Hikers

Hikers (both locals and tourists off the cruise ship) make their way up Mt. Roberts.
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and 47°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 50 min.

Huckleberry Blossoms

Last week, during a spectacular minus tide, I took a hike out the Mendenhall Peninsula Trail. The incredible sunny weather made for some great exploring both in the wood and along the beach. A sea of pink blossoms from the red huckleberries (Vaccinium parvifolium) decorated the trail through the woods.

At one point, when I was overlooking Battleship Reef at Smuggler’s Cove, I saw something swimming in the water. I figured it was probably just a dog. When the animal emerged on to the rocky shoreline of the reef, I realized it was a deer. I took some pictures of her, but unfortunately they didn’t turn out. She was in a hurry to swim to the next island.
Do you like I Spy? See if you can find the deer.

Weather: Raining and 42°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 46 min.

Mallard

This is an area of the forest, along the Glacier Spur Road, where the beavers have claimed. Mr. Mallard seemed to enjoy paddling in and around the trees.
Weather: Cloudy and 45°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 42 min.

Low Tide along Egan

As you can see it’s low tide along Egan Drive. The flags you see are a few of the fifty state flags that line Egan Drive every summer. If you look to the right, you can see the tram descending down Mt. Roberts.
Weather: Raining, Breezy, and 42°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 37 min.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!
I took this photo of the Lupine exactly three years ago (2005) at Point Louisa. As perennials, they keep share their beauty year after year. To all the mothers out there, the flowers of your love and kindness will never fade.
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and 50°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 33 min.

Wading

As I was photographing the glacier on Thursday, I discovered these folks wading in the ice water of Mendenhall Lake.
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and 51°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 29 min.

Thin Ice

I usually set a timer to remind myself when to pick up our daughter from school. Well, yesterday the timer went off, out the door I went, however when I neared the school entrance the school zone lights weren’t flashing, there was hardly any traffic, and there was no crossing guard at the crosswalk. What’s going on? I then looked at my watch and realized that I had set the timer for an hour earlier. UGH! Oh well, it gave me the perfect reason to continue on to the Mendenhall Glacier to see how much ice is still on the lake.

Weather: Sunny and 50°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. 24 min.

Arriving at the Docks

It was like watch a graceful ballet as the pilot onboard the Star Princess gradually brought her into dock on Wednesday. The Star Princess will make 20 trips to Juneau this summer bringing with her a total of 52,000 passengers and 22,000 crewmembers.

I remember living in Ketchikan, Alaska as a child and watching the cruise ships make their way into the Tongass Narrows. We had them all memorized by name. I remember racing to the front room window with my little brother to see who could name the ships docked in the narrows first. Now days, there are more than 3 times the number of cruise ships arriving than in the early eighties.
Weather: Cloudy and 43°F
Daylight: 16hrs. 20min.

Marsh Marigold

I took the last week off from posting to reprioritize my plate that was running over. I wish I could say I was just saving electricity, but I’d be lying. I apologize for missing the CDP Theme Day: Numbers. I will try to post what I had planned to share in a few days.

On a recent stroll through the woods, I discovered this Marsh Marigold (Caltha species) growing from a decomposing log. Living in a temperate rainforest, life tends to spring up in all sorts of places.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 47°F
Daylight: 16 hrs. and 15 min.

First Cruise Ship

The first cruise ship of the season arrived this morning. The Norwegian Star is 965 feet long, and has a capacity to carry 2,240 passengers, and 1,100 crew members. It is scheduled to visit Juneau a total of 21 times this summer. For the first time, the estimated number of cruise ship passengers to visit Juneau will exceed over one million.
Weather: Partly cloudy and 48°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 42 min.

Eagle Frenzy

When I was running some errands last week, I noticed the sky above Costco was full of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). It’s that time of year, and soon the adult females will lay two (sometimes three) eggs. The eggs incubate for approximately 35 days. The young will leave the nest after about 75 days. They do not breed or attain adult plumage until they are 4 to 5 years of age.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 48°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 37 min.

The Great Outdoors

This weekend we spent a lot of time outside. Hiking? Camping? Mountain Climbing? Nop! Yard work! We’ve spent the last four days applying “Moss Kill” (iron) and raking the moss out of our yard (15 hefty garbage bags full). Some people use thatchers, but with the price of rental and fuel we opted to do it ourselves. A penny saved is a penny to pay our electricity bill. Electricity is said to be about 55 cents a kilowatt-hours whereas before it was 11 cents.

We, along with everyone else in Juneau, are trying to save. That which does not need to be plugged in has been yanked. Laundry is being dried on indoor clothes lines and drying racks. Barbeques have almost become a nightly thing. It’s amazing how creative one can become when planning the menu, if you have a $500-1,000+ electrical bill arriving in a few weeks.

The Assembly meets at noon today to possibly approve two measures to help residents pay the upcoming electrical rate hike. One proposed measure is to spread the payments out over 12 months instead of forcing Alaska Electric Light & Power customers to pay the drastic increase in their bills. The second measure is an emergency ordinance that would exempt the AEL&P emergency power cost adjustment increases from the City and Borough of Juneau sales tax. Customers would pay sales tax on the base rate, about 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Good thing our daylight hours are still increasing!

Weather: Scattered rain showers and 39°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 33 min.

P.S. I took this photo last week near Suicide Falls. Ironic name, I know, I think it’s named this because of its steepness.

Happy Arbor Day!

Happy Arbor Day! Did you know that Arbor Day originated in Nebraska? It was once a treeless state, but thanks to J. Sterling Morton, who proposed the first Arbor Day, it’s a much different place.

