this side.
Selected Trip Journal entries:
5:00 AM = Left motel (3 1/2 hours sleep last night)
5498.9 trip miles. 14556 total.
5:30 AM = Parked at ANC's long term parking lot... almost every traffic light coming here was green! This is same as short-term lot -- no bus! Now on to the 50th state capital! (I'm parked in H88)
Beautiful mountain and glacier views from the plane!! I must have seen about 6-7 glaciers through the clouds. Also got about 45 minutes sleep...
10:15 AM = Started 2006 White Ford Escape 4WD with 6 CD changer and no moonroof. 457 total odometer miles on this car! 0.0 trip miles on this car. Dont know which direction I'm going first - probably South..
Drove by the state capitol building -- not much.
10:52/16.1 miles = End of the road in South direction. this side.
Till 11:13/17.6 miles = A bald eagle, many other gulls, and LITERALLY THOUSANDS of salmon trying to make it up river... they were stacked on top of each other in shallow water, many of them also lying dead on a rock.. but the bald eagle was impressive -- first one seen in the wild!
11:30/21.3 = Parked at Mount Roberts Tramway.
11:37 = Back to car. I'm not paying 25 bucks for this on an overcast day! Got better things to do today...
11:58/34.6 = Parked at the star attraction -- Mendenhall Glacier (on Mendenhall Loop Road).
1:20 = Back to car... Couldn't go ON the glacier, just a viewpoint.. and there are way too many people here for my liking -- I was getting used to the animals-only North Slope, now it's just too many people from 4 cruiseships docked in the harbor! This is not the Alaska I know! The glacier itself is ok -- more blue than others on this trip, but there's no foot access to it. for that reason, 
with the crowds. This is Grand Canyon crowds -- unbelievable!! Where did these human beings come from all of a sudden in a state full of carribou, mountains, lakes, rivers, and bears??
Alright, enough of this rant -- I'm headed north again...
I hope Seward, Homer, Haines, and Skagway will be more like "the Alaska I know"..
2:57/69.8 miles = Northern end of the road ... that was nice, I'm in complete wilderness here and in the last 20 miles I've only seen about 10-20 humans ... but very few animals -- lot of streams, bay views, mountain views...
Now back to Juneau......
3:50/101.5 trip miles = Travelodge Juneau Airport.
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| July 31 | Contents | August 2 |