We had our Aloha breakfast this morning before heading to the airport and parting company with friends old and new.
Toni ran the taxi to take us to the airport where we did some last minute reminiscing. We were late leaving Petersburg due to a missed approach in the fog and I was hoping that the plane just passed us by but eventually it arrived. Pat and Kent were heading home to Chicago by way of Anchorage after a layover in Juneau. Adam just made his flight out of Juneau for Hawai'i, apparently Alaska Airlines is used to weather problems along their routes! Sharon and Pal were on to Anchorage on that same flight to head for Denali. Kathleen was the lone member who stayed on to explore Petersburg for a couple of days.
On our arrival in Juneau, after holding up the rest of the deplaning passengers for hugs (and tears) all around, Donna and I snagged a car and raced to the meeting place for Alaska Zipline Adventures. We joined four others to take the van to the ski area on Douglas Island. There we were greeted and lectured on the process and safety measures. From there we went to our (literally) jumping off point where we donned our gear and hardhats. The safety measures that they take amazingly thorough and we felt perfectly safe - until that first zip when you are absolutely certain you are going to perish.
Stepping out into space is a bit daunting the first time but Donna took to it like a duck to water. By the last of the 5 zips, she was doing her aerial acrobatics like a circus act. I, on the other hand, maintained a death grip on my safety straps until they reeled me in at each platform! Part of my problem is that I kept ending up going backwards so had no idea when the platform was coming up or if I was going too fast! We also crossed a suspension bridge over Fish Creek and the views were awesome. As I only took the video camera, there are no still photos but there are links to video clips below.
After our zipping adventure we took the aerial tramway up the side of Mt. Roberts. This is a Tlingit-owned venture and in addition to the amazing view from the top, there is a wonderful film, a nature area, a restaurant, and a gift shop with some really nice art. We ended up having dinner at the Timberline restaurant overlooking the mountains. The food was wonderful - Donna had halibut and I had salmon - but not nearly as wonderful as our meals aboard the Alaska Adventurer.
From there we drove to Mendenhall Glacier, just a few miles out of town. It was about 9 p.m. but it was still very light out so we were able to get a great view of the glacier and waterfall. We decided against the 20 minute hike to the falls, having been warned by the locals that there's quite an active group of bears in the area.
Off to the motel for one last packing and a short night's sleep.
Zipline Video 1 Zipline Video 2 Zipline Video 3 Zipline Video 4
Click each picture for a larger view.
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 The Gastineau Channel from the tram |
 Downtown Juneau from the tram |
 Tlingit carving |
 Mendenhall Glacier outside of Juneau |
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