Juneau, Alaska (06-21-14)

Who knew that Juneau is in a rain forest?? Tongass National Forest, situated in southeast Alaska,  is the largest national forest in the U.S. and most of it is a rain forest.  I suppose we could have guessed by looking at the forecast.

As a state capital, Juneau probably ranks as one of the more difficult ones to get to. The only way to get there is by boat or by plane.  We took the ferry from Skagway.

The day we arrived was beautiful and the two and a half hour ferry ride was easy and uneventful.   This is the Juneau area.







Having seen the weather forecast we elected to take advantage of the nice weather to push on and go check out Mendenhall Glacier. The information about that will be in another post.

In our research of  things to do in Juneau, we found out about a small mining museum and decided that should be on our list of things to do on our second day- we figured if it was going to rain, we might as well be in a museum.  Except, much of this museum is outside.

Next on our agenda was a trip to the Red Dog Saloon, home to the Duck Fart- a shot that has Crown Royal, Baileys, and Kahlua.  Trying to get to the Red Dog was how we discovered that there are actually very few parking spots in Juneau that will fit us.  The only open one we found was a mile away, which meant….yup- a mile walk in the rain. 

We sure did feel like we deserved that drink, to warm us up! It was pretty good, and we enjoyed the live piano music while we ate our lunch.  These guys are good at getting people involved with the songs they are playing.

One of our adventures took us to Eagle Harbor, which is known for it’s concentration of Bald Eagles.  The salmon were jumping out of the water all over the place- plenty of Eagle food around!

We saw tons of Eagles- sometimes as many as a dozen in one tree! There were a lot of juveniles around as well, and for the first time, we got to see some courting, where a pair of eagles fly together, swooping apart and then together again.

The scenery itself was worth the drive out there- very dramatic and gorgeous.

The Alaskan Brewing Co. is located in Juneau and although I don’t feel compelled to visit every brewery I come across, I wanted to check this one out. I like their Alaskan White, which is similar to Blue Moon. 

They don’t give tours of the brewery itself but they do have a tasting tour where they talk about the history of the brewery and some of their beers. They are fairly unique in that they don’t have one master brewer, they have 7 brewers.  They also allow their employees to try their hand at making small batches of beer-called Rough Drafts.  If visitors like it, they make bigger and bigger batches.





There was plenty to keep us busy during our 5 days in Juneau.  We probably could have stayed longer but we wanted to book our return ferry when we booked the ferry to get there, so we guessed at how long we'd want to be there.

Two days of adventure in Ontonagon (rhymes with On the Noggin), MI

 Yesterday was a true adventure for me.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it, but in the end, I didn't want to have to say that I couldn't do it....if that makes sense.  Anyway, we went to Adventure Mine, and did their most adventurous tour, which consisted of 2-3 hours inside a copper mine, and rappelling down an 80 ft. shaft, among other things.  As it turned out, we were the only two on the tour, so we basically had a 3 hour private tour of a copper mine.







Our friends, the bats

  

   23 year old Chuck was our guide and he had a surprising amount of knowledge about the mine, the miners and geology in general.  Before we went into the mine itself we took the time to get a helmet with lights (the only lights we had in the mine), our rappelling gear, and gloves.   I am not a happy person when I am underground, but I thought if this tour was active and interesting enough, I would forget I was underground.  Well, I didn't quite forget, but it was interesting enough that it never bothered me to be 200 feet under the surface. 



Chuck showing us pure copper that was left in the mine





     The first item of interest in the cave were the bats.  Paul poked one before he realized what it was (its very hard to see with just helmet lights, especially when you wear trifocals!).  Chuck told us they are hibernating and won't move much even if you poke at them, and he was right.  They just hung there upside down right over our heads.  Paul kept letting me know when there was a bunch of them over my head, so I could look at them, and didn't seem to get the idea that although I knew they were there, I really didn't want to focus on it...
 Chuck told us stories about the mine- it contains some of the purest copper in the world, which made it very desirable for businessmen looking to make a bundle.  Unfortunately, it turned out that pure copper is very difficult to get out of the mine. It was in very large pieces and had to be broken into much smaller ones so that it could be lifted out.  The manpower required to get it to the surface ate up any potential profits, and the mine was closed just a few years after it was opened.


Practicing Rappelling before heading down an 80 ft. slope

   One of the features of this tour is that we got to hike several levels of the mine. There was no fancy trolley to take us there, the entire tour was done on foot, hiking around "rooms" and "hallways".  To get down to the next level, we had to rappel, using a rope and a harness.  I've never done it before, but I was game to try it.  It turned out to be really easy, but I am sure that's because it was only 80 feet.  And yes, I look goofy in the picture but it was pretty cold down there...





Paul taking his turn to rappel down the slope



Paul, working his way down to the next level.



After we made it down to the lower level, we followed along a ledge. Looking off the ledge (which I didn't) would show you yet another level down in the mine.  This time we used ropes to hike down the side of the cavern.  At one point we slid down a slide that was put into the mine.  All in all it was a great adventure and a very unique experience. Rather than a rigid tour, we had a meandering hike, and were able to take all the time we wanted to explore the nooks and crannies.

   Today's adventure was completely different.  We drove to Porcupine Mountain State Park to do some hiking. I really wanted to get some miles in today, since in a few weeks, I'll be hobbling around. We started out the day exploring a different kind of mine.  If you haven't figured it out yet, this area is full of copper mines.  This mine has not been restored at all, so we got to explore the ruins- only the surface buildings though.  The ruins are in a forest thick with trees, and it was about a half mile walk down a path to get there.  As we were looking around, I heard an unfamiliar noise.  Paul wasn't nearby so he didn't hear it.  It sounded a little like a small rumble of thunder, and since it was raining, I assumed that's what it was.  About 10 minutes later I was with Paul when we heard it again. This time it was closer, and really sounded more like an animal rumbling or growling.  Paul thought maybe it was a diesel engine starting, but in any case, he didn't argue when I said "let's get the heck outta here", (especially since there was no parking lot nearby.) We discussed and speculated for quite a while as to what it could have been. On the way out we saw fresh bear scat and weren't sure if  we had missed it on the way in, or it was brand new, but either way, we knew that there were bears in the vicinity.

    We explored the Park for a few more hours- its the largest state park in Michigan, and its right on the banks of Lake Superior.  We walked up to one lookout station, but the fog was so dense we couldn't see anything, so we moved on to a longer hike along the peak.

  We walked along the peak for about a mile and half.  It alternated between woodsy and cliffs overlooking the valley, with some great views now that the rain had stopped.  We were walking along minding our own business when we heard the same sound we had heard earlier, but close, and behind us.  Paul started looking up into the trees, but once again I just said "we're outta here" and we left.  This time there was no doubt.  It was an animal, and we're guessing it was a bear, since there aren't that many other animals around that could have made that sound.  The woman at the visitors center agreed that it could have been an unhappy bear.

Paul wondered why I happily hiked with bears in Yosemite, but today I wanted nothing to do with them.  Well, the bears in Yosemite came onto our trail knowing we were there, ready to peacefully co-exist.  These animals were clearly not interested in sharing space, and therefore, neither was I!