A Golden History

Juneau is an unexpected blend of fishermen, teachers, legislators, union workers, and frontier entrepreneurs. It also has a golden history. Harrisburg, was Juneau's original name before Richard Harris fell out of favor with the locals and they turned to his co-founder Joe Juneau. In 1880, the two prospectors relied on Chief Kowee of the Tlingit to guide them tot he mouth of Gold Creek where they discovered gold. This was Alaska's first major strike... and the rush was on!

Rainy and showery most of the day. Today is ‘free day’ at the local museums so we decided to check them out. First we had to plan our tours, so we went to talk with Corinna who runs the park and can assist with tour bookings. She wasn’t there so we left a message with Linda (her mom) and said we would check back later.

We drove down Mendenhall Loop Rd and turned onto Egan Drive towards Juneau to the state museum. Egan Drive follows the Gasteneau Channel and has views of Douglas Island which is not part of Juneau. The channel area provides wetland refuge for many species of birds. We passed many of the helo and seaplane tour locations and then turned onto Whittier Ave and parked in the museum lot. It has several exhibit rooms and we learned about the Athabascans and Inuits and saw Eskimo masks. They had a section on Alaska statehood, the Russian history, and of course famous Alaskan politicians. A section on animals had displays of Archiepelago wolves, eagles and bears. We still think the museum in Wrangell was the best.

Leaving town we crossed the Gastineau Channel to Douglas Island and followed the road 11 miles to the end. We had some great views of the Mendenhall Glacier and watched the fishing boats. The sun is starting to peek through - then more showers. We found the entrance to Eaglecrest Ski area and followed the road up the mountain to the base lodge. The area is very woodsy and muskeg covers a lot of the ground. There are a lot of walking and Nordic ski trails all over the mountain. The mountain still has snow on top and they run a zip line here in the summer.

Back down the mountain and across the bridge we found our way to Safeway and bought the Alaskan Value Saver book ($99). Corinna suggested we get this as it will save us hundreds of dollars on tours. It has coupons for places all over the state and can be used for hotels, campgrounds, and attractions.

Back at camp we relaxed and cooked pork chops on the grill. Corinna arrived with good & bad news. We can do a Tracy Arm tour tomorrow, but Glacier By doesn’t open until May 31. We’re disappointed, but there will be other things… there is lots more to see and do.