Seattle.
When I finally make it to Juneau I’m pooped! But the view from the plane going down through the Gastineau Channel is insane. Snow and icefields everywhere. Luckily, the airport is tiny, so I head to the rental car counter after I grab my checked luggage and head to downtown Juneau to The Alaskan Hotel & Bar. Little do I know, the place is haunted. Like hella haunted.
First Thing's First
Alaska has recreationally legal trees and lucky for me, there’s a dispensary right next door to my hotel called Alaskan Kush Company. This is exactly the behind the scenes stuff I was looking forward to in Juneau. I drop my bags in my room with no view and check out the selections. When I get back I meet with a local photographer who’s selling a Tamron lens that I need since I left a lens (I just bought) at home. The mess I am these last few days.
Once our business is complete, a quick google search tells me that Mendenhall Glacier isn’t too far away and I’ve never seen a glacier in my life so I take the quick drive. The views are incredible, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. I even catch these quick images of a couple and their dog playing on the shore.
My drive back to downtown is interrupted by a quick stop at the Mendenhall Wetlands Scenic Turnout to work up an appetite, if you know what I mean. I catch this beautiful family playing out on the marsh and watch the planes take off over the channel.
I head to a spot that was questionable. I really wanted asian food and that’s the only thing you’ll get out of me because I refuse to speak badly about a small business especially if I’m not sure if my ailment originated from that location or from the spirits haunting my hotel. As soon as I get back to my hotel room, I feel it. My guts are bubbling and now I hope that this goes away by morning because my elopement is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so I drift off to sleep in my haunted hotel room, belly full of Imodium and hope.
Helicopter Tour Day
Today is the day. It’s L + E’s elopement . I head to their hotel just a few doors down from my own. Stomach is still sour, so I decide against eating. Because no food, empty tummy, no tummy aches, right? Wrong. L is getting ready and my stomach is doing a dance without my permission but I gotta get it together and I do just that and continue.
The limo picks us up when they’re all done getting ready. We head to the marriage certificate office, pick up their paperwork and head to the airport. There’s a safety video, they weigh us, and then we store all our stuff, including my drone, which I’m super sad about. We all don our microspikes and head to the helicopter. All I have on me is my backpack with an extra lens and a few batteries, etc. The bag goes down below in the belly of the helicopter and I strap my camera to me per usual. You’re not allowed to take photo or video on the tarmac on your way to the helicopter. I imagine folks actin a fool taking selfies of themselves before they reach the helicopter and of course I understand why the rule stands.
This is my first time on a helicopter so I’m freaking out a little. It doesn’t quite feel like a plane, but it does feel like I was expecting to. The female (love it!) pilot takes us over tree lined mountains. an ice field and beautifully blue glacier ponds. The views go from green to white quickly. The pilot lands on a flat piece of ice right in between the two landscapes.
The helicopter is turned off and the doors open to this eerie quiet, until our feet hit the crunchy snow. We’re advised not to walk backwards and I imagine someone falling down a crevasse backward and now I’m afraid to walk anywhere. It snowed the night before and the ground has fresh snow. Sometimes snow might cover cracks so they tell us to be cautious that we could fall into a crack. Now I’m just terrified. While I’m taking candids of the couples I lay on the ground to get a better angle, but it occurs to me that I’ll be the only one to ever lay on this part of the glacier, maybe in this lifetime. While I freeze on the ground, I click a few images of their exploration.
We get back on the helicopter and head back to the airport. The couple signs their paperwork. The pilot serves as their witness and we head back to our hotels in the limo. The pain in my stomach is still there rearing it’s ugly head so I head back to my haunted room and take my ass to sleep. I jolt awake. My phone says it’s 10 PMish. The sun is still out. The BRAT diet is heavy on my mind so I get dressed and head to the store right across the street. Nothing else is open in the tiny downtown-crackers, cookies, and Sprite for dinner it is.
Exploration Day 1
Today the couple has planned a day of exploring Juneau. We start with breakfast at a spot down the street from our hotels called The Rookery Cafe on Seward and Front St. I have the Adobo Loco Moco which is delicious considering I hadn’t eaten much since I arrived and I’m surprised by the Filipino flavor staple in Juneau.
The highlights?
Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure
This is a literal rainforest. We went on the tour and were driven around in a golf cart. We saw waterfalls and roads one man made on his own through the forest. Before we left we met a woman who drives trucks and buses for a living but like all over the US. I still wonder about this woman, she seemed so free and so intentional with the way she lived her life. Spending springs and summers in Alaska and winters and falls wherever the weather was mildest. I thought to myself, “That’s how I want to spend my life.”
I saw this waterfall yesterday but didn’t take the trail to get up close and personal until today. It’s huge. On the way to the waterfall a rock is adorned with a plank for Romeo, the friendly black wolf of Juneau.
Goldbelt Tram
I love a gondola. This one took us all the way up to the Mountain House where, when it’s not snowy, you can pivot from to go on hikes along the mountain ridge. We took our time in the shops and found a book about Romeo, with pictures of him actually approaching people near Mendenhall Glacier. Crazy.
The groom spends $600 on crabs without regret. We eat our fill and eventually head back to our respective hotels with a few leftovers to tote.
Exploration Day 2
This is my final day in Juneau and although I’m not ready to go home, there’s plenty to do. I pick up some souvenirs for the family and look for a place to meet the couple for one last hang out.
I drive to the South end of the town to the Dead End and find an easily accessible beach and a waterfall on the other side of the road. They come with their matching outfits to join me and explore this quiet little corner of the Gastineau Channel. It’s a beautiful sunny day and I take a minute to put my drone up. We’re surrounded by mountains and water. They leave me to go enjoy some whale watching.
Before I hop on my flight, I head as North as possible to see if I can hit the other dead end of Juneau. I discover a few things on the way so time is dwindling before I have to get on the plane. Luckily, it’s a small airport.
