Sunday, July 8, 2012

Juneau Hikes

Boy Scout Beach

Ryan at Boy Scout Beach

Perseverance Mine - this valley was once full of mining activity and a whole town

The "Glory Hole" at Perseverance Mine

Bill and Ryan on the trail to Herbert Glacier

Herbert Glacier
I've been in Juneau for the last few days hanging out with Ryan. He finished working a few days ago but is staying until Tuesday to put the truck, trailer, and boat on the ferry back to Seattle. This turned out to be a great chance for us to explore Juneau and be on vacation before spending the rest of the summer mostly apart (I'll be in Kodiak and elsewhere in AK).

Our goal has been to hike as many trails as possible while we're here. On Thursday we did a little walk to Boy Scout Beach. One of our friends had told us it was the nicest beach in Juneau. It was. It has white sand and it was actually kind of warm while we were there. And we had fun watching jumping fish and seals. We also got a lot of amusement out of hearing a little boy who was fishing with his family storm away from them yelling "I hate fishing. I want to go home. Fishing sucks." All the adults ignored him. Poor kid (it's still funny though)!

On Friday we hiked up to Perseverance Mine. There was a lot of really cool mining history - a little museum and lots of signs along the trail. I'm not sure I got my $5 worth out of that museum, but Ryan certainly got $10 worth of amusement out of seeing a giant air compressor from the early 20th century. He liked it so much that after we left, he decided to go back to take a picture. We also enjoyed the new trail to "The Glory Hole" - a hole 1/3 mile in diameter and 700-1000 ft deep. It's pretty crazy the things these miners did for gold.

Yesterday was the first day it REALLY rained. We did an easy hike in the woods to the Herbert Glacier with our friends Bill and Chelsea. That's a good hike for a nasty day. Today, I see sun!

2 comments:

  1. They still do CRAZY things for gold. Think the big proposed pit at Pebble. Patrick

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  2. Yep. And I think for the most part mining is out of sight, out of mind - either in third world countries or in remote parts of the country. Pebble is making a big splash because it's near a huge fishery, but other mines barely attract notice.

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