Mendenhall Glacier

"Well folks, we are about to turn right onto Mendenhall Loop Road. Mendenhall Loop Road will take us to the Mendenhall Glacier which calves into the Mendenhall Lake, which flows into the Mendenhall River, which runs right by Mendenhall Elementary School all within the Mendenhall Valley. Any guesses of who Mr. Mendenhall is?

Mr. Thomas Mendenhall never stepped foot in Alaska. Turns out Mr. Mendenhall was a scientist who had a friend kind enough to name a beautiful glacier after him. Subsequently, we named everything around here after him. He also was a huge proponent of switching Americans to the metric system."

Being a bus driver with a different captive audience every day, I rarely have to switch up my material - another blessing of my current life.

Photo credit: Russ Garner

The glacier is really cool though, honestly. It's about 12 miles long, and is one of 140 glaciers in the Juneau Ice field. Alaska is home to more than half of the world's glaciers. 1 foot of glacier ice (30.48 cm if Mr. Mendenhall had had his way) is made from about 100 feet of snowfall. Its density is why the blue light rays cannot be absorbed, and we see a blueish tint. It is receding at about 150 feet a year though, so get here soon.

The glaciers in Alaska are very accessible. On Friday I was able to walk TO the glacier, walk ON the glacier, walk UNDER the glacier, walk IN the glacier. Here are some photos of the glacier, now that we're here at the visitor's center.

First time stepping ON a glacier. We don't usually hold hands.

Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves

Glaciers are slippery, and we are graceful dames.

View from the visitors center

First Tour - Done!

Yesterday I gave my first tour. I had 38 passengers who needed to get to a harbor 20 miles away, and needed to know many ridiculous things about Juneau. Turns out I'm just the boy for the job. They were lovely people, laughed at the jokes I fumbled my way through, and enjoyed their whale-watching adventure (who wouldn't?). I took them back to their ship, and no one was killed on my watch- SUCCESS! Amandass is giving her first tour as we speak, and she will do great. I made my coworker who was parked with me take this picture at the marina. Thanks Mr. Pasterino.

We have had beautiful weather this week, and I even got a sunburn! It's been a slower week as far as cruise ships go, so I've been able to do marvelous things. Many hikes, walks, and wanders, and today I went canoeing in Tea Bay, ate lunch on a small island, saw a few whales breech in the same inlet we were in, and had a seal swim at us. I can hardly believe people dare live anywhere else, until September at least. 

A City Built On History

Hello all! This is Amandass checking in.

Juneau is painfully beautiful. I don't know how Alaskans get anything done, because all I want to do is stand in awe and marvel at the scenery. I could throw a rock from my current location at the public transit stop and hit Mt. Juneau. (If I knew how to throw a rock, that is, but we all know I'm too pretty for that.)
The downtown city of Juneau is built on top of old mine pilings, which were massed at the base of the mountains. Access to most of the houses are by steep stairways leading through the brush.

~ Caitlyn on the walkways in Downtown ~  

~ Historic Downtown Juneau ~ 

ATTN: I was just mistaken for a local! I never knew how much I wanted this feeling until just now. It must have been the xtratufs.

Caitlyn, Jillian, Suzette (a new and charming addition to our little family), and I have all settled into our room at Frontier Suites. Caitlyn and I share a bed - Yes, I'm sleeping with my High School Prom Queen *fist bump* - The lesbian jokes will never get old. 

We're all slowly learning the ins-and-outs of our tour destinations. Glacier Gardens: Excellent muffins. Statter Harbor: Watch out, those fishermen are mean sons-of-bitches. Shuttle Duty: The Worst. 

We are anxious for the coming days, when we will be given full control of our buses and passengers. I would say it will be a trial by fire, but storm clouds are much more likely, instead we will have a trial by downpour. 

I'll leave you with two of my favorite quotes from the week:

"Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their lives." - Jon Karkauer

and

"There are only three ways into Juneau: ferry, plane, or birth canal." - Erik Roeser (Returning Driver Guide, Bearded Viking, Bread Maker, Heart Breaker.)