Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, and Skagway, Alaska; 8,9, August 2007

At Skagway Clarine and I had our picture taken as we traveled to White's Pass, Yukon Territory. It had been quite foggy and overcast as we traveled by bus to the summit. When we got to the summit, it had cleared enough to take a picture by the lake atop the pass and of the mist and fog in the mountains in the vicinity. This pass is noted for the many gold miner's that struggled up to it with their gear to get to the gold mines in Yukon Territory.

The image that is shown is carved from a watermelon. I took the picture as I went on a tour through the galley of the cruise ship.

The Mendenhall Glacier is just 20 miles or so outside of Juneau. It is large and is part of an ice field that extends back into the mountains for hundreds of miles. There was a fresh water creek that ran into the ocean here by the glacier. The salmon were in the creek to spawn, so naturally the bears were around as well. We saw one big black bear, but he ignored us and was fishing instead. He did not clear the brush well enough for us to get a picture of him. We also the parts of many fish that had been dragged upon the grass to be eaten. Fishing had been so good that the bears could be quite picky about what part of the salmon they chose to eat. There is a waterfall beside the glacier that was fed by glacier melt.