An unexpected trip to Juneau

While we were in Haines we found a brochure advertising a relatively recently initiated high speed catamaran trip being offered on a daily roundtrip basis to Juneau. Although Juneau is the state capital of Alaska we had not expected to be able to go there unless we were to take the very expensive ferry and, as stated in an earlier post, we had decided to not do that. Juneau can only be reached by air or sea as there are no roads into Juneau from the rest of the mainland due to the steep mountain ranges and glaciers surrounding the entire area of the southern Alaska panhandle. The catamaran trip offered a new option and we decided to stay an extra night in Skagway and enjoy the opportunity.

Most unfortunately, Pat slipped while going down a very steep gangway to a lower pier to board the catamaran and wrenched her shoulder, causing a problem that would plague her for the rest of the trip and longer. She did not realize at the time how much it was going to bother her and we did go on the trip. The 2 1/2 hour boat ride was delightful, sighting seals and dolphins along the way while served by a freindly crew. Include in the day long package was a bus tour of Juneau, shopping time and a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier shown in photo and the information center where we viewed a nice film on the glacier and area. We lunched at the historic and quaint Red Dog Saloon located in the center of the intown photo. That photo also shows the mountains close behind the city. Of course we took full advantage of the shopping to buy the last of our Alaska trip gifts for family and friends.


Our return trip was very plesant yeilding views of a large rainbow and a particularly picturesque lighthouse. We also enjoyed a light meal of smoked salmon chowder served by the crew. We arrived back home about 8 PM still enjoying the extended daylight.