Mendenhall Glacier Juneau Alaska

This is the Mendenhall Glacier, there are over 140 glaciers in the Juneau Snowfields, this being the most famous and popular. You can land on it by helicopter and they do. It's like Apocolypse Now with choppers arriving and landing or flying by in a constant procession. The Glacier has retreated at an alarming rate over the recent century. Scientists believe Global Warming has significantly contributed to this retreat. I'm no scientist but I can't help wondering how much impact the airflow from helicopter rotors and heat from the engines would affect the glacier. All day, everyday the choppers are passing close or landing upon the surface. We saw a constant procession of 4 in a row backwards and forwards travelling in close single line formation.

This is nugget falls out tour guide said they didn't exist 36 years ago when she was a child the glacier covered their present location. There are large chunks of icebergs that travel around the lake for months at a time gradually melting over many months. These icebergs look like ice sculptures. Some like sharks, seals, polar bears and snails, from different angles they look like different things. The wind is cold. It makes your nose run and your eyes water. 

I found a piece of iceberg it was crystal clear and slippery cold with air bubbles enclosed inside it. It tasted nice Richo put some in his mouth and commented his sensitive toothpaste is working. LOL

This iceberg has taken over 200 years to reach the surface of the glacier and has broken off leaving an ice blue edge on the surface of the glacier before bobbing around on the silt rich,  probably gold filled icy lake until it joins the water in its melted state.

We did a town tour on the way to the glacier and it took us over the bridge to Douglas Island where we got a birds eye view of the cruise ships in town.

These ships dump up to 10,000 passengers dockside for the day. Most of the shops immediately adjacent to the port are owned by the cruise ships companies. The prices are identical from shop to shop, the merchandise and quality likewise and most are run by people from India who are very skilled at high pressure sales techniques. They are only here for the summer cruise season and I am sure they make a killing. People on vacation tend to spend more on less they they would at home for some reason. 

These are actual snow shoes and ice spikes. There are native handicraft shops. Totem poles, bone carvings, buttons, teeth, leather moccasins, fossils and mammoth tusks. It's like a museum where you can buy the exhibits. There is trinketty stuff too but the quality is exceptional and the staff are friendly, helpful and know there stock.

We enjoyed Juneau but not for the shopping. We had a huge cup of delicious coffee, the best we have had since we left home. Probably because of what we are used to but I am a bigger fan of espresso style coffee than drip coffee that has a more bitter and different strong taste.

The tour guy said these homes downtown are worth between $400-500k USD they have no view, are no where near the water but apparently the tourist season dictates the price for these homes. A fellow passenger was gob smacked and said these styles of homes would be lucky to fetch around $40k in their home town.