Bear Food

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Night three; my first night in a real bed; my first night on dry land. Three giant cruise ships pulled out of Skagway as our humble ferry pulled in. I could almost hear the citizens of Skagway collectively groan: You again? It must be like having your poor relatives show up while you're still counting the loot your rich uncle left behind.

I had to tramp through town in the dark to get to my hostel. Skagway looks charming: wooden sidewalks, noisy saloons, assaying offices. I can't imagine what it's like with 9000 tourists wearing I've been to Disneyland T-shirts crowding its streets.

I rented a little cabin behind the hostel for a couple of nights. Over the phone it sounded cool. Just before she hung up, though, Janylin, the proprietress referred to it as the Play House. I was shocked upon arriving to discover that it really is a playhouse, barely big enough to fit my bed. So much for fantasies of a log cabin deep in the woods.

I had a long day. I used my six hour layover in Juneau to visit the Mendenhall glacier. It's so huge it appeared to be across the street from the ferry terminal, but in fact it's a $20 cab ride to get there. It was early, and so I was a jump ahead of the tour operators. I managed to complete a spectacular three mile hike just as they arrived.

I tried to get as close to the glacier as I could. The leading edge of the glacier forms a melt pond of steel gray water. Eerie deep blue ice sculptures float in the pond, some as big as houses.

A raised walkway follows a stream that runs in front of the visitor's center. Although shallow, the stream was clogged with huge bright red salmon. A black bear was pulling them out of the stream. I noticed that the area around the stream was littered with half eaten salmon carcasses. The bear's cubs watched from trees above. They must have been curious about the throng of tourists photographing their mother.

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Photos

Mama Bear
Mama bear pulls salmon out of the stream while the baby watches from the tree

Ice Berg Pond
The melt pond in front of the glacier is filled with mini ice bergs that look like modern art

Self Portrait #2
Me 'n' Mendenhall

The Play House
My "log cabin"

Skagway
The cruise ships are physically larger than the town itself. It's like one city visiting another. like New York visiting Fresno!

Mendenhall Glacier
Imagine negotiating this wall of ice in your bare feet 20K years ago,

Comments

[conniff]

bearing up
Love your blog and envy you the travel. Be careful out there!