Climbing Mount Healy

I knew that I had hurt my knee more than a year ago while wandering about on the Appalachian Trail. How bad was a mystery. I have hiked at least a hundred miles since coming to Alaska-- many of those hikes with some steep portions. Despite that, I was not ready for Mount Healy. Constant uphill climbing and winds battering at least 45 miles an hour (there were times when, quite literally, I was blown down) my knee gave out about two thirds of the way to the top of the 5000+ foot peak, forcing me to cower down from the gales and wait for Joe to finish. I'll never be a mountain climber-- just a hiker. However, the section of Healy I covered were spectacular.

the mountain

tropical storm force winds, at least

point alexander

Savage River

It was a beautiful day for a hike along Savage River.

a hoary marmot

Polychrome Pass

I took an evening bus trip into Denali to see Polychrome Pass in the westerly light. Simply unbelievable.

caribou, running

mighty Teklanika

caribou keep their heads in the brush to ward off mosquitos

The Krewe

A group photo, encompassing almost everyone... and at least one utter stranger.

Exploring Old Healy

Old Healy is thus titled because it was to be the site for the town before it... wasn't. Quite frankly, I don't know why the town was moved... probably something to do with the highway coming through. Anyway, the original site is a lovely area filled with sand cliffs and greenery.

J and K

Piper, the resident border collie

Kelsey and Nikki

Overview

Daredeviling under Windy Bridge

Windy bridge takes the George Parks Highway over the Nenana river between Healy and McKinley Village. It is thus named because of the speed of the breeze whipping through the canyon. We hung out here one afternoon-- drank some beers, watched the river, and balanced our way across somewhat oblivious the the drop below.

Rafting the Nenana beneath the bridge. We rafted earlier in the summer-- good times!

Johnny, giving a shining example of the kind of ridiculous shenanigans we should not have partaken in whilst drinking.

On the Cruise: Harbour Seals

Embrace the cute. Just wrap it up in your arms and make it part of you. You know you can't resist.

On the Cruise: the Sawyer Glacier

The Sawyer Glacier, a magnificent and mammoth sheet of ice, was the climax of my day cruise. Standing on the ship, staring at the wall of ice (the photos do not do the size of the thing justice), watching with bated breath as chunk broke off and fell crashing and tumbling into the sea, was one of the most dwarfing experiences of my life.

On the Cruise: the Tracy Arm Fjord

According to the Wiktionary, a fjord is a long narrow inlet between cliffs. That is true. I will supply the fact that they are often formed by glacial movement; my captain will supply the opinion that the Tracy Arm Fjord rivals those in Scandinavia and New Zealand. That I cannot attest to, although I can attest to the utter beauty of the Tracy Arm.

These photos do not do justice to being amongst the cliffs, surrounded by such wild natural splendor.

On the Cruise: Icebergs

On the Cruise: Wildlife

My final day in Juneau I took a day cruise into the Tracy Arm Fjord to view the Sawyer Glacier-- it offered a wide array of stunning scenery and several great wildlife sightings. Aside from the ones below, we also saw bald eagles, humpback whales and harbour seals. The first and the final can be viewed in posts linked to their titles.

a black bear

a sea lion

In the Rainforest

Juneau, and most of Southeast Alaska for that matter, is located in the Tongass National Forest, a temperate rainforest teeming with flora and fauna.