I had envisioned a pleasant flight back down the Lynn Canal, made all the more photogenic by the sun sitting low in the sky. Four of us boarded the Cessna 208 and I made a point to take a seat on the side I remembered as having the most dramatic scenery.
Shortly after take-off it became evident that our pilot was not going to fly down the Lynn Canal as his coworker had done this morning. Instead, he took a more easterly route, directly over the rugged peaks of the Coast Mountains.
Climbing away from Skagway
Glaciers have shaped Southcentral Alaska for thousands of years
And Alaska has shaped glaciers
What an awesome view!
The many glaciers of Alaska’s Coast Mountains are the result of storms that blow in off the North Pacific and Gulf of Alaska. These are cyclonic storms that can spin in either direction. The Anchorage to Seattle air route is one of the few in the world where one can experience either headwinds or tailwinds. The Coast Range gets hit by more of these storms than anywhere else on earth except the Straits of Magellan off Patagonia at the tip of South America.
Wow!
These peaks average 5-7000 feet in elevation
Amazing!
Glaciers move a lot of rock debris, accounting for the streaks
Down on the coast it is essentially a rainforest, with precipitation exceeding 200 inches per year in some places. Up in the high peaks and valleys snow accumulation can exceed 600-700” per year.
Imagine sitting on top of this peak
That’s a lot of snow!
Awesome!
Eventually we came to the top of the 13 mile long Mendenhall Glacier, which has its terminus just outside Juneau. I didn’t recognize it at the time but it soon became evident as we flew straight down the glacier to the Mendenhall Valley outside Juneau.
The top of the Mendenhall Glacier
Rough Terraine
Crevasse Country
Banking down into the Mendenhall Valley
As the airport came into view, we did a scenic flyover, continued a couple of miles down the Gastineau Channel and, following an Alaska 737, made our final approach to the west.
That’s the Juneau Airport tower just right of center
Pretty view of the airport and the Gastineau Channel beyond
On final into Juneau
This was one of the most amazing flights I’ve ever been on, and as I disembarked I thanked the pilot for his choice of routing and discreetly offered him a sizeable tip which he very politely refused. Although this flight was marketed and sold as simple air transport between Skagway and Juneau, the pilot’s choice of routing and elevation turned it into an experience every bit as exciting and memorable as a much more expensive glacial air tour. Thanks again to that pilot for a First Class experience!
With a 7:30am departure back to Fairbanks tomorrow morning, it made sense to once again sleep in the airport as I’ll get a little more sleep than I would have if I’d stayed in a hotel. I’ll also save over $100.00 as airport area hotel prices are fairly high here in Juneau, especially now that the summer tourism season is upon us.
I knew I’d be doing this last night and so informed the airport police officer on duty so he wouldn’t think I was a homeless Juneau resident scamming two nights in a row in the warmth of the airport terminal. To the contrary, I’m well prepared for these airport stays with a Thermarest Pad, a full wool blanket, a small pillow, headlamp and new First Class eye shades courtesy of my recent flights on Emirates. It’s unlikely I’ll be mistaken for a homeless person.
HOMEWARD BOUND
May 13, 2015
Alaska Airlines Juneau to Anchorage 725a – 903a 737-400 Coach Class
Horizon Airlines Anchorage to Fairbanks 1035a – 1138a DHC-8-400 Coach Class
Am I a lucky guy or what? Two beautiful days in a row along Alaska’s Southeast coast are rarer than you might think, so I was thankful to once again wake up to sunshine and blue skies. Here’s the early morning view out a window not far from where I spent the night…
Another fine day in Juneau
And here’s the view I woke up to as I slept at the foot of the Grizzly Bear mounted just around the corner from the security checkpoint upstairs.
Good Morning, Grizzly Bear!
On longer flights I normally take an aisle seat but with the 570 mile flight between Juneau and Anchorage typically clocking in at only an hour and a half combined with flying above some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the world, for this flight I usually book a window – in this case 6F on the bulkhead.
While entering the data into my log for the flight between Juneau and Anchorage, a check of my Alaska Airlines statistics indicated that this was the 428th flight I’d logged aboard an Alaska Airlines 737-400. Who’d have guessed on that winter day back in 1994 that as I boarded my first flight aboard an Alaska 737-400 between Seattle and Ketchikan, I’d go on to log another 328,880 miles and 773 hours aboard Alaska’s version of this aircraft?
Hot coffee and a bag of Breakfast Snack Mix accompanied the spectacular views as we flew up the coast to Alaska’s largest city. Unfortunately the windows beside my seat were showing their age with a number of scratches and other blemishes, but thankfully I’ve flown and photographed this route enough that I can offer you a couple photos from a previous trip that well reflect the panoramas I enjoyed today.
Spectacular Glacial Scenery
Six glaciers feed this fjord
In Anchorage I stopped by the McDonalds conveniently located directly across from my arrival gate. Breakfast was still being served and I’d been holding out for a couple of Egg McMuffins all morning long! From there it was all the way down to the end of the concourse where my Horizon Airlines propjet awaited for the final leg of this wonderful adventure.
It’s amazing how fast a month and a half can go by, especially when one spends it the way I just have - spanning the globe from Alaska to Hawaii to South America to South Africa to Dubai and back to Alaska with all manner of interesting diversions along the way.
During the short 51 minute flight up to Fairbanks, I took a moment to reflect upon what a great trip this had been and how fortunate I’ve been to be able to take trips like this. Many people would be thrilled to have experienced only a portion of this grand expedition, be it the rail adventure around America to a few days in Chile or the road trip around South Africa. I am indeed blessed to have been able to combine all of these and more into one great seven week adventure.
All told, this trip covered over 61000 miles. In the months since I’ve logged another 82000 miles of air travel and a further 11000 miles aboard trains. I’ve already spent 18 nights on the rails so far this year. Given the many trip reports I’ve already submitted covering my varied excursions around America, none of these recent travels seemed distinctive or unique enough to warrant another trip report. Add to that the fact that for the past two months I’ve been working on getting this report completed and you can hopefully forgive the paucity of my literary output of late.
And now, dear readers, we have finally arrived at the end of this adventure. To those of you who have actually read the entire trip report,
Thank You for riding along! At 75000+ words, it may well have taken you a night or two and a full bottle of your favorite libation to get through, but whether you’ve read it all or just a few select parts, here’s hoping it’s been worth your time.
Thanks again for reading, everyone. Happy holidays and to all a good night!