We woke up threading through the Alexander Archipelago (group of islands) en route to Juneau. Temperate rainforests, hills and mountains would peek through the fog. It was beautiful.
Our day would include an excursion to the Tongass National Forest to visit a garden and then the Mendenhall Glacier.
It was chilly, wet and a bit miserable.
The garden tour involved steep roads and switchbacks on a 600 ft. mountain. Thankfully we didn’t have to walk, winding up and down in an open sided vehicle — but it was all a little harrowing.
Next was a bus ride to the Mendenhall Glacier.
We caught glimpses of the glacier and waterfall from a distance as the trail for a closer vantage was closed. It was probably for the best as the rain was getting steadier. We attempted to warm up at the visitors center but it was very, very crowded. This was actually the first visitor center built by the U.S. Forest Service back in 1962.
I would imagine crowds back then were much smaller (and the glacier was much larger).
All this said, we were lucky to go on the excursion as others were cancelled because of the weather.