I think many us who live in a temperate rain forest, can easily take for granted exactly where we live. The reality is we live in the Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest national forest.

Sitka spruce and Western Hemlock trees surround our house. I have to admit that I am guilty of pulling numerous tiny little seedlings out of our flowerbeds and throwing them into the trash. When you live in a place where the forest will reforest itself over time, you take for granted their significance to our environment. I can’t imagine living in a place without trees. The beauty of having conifers is that we are surrounded by green year around.

Last weekend when we were doing some yard work, I realized that all those little trees coming up in our flowerbeds and rock gardens could be relocated. The kids and I talked about planting the trees along the road where they have recently completed road construction to help stabilize the banks along the roadways. It looks like we’ll be planting well over 50 trees.

Weather: Overcast and 41°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 18 min.

South Franklin Street

The count down begins as shopkeepers and city workers prepare for the summer tourist season. The first cruise ship of the season will be arriving in five days. South Franklin Street, along with all the other streets in the downtown area, will look much different once the tourists start arriving. The sidewalks will be hussling and bussling with activity.

If you’re a Juneauite remember to slow down and watch for pedestrians especially those who don’t use the crosswalks, and if you’re from out of town and plan to visit Juneau this summer, PLEASE for your safety, remember to use the crosswalks.
Weather: Clear and 43°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 13 min.

Downtown Juneau

Weather: Partly Cloudy and 47°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 8 min.

Happy Earth Day!

Spring run off is in full force. This is one of the many waterfalls out the road (north of town). Since such breath taking scenery surrounds Juneau, I struggled with what to post for Earth Day. I hope this is to everyone’s liking. Happy Earth Day!
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 49°F
Daylight: 15 hrs. 3 min.

Twin Lakes

The bears aren’t the only ones emerging from hibernation. Twin Lakes (which runs parallel to Egan Drive) is an excellent place, close to town, to enjoy the outdoors. It’s amazing to see the difference in Juneauites demeanor when we experience a little sunshine.

Weather: Mostly sunny and 43°F
Daylight: 14 hrs. 58 min.

Eagle

I photographed this eagle on Thursday after the heavy snow subsided.

Weather: Sunny and 26°F
Daylight: 14 hrs. 48 min.

S is for ...

After the heavy snowstorm we received yesterday, skies cleared, the sun came out, and the snow is slowly melting. Last night, I was hoping to take an evening walk, but we had more important things to deal with. As a family, we accessed ways to save electricity (like unplugging those things we’re not using, hanging clothes to drive on our drying racks instead of using the dryer, etc.). It might sound ridiculous to some, but with the price of electricity going up in Juneau (read yesterdays post to learn more) we have to do our part.

About a month ago, I took an evening drive north of town. I was able to capture this “S” shaped cloud after the sun had set. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. I know some of you participate in Friday Sky Watch, so I thought it would be fitting for today especially since Juneau has recently experienced snow, sunshine, clear blue sky, and tonight I’m sure we can expect a beautiful sunset. Have a great weekend everyone!
Weather: Sunny with clear blue skies and 28°F
Daylight: 14 hrs. 43 min.

April Snow

Early Wednesday morning, two avalanches destroyed three transmission towers, damaged two others, and took out about a mile and a half of transmission line. Accessing the damage has only been done by air because of the avalanche danger. It could take crews two to three months to replace towers and make repairs. The interruption of electricity provided by Snettisham hydroelectric could cost Juneau consumers 20 to 25 million dollars.

Local officials have submitted a declaration disaster to the state. They’re seeking $25 million in state disaster relief to offset the expected 500 percent (yes 500 not 50) rate hike to Juneau homes and businesses. Residential rates were at 11 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now officials say it could jump up to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour. Needless to say, residents are already unplugging and utilizing as much natural light as possible.

As if the avalanche damage wasn’t a big enough blow to Juneau, it started snowing Wednesday evening. By ten o’clock Thursday morning, the Mendenhall valley had received twelve inches and downtown received nine inches. The kids eagerly waited around the radio for them to announce a school closer, but it never came. The Juneau School District was open as usual. It’s not the first time Juneau has gotten dumped on and school was still in section. Thank goodness for four wheel drive.
Weather: Fair and 28°F
Daylight: 14 hrs. 38 min.

R is for Raven

As I was fueling up the vehicle, I saw this raven sitting on Safeway’s storefront. Perhaps they are smarter than we think.

For those of you wanting to know what I paid for fuel, it was 3.55 gal. I have nothing to complain about because I’m sure it’s a lot higher in Sitka and other areas of Alaska.

Weather: Raining and 39°F
Daylight: 14 hrs. 33 min.

Crocuses

Our weather this past week has been a chaotic roller coaster. One minute it would be raining the next it would be snowing. Amidst the liquid sunshine, it was such a treat to discover these little crocuses blooming. It really is spring!

Weather: Raining and 38°F
Daylight: 14 hrs. 28 min.

Triangles

These triangles, along with some others, can be seen on the outside of Gastineau Elementary School.

Weather: Rain mixed with snow and 36ºF
Daylight: 14 hrs. 23 min.

Harris Harbor

Harris Harbor is named after Richard Harris who came to the area with Joe Juneau in search of gold. The town that grew up around the mining district was given the name Harrisburg. For a short while it was called Rockford, for the naval officer who helped establish the district. After all was said and done, the miners agreed that the town would be called Juneau.
Weather: Raining and windy/ 39ºF
Daylight: 14 hrs. 18 min.

Looking Up

Weather: Raining and 41ºF
Daylight: 14 hrs. 13 min.