Introduction to Glacier Blue
Even though downtown Juneau leans more toward a tourist’s town than a local’s lair, I found myself appreciating the simple accomplishment of visiting. Located in a channel and surrounded by mountains, there are no roads into or out of the state’s capital – it’s either by boat or by plane.
Splurge: Feast or Flight to Taku Lodge
We were in the sky when I had my first shock and awe moment, flying over a glacier in route from Juneau to Taku Lodge. It was a small, 12-seater seaplane and from the window I could see the pools of blue water on top of the white snow. It relaxed my lower jaw and forced me to push my sunglasses to the top of my head – the color I was seeing couldn’t possibly exist.
You’ll see it in the photos – that ridiculous blue – so unlike any other shade of my favorite color. Don’t think sky blue or Caribbean blue, this is glacier blue, a category of its own. It symbolizes such a fresh and pure quality – I think that’s what draws me to the color blue in the first place. It is an instigator of deep breaths, for sure, and I looked over at my friends in disbelief.
Upon landing on the Taku river (which feels about the same as landing on concrete, although the view out the window is much better) and arriving at the lodge, I sat on a swinging bench on the front porch, looking out over the water, the glacier coming down the mountain to my left. I could see the blue tint in the glacier – the frozen block of ice clearly could not be described as being plain white. Readers in the northern part of America should not picture the snow in their backyards – this was different (the ice is frozen so solid that it pushes out all the oxygen. When light enters it creates a prism, producing the blue hue).
Because of the grilling of the salmon, the lodge is known to attract bears – apparently they are routinely spotted at the nearby edge of the woods, curiously smelling the air. We were not so lucky as to have a sighting that day, although I would get my wish the following day in Skagway.
I can see why the bears come calling: Not only was the salmon delicious (along with the baked beans, herb biscuits, apple compote, and ginger cookies), but could you ask for a better setting? Sitting in a lodge in the Alaskan wilderness beside a glacier, eating grilled salmon that was caught from local waters, looking out the window and seeing the seaplanes land on the river, the lower green vegetation leading up to the snow-capped peaks of the mountains. Throw in an Alaskan Amber and check back on me in a couple hours, please. For more information on this Flight and Feast excursion to Taku Lodge, visit http://www.wingsairways.com/flight-and-feast-tour.html.
Save: Local Bus to Mendenhall Glacier
For those on a tighter budget, you can take the Glacier Express Blue Bus to Mendenhall Glacier($16 round trip). When you tire of the jewelry and novelty shops that are abundant in downtown Juneau, walk up to the top of Franklin Street and take a hike through parts of Tongass National Forest (they have built a nice “boardwalk” through the forest and there are plenty of waterfalls. Ask a local for directions as you must wind your way through a neighborhood to access it… 15-20 minute walk from downtown). You can also take the funicular to the top of the mountain from the port for views of the harbor.
Stop Two: Skagway Rich in Gold Rush History
I won’t be a tease, I’ll get right down to it: Skagway had more bars and brothels during the late 19th/early 20th century Alaskan Gold Rush than Vegas has strip clubs. Most are obviously no longer in operation, however at that time there were over 70 of them (FYI you can walk from one side of downtown to the other in about 10 minutes).
Most famous is the Red Onion Saloon, hard to miss in the center of town. Skagway was a stopover/launching point for men participating in the gold rush, and did they ever need some entertainment (especially after being lied to by journalists re: the feasibility and ease of finding wealth).The men would come into the Red Onion and order a shot of whiskey, at which point they would eye the line of dolls on the shelf behind the bar. They were all carved in the image of one of the girls working upstairs, and if the doll was upright she was available.