You're in Alaska, baby, and you're going to fly! And fly I did -- thanks to an adrenaline-pumping outing with Alaska Zipline Adventures in Juneau, the remote state's even more remote capital. Reachable only by boat or seaplane, Juneau is a popular cruise ship port, one of my favorite stops on a week-long cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage and this week's Where to Wander Wednesday destination spotlight.
Alaska: The Last Frontier. The Land of the Midnight Sun. Seward's Folly. Whatever you want to call it, our 49th state is a wonder worthy of exploration. Secretary of State William Seward may have been ridiculed in the late 1800s for his insistence on purchasing the vast piece of land from Russia, but to the nearly two million tourists each year who set their sights on the spectacular northwestern state, the destination is no joke. In fact, it's a serious bucket list trip for many wanderlusters looking for breathtaking scenery, outdoor adventures, fresh air, wildlife encounters and endless daylight -- as long as it's summertime. Give me 18 hours of sunlight and 80-degree temperatures and I'm a happy traveler. Give me the opposite, not so much. As my dear friend Jay -- who has lived in Anchorage for years -- would say, "Going from San Diego to Alaska in the middle of winter would be like jumping into a cold pool after getting out of a sauna...with a blindfold on." In other words, the cold and dark isn't for weather wimps like me.
Good thing it was mid-June when we embarked on our seven-day journey from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Whittier, Alaska, just outside of Anchorage. In addition to Juneau, the ship stopped in Ketchikan and Skagway, and included a day of scenic cruising through the breathtaking (literally -- even in the summer, the air is crisp enough to take your breath away) Glacier Bay National Park.
The whole trip was incredible, with photo ops at every turn. Cruising by thunderous, calving glaciers and crystal-blue icebergs. Strolling through Gold Rush towns that seem to be lost in time. Scoping out wildlife -- eagles, bears and moose, oh my!
But in the spirit of Where to Wander Wednesday, I'll highlight one city and two of my favorite things to do in that city. In Juneau, tourists flock to the Mendenhall Glacier, a 13-mile-long face of ice just outside of the city and accessible inexpensively by shuttle bus. Dating back 3,000 years to the last ice age, the glacier is one of 38 large glaciers that make up the 1,500-square-mile Juneau Icefield. Part of Tongass National Forest, the park offers six trails for different vantage points -- all with opportunities to encounter wildlife (check out the bear-proof trash cans!) and waterfalls.
It was an unseasonably warm day in Juneau the day we visited, with a high in the 80s (typical June highs are in the mid 60s), a low of 59 and 18 hours of sunlight -- leading us silly San Diegans to foolishly remark, "We could totally live here!" Juneau residents, on the other hand, were sweating feverishly and cooling off by swimming -- yes, swimming! -- next to icebergs in the glacial waters. Even with 80-degree air temperatures, swimming in iceberg water is decidedly not for weather wimps like me!
While glacier viewing is fine family fun for tourists of all types, my number-one favorite attraction in Juneau came courtesy of the aforementioned Alaska Zipline Adventures, which offers exhilarating zipline tours through the emerald-green Juneau rainforest. Not for the faint of heart or feared of heights, the nearly four-hour tour through the treetops is a must for adrenaline junkies. Having ziplined previously in Hawaii, I was a cocky second-timer -- until I got to the suspension bridge portion of the experience. For some reason, even secured by a harness, crossing a way-too-wobbly-for-my-liking wooden bridge over a "rushing salmon-spawning stream" was 10 times more terrifying than flying through the forest at fast speeds. After seven zips and the death-defying bridge crossing, the tour ended with an axe-throwing challenge that proved I was certainly not a lumberjack in a former life.
Because a trip to Alaska wouldn't be complete without feasting on Alaskan king crab legs, our final stop for the day was Tracy's King Crab Shack, where we met up with the monster below and snacked on some of his delicious friends before heading back to the ship -- convinced that although truly no roads lead to Juneau, a journey to the scenic Alaska capital is one worth making.
