We took a “small group” whale watching excursion from Juneau. We were very impressed with our tour guide, Scott Ranger, whose enjoyment of teaching people about nature was clear and infectious.
While it was a sunny day, it was very windy, and the three-foot swells made boat travel uncomfortable and whale sightings difficult. We followed one humpback, “Sasha”, as she was traveling along a straight, but that was our only whale sighting.
However, the tour also pulled up a crab trap to take a sample of the life at the bottom of one section of the area. We saw the “Double Ugly” sculpin, which really is ugly, a number of sea urchins, and some hermit crabs.
And we got some great views of the Mendenhall Glacier from a distance of about eight miles.
Once back in Juneau, my wife had lunch at Tracy’s King Crab Shack. She was much more impressed with the king crab here than the one near Denali.
Then we walked through Juneau for a bit.
From the town we hiked up to the top of the tram that leaves from near the cruise dock. If you spend ten dollars at the restaurant or shop at the top, you can ride the tram down (riding up from the bottom and back down costs thirty-five). So we tried some of Alaskan’s Spruce Tip beer, but I did not like it as much as the Skagway Brewing Spruce Tip.
