As we mentioned in our earlier Inside Passage blog, the Alaskan Marine Highway ferries stop in the towns and cities along the Alaskan coast that are difficult to access or not accessible by land. Juneau, the capital city of Alaska, is one such city and it can only be reached by boat or plane. It is a picturesque city on a slip of flat land scrunched between the ocean and the steep mountains from which spring a number of glaciers. We hopped off the ferry and spent a couple of relaxing days touring Juneau and its surrounds, the highlight being Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest.
Mendenhall Glacier is 12 miles from the center of Juneau and the most easily accessible. We rode our rented bikes out to the mouth of the glacier and spent a day wandering around the glacial lake and nearby forests. Unfortunately Mendenhall Glacier is melting at an alarming rate (according to the locals) and the glacial lake was filled with icebergs that had calved from the glacier. In fact, we saw this in action, as a large chunk of ice calved off the glacier whilst we were there. This was very cool to see, but also a little disconcerting.
Glacial ice has a unique crystalline structure (owing to the intense pressure from the weight of the glacier, all air is pushed out of the ice) that absorbs and reflects light. This gives the ice a bluish appearance. The most intense blue occurs in crevasses and when ice breaks off, or calves, from the glacier's face. The blue colour fades as the ice is exposed to the air and the crystalline structure breaks down when the air gets back into the ice.
We also saw a bald eagle eating a salmon. Awesome 'eh?
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