The last day in Juneau…the last day of our trip

Upon walking out of the hotel room on our last day, we were greeted with something that we had rarely seen over the previous 10 days --  Sun!   We knew we were in for a good day and took a 9 mile hike down Perseverance trail along with a trip to the salmon hatchery and the Alaskan brewing company.

Chris and I set out for the hike bundled up in case the weather returned but unbeknownst to us the sun would be out all day. we thought we were getting ourselves into a intermediate 3 mile hike but somewhere along the trail, we sorta lost our way.  With every turn on the hike, we were surrounded by incredible alpine scenery……waterfalls, snow drifts, and enormous mountains.  We tried to capture with our cameras but as usual it isn't always the same. below are some of the pics.

the was the first thing we saw entering the the trail

here i was able to climb out onto the rocks of a quickly moving river

one of the many bridges along the way

 

this where the trail ended for us. an avalanche had covered the trail and we weren't sure which way to go

two of the many water falls shooing down the mountains

 

the sun peaked through the clouds for most of the day. this is Chris cooling off

around the last bend for a final shot.

the night was finished with a great dinner reminiscing about our trip.

its been a one of a kind trip that ill be thinking about for years to come. again i cant thank the dads enough for this opportunity.

ill write one more blog to finalize things but for now its time to get packed up and head HOME.

Day 2: Juneau

Posted by Chris:

The day started as per usual.   A lot of rain and clouds and the prospects of a 10 hour boat ride ahead of us up the Tracy Arm Fjord. 

 

We had no idea what to expect but we hoped that the boat was covered.   As usual, despite the weather trying to hold us back, Alaska didn’t disappoint.

We boarded the Adventure Bound and got on our way up the Gastineau throughway enroute to the Arm.   Along the way we got glimpses of what to expect when we reached the glacier as we passed large icebergs and hoped that our captain was skilled enough to navigate our way to the glacier

The 23 days of straight rain that Juneau has received created some amazing waterfalls that cascaded throughout the entire Fjord.  Here is Mark enjoying the spray from one of them.

And another completely different waterfall.

As we neared the glacier, we hit more and more icebergs – so many that our captain actually doubted that we would be able to navigate through them.   Trev didnt look worried though… (note the glacier in the background).

 

Trev instead proceeded to go Ansel Adams on us once again and impress with his eye for visual aesthetics

 

We finally reached the glacier and it was insanely “cool”.

Throughout the trip, we constantly discussed what was the most impressive part: the glacier colors, glacier size (30 miles long – 7 miles in the US and 23 in Canada, 1/2 mile wide, and 300 feet above the water level), the glacier calving (see video of the end of one below), or just the absurdity of the fact that what we were witnessing was something that you don’t see every day much less every lifetime.

requisite group photo

 

to get an idea of how big it is since the pictures just dont do the experience justice if you can believe that….

On the way home, Trev and I decided that we should take our showers au naturale style in glacial snow melt waterfalls

However, it wasnt all fun and games on the way home since we had to be careful and take it slow.  We didnt want to pull a Shackleton and get stuck in the ice….  Which way would you go to get out???

Another amazing Alaskan day and adventure.  Tomorrow:  Some hiking, some ziplining, an Alaskan Brewery Tour, and wrapping up an epic Alaskan vacation before departing the day after.

Until tomorrow….

Day 1.5 in Juneau

the .5 part …the arrival

after weaving in and out of mountains (Juneau isn't the most accessible airport) we finally arrived in Juneau. first order of business was to take care of the rental car. Once that was done we made our way to Juneau, a pleasant surprise compared to Anchorage.

we quickly checked into our hotel, the silver bow, dropped off our bags and set out for dinner and a night out in Juneau. we went the recommended restaurant, the hanger, that sits on the water and looks out over the Gastineau throughway. dinner was highlighted by some cocktails followed by some shots.

long story short, it was a long eventful night hanging out with some of navy’s finest ….one of which i played lacrosse against at Georgetown….we reminisced about the overtime game we won in the worst weather conditions ever…small world.below is a picture 

anyway, Chris and i called it a night at around 2:30….we think

the next day we got up at the crack of dawn to go dog sledding. the plan was to take helicopters up into the mountains where we would land at dog camp. from there we would board our sleds and journey across the mountains. as each of us took turns guiding the sleds, barking out commands, i couldn't help but start laughing hysterically ….who am i and what am i doing right now.

