Juneau where we are going?

So, a few more posts about Alaska! Our next stop was Juneau. We were there on the best day ever. The sun was shinning and the air was warm. It was a perfect day. We didn't have any plans, so we just decided to get on shore and make our own plans!

Our first stop was the Juneau Fish Hatchery.  We talked to a nice lady from the Juneau Visitor Center about some fun places to visit.  She recommended we take the bus and visit the hatchery.  It was so fascinating to see the salmon return to where they were born... or in this case hatched!  HAHAHA  They have a fish ladder to help the fish make it to the top of the hatchery.

Salmon trying to swim upstream

Waiting to get in the stream... look at how thick... it was crazy

More fish jumping up stream...
After we had our fill of fish jumping,
I called a Taxi to come and pick us up.  I had had enough of the Juneau bus system. 

Our taxi driver took us to this cool place to eat right on the water and we could watch the planes come and go.   We ordered a nice lunch of fish and chips!

After our nice lunch, it was time for our WHALE WATCHING Tour.  Somewhere along the way, we made arrangements for a tour at 1:00, so we had to hurry to get to the pick up spot.

The whales we were able to see are Humpback Whales.  They are huge.
The whales will come to the surface and blow air out and then float for a few minutes and then dive under.  They usually stay under for 10 to 15 minutes.  That is how they do their feeding. 

As they flip under, you get to see their beautiful tales.  

We were able to see about 9 or 10 different whales on our tour.   Including a  mother and her calf.

Sea lions resting on a bouy

You can see Mendenhall Glacier in the background.  Notice the clear day!

This is the boat we were on for the Whale Watching tour.  It was named the Summer Star!

Our next stop was Mendenhall Glacier National Park.  This was a beautiful spot and very busy with families and tourists hiking and viewing the Glacier.  We were warned to beware of bears and don't pack food into the park.  We had just enough time to take the hike to the Glacier.  It was about a 1/2 mile hike one way. We had 2 hours to visit the park, so we had to hurry to get in everything.

The view of the Glacier as you see it from the trail head.  Notice the bluish color... all the glaciers have this blue tint.

The water melting off the Glacier!  A HUGE waterfall

It was surprisingly warm next to the glacier

Mendenhall Glaicer

Another view as we were hiking out... notice the ice chunks in the water.

The huge waterfall from the visitor center... 

You can see how huge the glacier is compared to the big waterfall, next to the glacier on the left!  The people in the foreground are the on the trail.

We didn't see any bears on the trail despite the fact we had a back pack full of food including left over fish and chips from lunch!  It was a fun hike.

Another great day in Alaska .. Next we headed back to the boat and a relaxing evening of dining we also attended the show "Do You Wanna Dance?"

Our next stop is Skagway, Alaska... GOLDRUSH Central!