We woke up this morning in Juneau, Alaska's state capital in the middle of the expansive wilderness.
The
Gastineau Channel provides water access to the town. For centuries the
Tlinglit people hunted and fished along the shores. In 1880 Joe Juneau discovered gold and Juneau became a mining camp. There are more miles of underground tunnels in Mt. Roberts than there are roads in all of Juneau.
Juneau was the seat of government for the Alaska Territory then became the state capital in 1959 when Alaska received statehood. Juneau sits in the
Tongass National Forest-the largest temperate
rainforest in North America, covering 17 million acres and includes all of Alaska's Inside Passage. Juneau has over 260 miles of hiking trails and only 41 miles of roadways.
Many of the town's oldest buildings from the mining days are still in use. The Red Dog Saloon, in the middle is on the National Registry of Historic Sites.
There is over 1500 sq miles of glaciers to Juneau's east.
Mendenall Glacier (above) is just a 12 mile arm of the Juneau
Icefield. It is 1.5 miles wide and 1,800' deep.
Mendenhall is just one of over 130 glacial valleys. See what looks to be a tiny waterfall off to the right hand side of this picture...we decided to walk out to see it up close.
Stopping to see flowers on the way out.
This is the tiny waterfall. To give you an idea of scale-Erik is in the white. Most glaciers in the northeast have tiny ice worms living in them. Luckily they said this glacier does not because Erik had the boys drinking glacier melt.
Glacial ice has a unique crystalline structure that absorbs and reflects light giving the ice a blue color. The most intense blue occurs in crevasses and when ice calves-breaks off.
A glacial silt beach from the ice grinding rock into a fine silt.
Erica spent her time looking for beautiful rocks along the beach. She had a story for each one.
I spent my time watching the Arctic Terns. They have a nesting area I wish I could have gotten closer to. They are interesting to watch. They flap their wings like crazy but stay in one spot, hovering over the lake.
Loads of beaver lodges.
This is the Juneau wet lands.
We had been watching these big black crows and ravens. We thought they were huge until we saw one sitting next to an eagle!
It was so exciting to see an eagle sitting still and not far away.
We stopped at
DIPAC, a non-profit fish hatchery. In 1974, when salmon reached an all time low the state allowed private hatcheries to open. After having incubated salmon eggs on the back porch the first year, the permanent incubation facility became located in an old mining shaft the following year. The mining shaft was one of Joe Juneau's original gold mining claims. There had been no salmon returns at
Kowee Creek in 7 years. Volunteers used a beach seine (net) to catch the pink and chum salmon at Fish Creek. Egg-take and fertilization was done on site. The following spring, the salmon fry were moved to
DIPAC's first fish pond - a children's swimming pool purchased from Sears. 30,000 salmon returned to
Kowee Creek. I love how they fertilize the
eggs, release the fry which travel to the ocean and return to the
original stream four years later to spawn. Scientists can only
hypothesize how salmon are able to return to the stream where they were born.
At the hatchery the kids got to look at and touch some local sea life.
Next we went out into the Channels to watch some larger wildlife.
We had great views of a few more of the glaciers.
The scenery was amazing.
There are more than 100,000 breeding pairs of bald eagles in southeast Alaska. They nest along the shore and look like little white
golfballs in the trees.
Adults weigh 9-14 lbs with a wingspan of 6-8 ft. The females are larger. They can spot prey up to 2 miles away. Since eagles can't fly with more than 4-6 lb of fish they hunt close to shore.
Eagles keep the same nest adding to it each year. They lay 1-3 eggs a year and resemble a golden eagle-white flecked light brown color until they get their white head and tail when they are about 4 yrs old.
Bald eagles live about 30 yrs. They don't migrate.
The Gastineau Channel provides water access to the town. For centuries the Tlinglit people hunted and fished along the shores. In 1880 Joe Juneau discovered gold and Juneau became a mining camp. There are more miles of underground tunnels in Mt. Roberts than there are roads in all of Juneau.