below are some of the pictures that capture the day: 

on the helicopter…our mustaches are really gross/awesome/weird/amazing

just after we landed at dog  base camp. 

one thing is for sure …these dogs love what their doing.right as we were getting ready to set off the entire dog camp erupted in barks and houls….see the video below

the view from the sleds

me and this guy hit  it off

after sledding around for the day the helicopters picked us up and we headed back to Juneau

one of the highlights of the day happened on the walk back to the hotel. it went sorta like this

Trevor: Chris, are you alright, you kinda look green

Chris: yea, im ok

Trevor: are you going to get sick

Chris: yeah i think so….BLHAAAAA

too funny …i guess the night before finally caught up with him

thats it for today…see everyone tomorrow

A day in Anchorage

after seeing Kevin and my dad off …mark, Chris and I continued our trek down to Juneau. we had a quick half day layover in anchorage, so we decided to make the most of it

after an 8am departure from the hotel we set out to get a rental car. after some coffee and cinnamon buns, we were on our way. the weather was..well i think you get the point by now. that said we decided to head down the Alaska’s version of the pacific coast highway to check out some scenery and to get glance at some glaciers. the consensus was to head in the direction of Denali which in lies in Chugash national park. the road ran along the the turnagain arm throughway on one side and mountains as far as the eye can see on the other. the scenery along the way was incredible.we did our best to capture it but the pictures don’t really do it justice.

this was our first picture. not really sure what we’re doing

the view from the car…not too shabby

this was our pimp ride for the day…i think it was a tight squeeze for our 6’4 mark

as we got closer to the glaciers the river water to turned foggy, almost turquoise color. i think this its due to its close proximity to glaciers accompanied by the multitude of minerals at the base of the mountains…but i could be completely making that up.

to get a better view we stopped by a stream to get a better look. i decided to give it a go and dunked my foot in…..freezing

the view at the bottom of kenai glacier

as always…

after a 3 hour tour that included multiple stops, it was time to head back to airport where we would set out for Juneau. to kill some time we stuffed our faces at a local burger joint….beers, burgers, wings,beers and more beers.

we returned the car, boarded our plane and we were off!

Raft Trip…the Finale

the last day started off a little slow for some of us. in fear that we would miss a minute of fun, some of us stayed up the night before and enjoyed some good times entertaining….and apparently some aerobics.

not really knowing what a raft trip entailed, we boarded the float plane and were off to another remote destination. a few allman brother songs later we banked hard left and landed on yet another Alaskan lake. a short hike later we were on top of a cliff looking down on the plane on one side and on the other, our river for the day…see below

 

we boarded our rafts and we were off. the plan for the day was to float to various fishing spots while “hunting” for that trophy rainbow. although the sockeye could’ve been caught by sticking our hands in the water…we weren't interested. the goal for the day was rainbows!

 

oh yeah…..once again the scenery wasn’t too shabby to say the least.

 

At times one could become so enamored with the fishing and taking in the scenery….it was easy to forget about the surrounding wildlife…ie the bears. this paw print was our first indicator as we got in our rafts. the guides told us not to have bear-anoia

hey Chris, keep looking pretty …don’t mind the 500 pd bear and her cubs 25 yards behind you

Geoff striking a pose with our new best friends…

In typical Alaskan fashion, the fishing didn’t disappoint.  below is mark with his 26 inch rainbow trout

Chris following in his fathers footsteps

kevin…not so much

Getter done!

here we are at the end of our day. we were greeted with yet another flyby followed by a landing that had all of us clapping(video coming soon). btw…its now normal for us board float planes on a daily basis

its now 11pm and i’m taking some time to reflect on the day but more importantly on the week.

before i get into that…this blog might have to be posted tomorrow b/c we are flirting with joining the staff either at the local bar in town (the only bar in town) or messing with the bear that I’m staring at right now on the dock….

Geoff and Mark,

on behalf of Kevin and Chris……THANK YOU. being able to share an unforgettable experience like this with you is one of a kind. We will tell stories and laugh about this trip forever.  whether in Alaska, New York, Philly or Seattle…we cherish every minute we spend with you.

for those following along….thank you for the comments. i hope you enjoyed it. we still have a ton of videos to upload so stay tuned.

friends, family,gf’s, and everyone else…..miss you guys…we’re coming home soon

wait….i have another week in Juneau with Chris and Mark so if you are interested in hearing about glacier hikes, helicopters, and other Alaskan adventures keep checking the blog for pictures and stories.

DATS WUZ UP!