Summer Ice

I know that I have posted pictures of the Mendenhall Glacier a few times in this blog.  However, I intend to keep posting them because, I mean, it's a GLACIER.  How many of you have seen a glacier? Probably not very many (ha ha).  I know I hadn't seen one before moving to Alaska.  So, I will continue to share the awesome-ness of the wild and random hunks of ice in my state.

Glacier- Winter 2012

As you can see in the picture above, that was the glacier in the middle of winter (January or February I think). Cody and I hadn't been out there in a couple of months so we loaded up the car and headed out to the Tongass National Forest.  When we first arrived we were a bit overwhelmed…tour buses and tourists EVERYWHERE.  We had to park quite a ways away (we normally park right at the entrance). Then, we had to fight through hundreds (possibly thousands) of people just to get to the trailhead.  It took longer than usual to do the 30-minute walk to Nugget Falls because of the sheer volume of people on the trail.  But, it was totally worth it when we finally got to the base of the falls.

At the base of Nugget Falls, Mendenhall Glacier. 

Nugget Falls. 

The scenery was beautiful and I totally understand why nearly a million people visit Juneau each summer.  Mendenhall Glacier, and visiting Alaska in general, is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for most people.  Cody and I are just lucky to be able to call the 49th state home.  When we reached the glacier and the falls I was actually happy to see so many people getting to enjoy the natural beauty our home has to offer (although I was still a little prickly about being unable to take any decent close-up pictures due to the amount of people, ha ha).  I completely understand why people choose to come here for vacations.  I hope that they all enjoyed it as much as we did!

Rock climbing near the falls. 

View of the glacier on our hike back to the car. 

Questions: 

Is tourism a summer money-maker in your town? 

What vacations are you taking this summer?

Would you ever vacation in Juneau? 

*P.S.- I know I have been slacking on reporting any other areas of my life lately (teaching, cooking, fitness, etc).  This week I am going to try to bust out some new posts that talk about the parts of my life not necessarily related to Alaska-living.  Enjoy :)