Juneau, Alaska – Daddio and the twin-agers left the bachelor pad, and came to have some fun with me in Alaska. Let’s go! Here’s how it went with the teens in Alaska. First stop: Juneau
Douglas Island
We booked the same Airbnb in Juneau where we stayed three years ago, when we spent hours looking out the giant picture window, watching eagles soar and mountain goats scamper. Unfortunately, there were fewer eagles this year and no mountain goats. But we still loved this apartment on Douglas Island, with fabulous views across the channel to Juneau. (Bonus: easy access to Breeze-In Donuts across the street.)
Pack Creek
A highlight of our trip in 2022 was spying on the brown and black bears at Anan Creek, near Wrangell. This year, we decided to try Pack Creek, a bear-viewing site on Admiralty Island, within striking distance of Juneau. Admiralty Island has one of the highest densities of brown bears in the world, with more than 1600 bears on the island.
You reach the island by float plane, which was spectacular and exciting for the twin-agers (though they would never admit it). We all got wet feet on arrival.
The set-up is different than Anan Creek, in that there is no building or development on the island. There is one main viewing spot, encircled by boulders, overlooking the creek bed. Here, the spectators are in plain sight, so the bears are unlikely to be surprised or alarmed. Everybody keeps their distance. The resident ursine are somewhat acclimated to human presence and rarely aggressive.
That said, we got a thorough briefing from the ranger on bear safety. We had to store our lunch in a locked bear box. And the rangers keep a careful watch when the guests are walking to or from the viewing site. There are also plenty of rules around behavior at the site. Don’t stand on the boulders, for example, as a bear may perceive this as an act of aggression.
For better or for worse, it was a very warm day. That may be the reason that the bears made themselves scarce. We saw a total of ONE bear. We spent all morning watching this young bear going after salmon, somewhat unsuccessfully. The rangers informed us that she is newly independent, so has not yet perfected her hunting skills.
Pack Creek is a beautiful spot, and we loved the wonderful flight-seeing trip that was part of the package. And it was a thrill to see this young brown bear doing her thing in the wild. But we all agreed it was anticlimactic, after our experience at Anan Creek three years prior. (In reality, we only saw three brown bears at Anan Creek. But this was in addition to many, many black bears. It is one of the few places that attract both species, which–I understand now–makes it a premier bear-viewing destination.)
West Glacier Trail
I had so much fun on my glacier hike last week, that I decided to do another one with my guys. After doing some research I chose West Glacier Trail, which skirts Mendenhall Lake. Unfortunately, the trail to the face of the glacier is poorly maintained and difficult to follow, so we didn’t get close enough to touch the ice. Instead, we followed an upper route, which leads to a rocky outcrop with a viewpoint of Mendenhall Glacier. We had visited the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center and surrounding trails on our last trip, so this would give us a different perspective.
Of course, the “upper route” goes up, which Daddio didn’t like. When we stopped to rest, the bugs swarmed around us, which Twin V didn’t like. To be fair, neither of them has ever had a great love for hiking, so I probably should have anticipated their complaints. By contrast, Twin S is in his element on the trail. He led the way, as he almost always does, and the bugs did not bother him. (I was reminded of our hiking outings on our last trip to Alaska, when S would run ahead on the trails and wait at the end.)
After a fair amount of climbing, we stopped for a rest and a lookout. Here, we met another hiker, who claimed to also be a hiking guide. He promised a grand vista ahead, which he said was the turn-around point for his hiking tours. Daddio was relieved, saying he would wait for us to go to the vista and return. I was confused, because the hike was supposed to be 3.5 miles each way and we had only gone about 2 miles.
Anyway, the twins and I continued to the vista, which was a lovely view of Mendenhall Lake and Glacier.
Just then, a pair of hikers descended. When I asked, they stated emphatically that this was not the end of the line. We had been misled! This vista–lovely though it was–did not compare to the incredible glacial scenery ahead, ending at a panoramic view over a sea of ice. We still had at least a mile to go, they said–a challenging mile.
What to do? V had already turned around to head back down to where Daddio was waiting. S and I looked longingly up the trail. And then we begrudgingly turned to follow V down. It was not the hike I intended, that’s for sure, but apparently it was the hike that we needed.
Next time I want to go hiking, I am going to just take S.
Downtown Juneau
Besides these adventurous outings, we spent a day walking around downtown Juneau. Daddio and I visited the Alaska State Museum, which has loads of relics from Russian Alaska and lots of Tlingit cultural artifacts. The twin-agers did not want to go to a museum, so they hit the souvenir shops. We ate dinner at Tracy’s Crab Shack, which everybody loved. Local Dungeness crabs and snow crabs for the win.
Then we went back to some shops and bought the hoodies that the twin-agers had picked out. They later told me that this was their favorite day in Juneau.
The Takeaway
I have to admit, the arrival of my family in Alaska caused me a great deal of stress, as I tried to plan the perfect itinerary to entertain and engage all of them. We spent a bunch of money on the trip to Pack Creek, which was anticlimactic. I spent a lot of time planning our hike, which was cut short. The day in Juneau, however, occurred with minimal planning and a relatively small financial outlay. What’s the lesson here?
I was feeling disheartened after our first three days with teens in Alaska. Fortunately, we had another stop…