Juneau was the seat of government for the Alaska Territory then became the state capital in 1959 when Alaska received statehood. Juneau sits in the Tongass National Forest-the largest temperate rainforest in North America, covering 17 million acres and includes all of Alaska's Inside Passage. Juneau has over 260 miles of hiking trails and only 41 miles of roadways.
Many of the town's oldest buildings from the mining days are still in use. The Red Dog Saloon, in the middle is on the National Registry of Historic Sites.
There is over 1500 sq miles of glaciers to Juneau's east. Mendenall Glacier (above) is just a 12 mile arm of the Juneau Icefield. It is 1.5 miles wide and 1,800' deep. Mendenhall is just one of over 130 glacial valleys. See what looks to be a tiny waterfall off to the right hand side of this picture...we decided to walk out to see it up close.
Stopping to see flowers on the way out.
This is the tiny waterfall. To give you an idea of scale-Erik is in the white. Most glaciers in the northeast have tiny ice worms living in them. Luckily they said this glacier does not because Erik had the boys drinking glacier melt.
Glacial ice has a unique crystalline structure that absorbs and reflects light giving the ice a blue color. The most intense blue occurs in crevasses and when ice calves-breaks off.
A glacial silt beach from the ice grinding rock into a fine silt.
Erica spent her time looking for beautiful rocks along the beach. She had a story for each one.
I spent my time watching the Arctic Terns. They have a nesting area I wish I could have gotten closer to. They are interesting to watch. They flap their wings like crazy but stay in one spot, hovering over the lake.
Loads of beaver lodges.
This is the Juneau wet lands.
We had been watching these big black crows and ravens. We thought they were huge until we saw one sitting next to an eagle!
It was so exciting to see an eagle sitting still and not far away.
We stopped at DIPAC, a non-profit fish hatchery. In 1974, when salmon reached an all time low the state allowed private hatcheries to open. After having incubated salmon eggs on the back porch the first year, the permanent incubation facility became located in an old mining shaft the following year. The mining shaft was one of Joe Juneau's original gold mining claims. There had been no salmon returns at Kowee Creek in 7 years. Volunteers used a beach seine (net) to catch the pink and chum salmon at Fish Creek. Egg-take and fertilization was done on site. The following spring, the salmon fry were moved to DIPAC's first fish pond - a children's swimming pool purchased from Sears. 30,000 salmon returned to Kowee Creek. I love how they fertilize the eggs, release the fry which travel to the ocean and return to the original stream four years later to spawn. Scientists can only hypothesize how salmon are able to return to the stream where they were born.
At the hatchery the kids got to look at and touch some local sea life.
Next we went out into the Channels to watch some larger wildlife.
We had great views of a few more of the glaciers.
The scenery was amazing.
There are more than 100,000 breeding pairs of bald eagles in southeast Alaska. They nest along the shore and look like little white golfballs in the trees.
Adults weigh 9-14 lbs with a wingspan of 6-8 ft. The females are larger. They can spot prey up to 2 miles away. Since eagles can't fly with more than 4-6 lb of fish they hunt close to shore.
Eagles keep the same nest adding to it each year. They lay 1-3 eggs a year and resemble a golden eagle-white flecked light brown color until they get their white head and tail when they are about 4 yrs old.
Bald eagles live about 30 yrs. They don't migrate.
North Pacific humpback baleen whales feed in the krill rich Alaskan channels. There are about 750 that travel through Alaskan waters. They migrate 3,000 miles away to HI in as few as 30 days. Baleen whales do not live or travel in groups.
We were lucky enough to observe a rarely seen behavior of 4 whales cooperating to feed. They circle a huge ball of krill then surge from underneath.
Steller Sea Lions range from 8-10' and 600-1200 lbs. They are distinguished from seals by their larger size, ear flaps, rotating rear flippers, and narrow muzzles that point upward as they surface. We got to see them swimming and hanging out snoozing on the buoy. They are so cute.
We did get to see a whale breach but I wasn't able to get a picture.
The route we took and where we saw the whales and seals.
After dinner the kids couldn't wait to go to their clubs. Perfect way to end an amazing day.
1 comment:
This was my favorite day that you posted! I love all the wildlife! The picture with multiple bald eagles flying and the mountain in the background was amazing!
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