Wed. June 30: This morning we awoke to steady rain at the dock in Juneau. Our lovely and totally non-typical-for-Alaska weather had come to an end. After an early breakfast up at the Horizon Court we went out to meet our Tour Guide at 7:50am for a hike through the rain forest near Mendenhall Glacier. An old school bus took us to the trail head a few miles from the town. Considering it is the state capital Juneau is a small town, reachable only by plane or boat. Alaskans are constantly voting on moving the capital to the more centrally located Anchorage, but so far it hasn’t happened. We saw many bald eagles along the way, drawn by the salmon that have returned to the bay but not yet started up the rivers to spawn. As the rain continued we suited up in rain ponchos or water proof jackets and pants and began the hike. The knowledgeable guide told us some of the history and much about the characteristics of this glacially carved, lush, rain forest area. The rain came down the entire time and my feet were soon soaked up to my knees. But we were hiking with a family with four kids ranging in age from 4 to 14 who were remarkably good sports about the conditions so one couldn’t dare complain! We hiked four miles and rose 700 feet, over a high ridge overlooking the glacier. It was fascinating to see how the terrain has been affected by the retreating glacier, with major changes as recently as 1965 when the ice was a mile closer than it is now. At one point we saw AJ Falls, which reminded us of our little friend, AJ, back in East Lansing and his Nana and G’pa Jim. One disappointment was that when we reached the Visitor Center put in by the U.S. Forest Service we were sort of rushed from it, its displays, and the path out closer to the Mendenhall Glacier; because they were not included in our tour and we had to get on the bus to return to the ship. Ann tried to find a way to stay, visit the Center and return later to the ship, but it would have been tricky to accomplish and at our expense. We were tired enough and wet enough at that point not to be inclined to work it out. We also chose not to be dropped off in the downtown area to check out the shops and use our freebie coupons in Juneau. Instead we were dropped back at the ship where we parted ways with Ann and Shelby to change into dry clothes and get our lunch. Ann wasn’t feeling too well because she had a head cold. So Marv and I spent most of the rest of the day as a twosome. Afterwards, we went to the Princess Theater to hear Libby Riddles talk about being the first woman to win the Iditarod in 1985 and her life since then. It was interesting and she had a good combination of pictures and video. Back in our cabin I worked on the journal and Marv napped until we went to another presentation by Sandy the Naturalist on the Animals of Coastal Alaska. When we went back to our cabin we decided to do laundry, not realizing how close it was to our dinner reservation at the Pacific Moon. It all worked out okay with Marv running up to get the laundry out of the dryer after appetizers and before soup (I had my fourth chilled soup of the voyage!). He had rock fish with chocolate pie for dessert and I had Beef Wellington with Princess Love Boat (chocolate mousse) and a scoop of mandarin sorbet. We left just in time to catch the new musical show by the Princess cast, where we sat with Ann and Shelb. As they headed straight to their cabin afterwards we wandered the ship a bit, stopping for a while in the Wheelhouse Lounge to listen to the combo and even danced! At the Explorers Lounge there wasn’t anything happening but as we passed a set of doors I happened to see a pod of humpbacks just off the starboard side of the ship. We watched them and others for a while and then decided to see if we could watch some from our cabin. We were delighted to find see many Dall’s porpoises right beside the ship and, further out, a pretty constant parade of whales. Finally they didn’t seem to be appearing anymore, it became too dark to see them very well, and it was 10:15 so we went to bed.
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