Icy Straight Point and Juneau...

Our first shore excursion while on our cruise was the tiny (very tiny) town of Hoonah, AK - otherwise known as Icy Straight Point.  We had an Ocean Raft adventure planned while at this stop. While walking to the raft office, we came across this...

Don't know if you can spot it in the picture or not, but that is a bald eagle a the tip top of the tree.  You may have to stand on your head and squint to see it, but it is there.  The picture doesn't do justice to the magnificent beauty of this bird.  I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I have seen a bald eagle in the wild, so this was definitely a treat to see!

We made our way to the raft office, and after some great confusion from the staff, we loaded our boat nearly 45 minutes past the scheduled time.  Nonetheless, we were excited for an action packed adventure on the high speed boat.

The description on the adventure promised high speed thrills, but a variety of times when the boat would stop to take in the wildlife or waterfalls or tidal flats, and an opportunity to capture those said things with your camera.

We definitely started out with the high speed thrills.  It was fast, really fast!  We stopped to find one seal perched on the buoy.

After finding that one seal (and a family of seals WAY off in the distance), we resumed the high speed thrills for the next hour, making no stops to take in anything nature had to offer.    Either the gas pedal was stuck on the raft, or the captain had some time to make up for getting us on the water late.  Either way.  There may have been some great wildlife out on the banks of the ocean shore, but we definitely didn't see them.

After the high speed jaunt around the area of Hoonah, we explored the tiny village and went for a short nature walk. The scenery was beautiful and it was good for the soul to be able to explore the beautiful Alaskan nature.

After a somewhat duddy ocean raft adventure, nature took the win!

Our next port of call was the capital city of Juneau, AK.  A little fun fact... there are no roads in or out of Juneau.  Juneau is comprised of approximately 40 miles of roads throughout and around the city.  The only way to see this city is to come by boat or air.  Crazy to think about for the capital city!

In Juneau, we took a city trolley tour.  It gave a brief history of the city, and we go to see the landmarks throughout town.

We first landed at the Salmon fish hatchery.  Sounds boring, I know, but it was actually very informative and kind of neat to see.

Another little interesting fact... Pacific salmon only have one mate.  That is because a salmon is born in a said location.  After birth, it makes its journey out into the ocean to live a great life.  When it is ready to spawn, it makes its way back to the same exact location of its birth.  After mating, both the mother and father die.  Sad, you might think. But a single female salmon can lay upwards of 15,000-20,000 eggs.  Sit on that thought for a minute.

This is one of four tanks within the hatchery.  I have no idea how many salmon are in there, but its a ton.

Look at that King Crab... 

Anyway, we happened to be at the hatchery about the time spawning was beginning to take place.  Some salmon had returned....

The picture above isn't great, but each salmon has a story.  You can see this salmon at the bottom must have gotten tangled up in a fishing net or gotten in a brawl with something mean.  He is all scratched up.  I wish I knew his story.

Because of the spawning salmon, the area was flooded (almost rendering us speechless) with bald eagles.  Having maybe seen a handful in my whole life, I exponentially grew that static after this visit.  They were EVERYWHERE and were within feet of us at times.  Speechless - the beauty! We tried to count them, but lost track.

I realize the pictures do this bird no justice at all!

After leaving the hatchery, we made our way to the most expensive whale in the city - a neat (fairly new) sculpture for Juneau.

Our last stop was the Mendenhall Glacier, where we meandered through the visitor's center and then took to the trails.  Here we spoke to a park ranger and realized just how significantly global warming is affecting not only this glacier, but Alaska as a whole.

Projections were made back in 2009 - just ten years ago - that by 2050 the glacier would have receded to a said point.  Sadly, they have already reached the point of recession in 2019.  That means we are 31 years ahead of schedule in the whole melting, receding process.  Scary!

All that said, the beauty of this glacier is astonishing to take in.

After looking at the glacier from afar, the four of us wanted to explore Nugget Falls - the waterfall to the right of the glacier - up close and personal.  We said good bye to Nana and Papa and headed off on the hiking trail.

This is the beauty of Nugget Falls - up close and personal.  It's an amazing breathtaking waterfall.  Fun fact - it wasn't until 1986 that this waterfall was visible to those visiting the glacier.  Because of the retreating glacier,  the waterfall (that was always underneath the glacier) became visible.

Look close at those daredevils on the rocks.  I channeled my inner calm, and didn't freak out that they had climbed so high!

As you can see by our clothing attire, thanks to the Mother Nature (and most likely global warming), the weather was a hot one!  That's why touching this 200 year old glacier ice "cube" in the visitor's center was so refreshing after our long hike!

The winner from Juneau was a tough call - the salmon, the eagles, or the glacier and waterfall.  In the end, I think nature wins again!

Next up, our time in Skagway and in Glacier Bay/College Fjord.... more exciting adventures to come!