Sunday, June 3rd

We woke up and found ourselves in Juneau, the state capital. It is the second largest city in the U.S. by area, just behind Sitka and ahead of Wrangell and Anchorage, all 3 of which are also in Alaska. (Coming in at #5, the largest city by area in the continental U.S., is Jacksonville.)

We boarded a bus and headed out for the final excursion on our trip—a 4-mile hike to Mendenhall Glacier! We were fortunate to have a guide born and raised in Juneau, who provided insights on living in Alaska, wildlife, and glaciers.

This would turn out to be my favorite excursion because my favorite mode of wilderness transportation is by foot. Our hike took us through the 16.7-million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest National Forest in the U.S. It is part of an even larger temperate rain forest—the largest on the planet.

The scenery was stunning and the hike could be described as moderate to difficult, depending on your conditioning. There were a few sections with steep rock stairs, aided by handrails. Along the way, our guide pointed out all relevant flora and had us taste edible, citrusy spruce tree tips. Even more interesting was a fairly fresh beaver paw, presumably torn from the rest of its body by a bear, wolverine, or T-Rex.

Our climb was rewarded with an awesome view of the 13.6 mile long Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier has what is called a negative glacier mass balance, meaning its accumulation from snowfall is less than its ablation from melting and calving. (I challenge each of you to use ablation in a normal conversation today.) Put another way, the glacier is shrinking, not unlike most of the passengers on our cruise. In fact, it has retreated 1.75 miles since 1929. Our guide pointed out how far the glacier extended when he was a kid as compared to where it is now.

I appreciated that our guide didn’t launch into a guilt-inducing lecture on global warming and the degree to which mankind contributes to it. The celebs who preach the most about global warming tend to have the highest carbon footprints. That said, God gave us a beautiful planet and we should make reasonable efforts to conserve and protect it.

I also find it interesting how God can take something we consider bad—in this case, global warming and glacial retreat—and do something good with it. For example, the Mendenhall Glacier’s retreat has:

1. Created Mendenhall Lake, a nursery for salmon, cutthroat trout, and other fish.

2. Revealed 1,200-2,350-year-old trees and stumps, with roots and bark still attached. Scientists are able to study past ecosystems from a pre-glacial time.

After returning to the ship, we played a round of Trivial Pursuit and then Janet left for her Voice of the Ocean rehearsal. She learned that her competition includes a professional singer who performed at 138 gigs last year and a lady who has released 2 singing CDs. Even so, I doubt these competitors can steer a kayak as well as Jan.

We finished the evening with our second formal dinner, a Motown Musical Show, and a Marriage Match Game Show (similar to the Newlywed Game).

That latter show featured three couples who have been married 1, 20, and 50 years. The men were asked, “You arrive in Ketchikan and your wife realizes she forgot to pack her bra. She sends you into town to buy one for her with no further instructions. What size do you get?”

The youngest guy was closest, off by a single letter. The middle guy guessed a 42DD rather than the actual 40D. The oldest guy, married 50 years, guessed a 36B versus the actual, glacial 42DD. He lost the game, but received a $25 onboard credit for an eye exam.