God's country

Okay, so it's not usually sunny in Juneau, but you wouldn't know that from these photos and those from my last entry. In August Inari and I traveled to Juneau for vacation and field work. Southeast was hit with record rainfall the week before we arrived, but by the time we got there a heat wave was passing through. We did a great hike on a trail that literally starts in downtown Juneau and quickly climbs 3000 ft, giving us a different perspective on Juneau and the cruise ships. The hike took us a better part of one day.


On the way up you pass into alpine tundra (treeline is at only 2500' or so, compared to 10000' in Colorado) and then follow a ridge back towards the Juneau icefields.


I find it amazing that such beautiful places are largely unknown to most of the world; this place is more beautiful than some national parks in the lower 48. The trail is within the Tongass National Forest, which means its sort of protected. There are signs, though, forbidding you from contaminating the streams because the city of Juneau depends on them for fresh water.