Training Time!

Here's a quick update for y'all: yesterday was my first official day of training for work!  It was really nice to get to meet some of the people that I'll be working with; everyone seems really great and I'm thrilled to get know them more as the season gets underway.  The first cruise ship of the season arrives on May 1, and it's going to get really busy really fast.  Looking forward to getting underway!

On another note, Amanda and I got to take a tour of the NOAA lab here in Juneau today!  A family friend of her's works for NOAA and was able to take us there to look around.  It was incredible!  Really great facilities and some very intriguing research being done.  Amanda was absolutely enthralled and really really wants to work there.  I'm keeping my options open for now. :)

That's all for now.  I'll keep y'all informed as I get more settled into the routine.

Because everyone needs a beach day!

Yesterday, in order to celebrate our last day of our last weekend before work starts, we decided to head down to Sandy Beach.  It was super windy so we didn't make an afternoon of it, just went and cruised around down on the sand and got some good doses of vitamin D. 

We aren't sure but these looked like bear tracks to me.  Neat!

Perseverance Trail

Taking full advantage of the fantastic streak of nice weather we've been having, Amanda and I took off up into the mountains on Saturday for a hike along another of the "90 Short Walks in Juneau" .  Due to the fact that Juneau sits right at the base of  bunch of incredible mountains, there are some truly wonderful hikes within a few minutes drive of downtown, including the Perseverance Trail. 

The Perseverance Trail is located at the end of Basin Road, just past the trailhead for Mt Roberts.  This trail was actually Alaska's first road and was widened from a mule trail in order to create easier access to an area with about 5 gold mines.  What's really neat about this trail, besides the awesome scenery, is the abundance of ruins and artifacts that can be seen while hiking.  There's also a really neat mining museum which I intend to go explore on a future day off. 

Due to time constraints, we only got about 1.5 miles up the trail.  We had plans that evening and plan to go back and finish our hike some time this summer.  It was a beautiful day for it though, blue sky and puffy white clouds, light breeze and probably about 50 degrees.  It was great! 

Lena Loop Trail

Yesterday was a beyond gorgeous day here in Juneau!  Clear blue skies, a smattering of high puffy clouds, and crisp spring air.  Granted, that crisp air was only in the low 40's but that's what spring is all about.

Knowing that it was supposed to be a nice day, Amanda and I had looked through my new book, "90 Short Walks In Juneau" (all half-day hikes or less), the night before and chosen the Lena Point Loop Trail.  After aimlessly driving up and down the same road and confusing our GPS, we finally located the very poorly marked trailhead.

Beginning of our hike

The trail was well-maintained and easy to follow for the first half of our hike.  It was a beautiful walk with the spruce trees and the multitude of green mosses and lichens.  I can't wait to see how beyond gorgeous it is once the shrubs and underbrush get their leaves back! 

 About a half mile from the car, there was a small off-shoot trail that took us down to a rock beach.  The sun obviously didn't reach it very much yet because there were still piles of snow and there was thick frost on the ground. 

When we finally reached Lena Point, we were greeted with a stunning view!  Snow-capped mountains as far as we could see, a shallow intertidal zone, and gloriously flat water.  Totally worth the walk!

Sadly, we couldn't find the continuation of the our loop trail, so we had to retrace our path back to the car.  We hope to get a better map and come back out later this summer when the trail has been frequented a bit more.  While we were out, we saw a chipmunk, a woodpecker (I'm not sure of the species, haven't unpacked all my reference books yet haha), and saw several bald eagles.  I absolutely love the sounds the eagles make, it's totally unique! 

Hope everyone had a great Saturday; I know my first one in Juneau was a success!

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!

Hello family and friends!

As of April 8, I'm back in Southeast Alaska but this time I'm in Juneau.  So for those of you who don't know very much about SE, here's some fun facts about Juneau, AK.

(1) Juneau was named for gold prospector Joe Juneau.
(2) It is the state capitol and has a population of about 31,000.
(3) Downtown Juneau sits at sea level but the mountains that rise up immediately behind it range from 3,500 to 4,000 feet in elevation. 
(4) At the top of these mountains is the Juneau Icefield, from which over 30 (!!) different glaciers flow.

I'm so excited to be back in Alaska!  This summer, I'll be working as a naturalist/guide for Alaska Galore Tours, primarily doing whale watching.  Yes, you did indeed read that right... I'll be getting paid to watch the whales.  :D

I've only been here for a few days so I'm starting to get all settled in.  I really love my apartment and my roommate and I are getting to know each other, although it feels like we have been friends for quite awhile already! 

We don't start work for about another week so I'm sure there will be some adventures to share with you all soon! Have a wonderful day!  Amanda and I will be out enjoying some rare spring sunshine!