An Alaskan Labor Day

In the spirit of family scouting, the Girl Scouts of Juneau organized a gold panning event for Labor Day.  None of us have even been gold panning.  When we moved into our house over a year ago, Sherry was unpacking her stuff in her apartment and found that the previous tenant had left certain things behind.  Extra light bulbs, cleaning supplies, random stuff...but tucked in the closet was a gold panning kit.  We joked that we needed to get out there and do it.  Now we'll know how.

It was a pretty classic Juneau day, mid 50's, raining.  We outfitted ourselves in wool long underwear and rain gear and headed to the Last Chance Mining Museum along Gold Creek.  One of the Girl Scout leaders gave us a quick geology lesson and a demonstration in panning.  Each girl panned one scoop of gravel from the creek bed and one scoop of "gold-bearing" sand brought in from Nome.

No big nuggets for us.  But still fun.

To earn their Girl Scout patch, the girls had to visit the museum and share one interesting fact they learned with the organizers.  Both our girls gravitated to the mine safety facts...safety first :)  They also were quite satisfied to have met Galena, the mine's dog.  We've seen, well heard most times, the dog while hiking Perseverance Trail and wondered what it was doing there.  We weren't sure from afar whether this was really just an abandoned mine building.  It is most definitely abandoned mining equipment but now complete with the story of Juneau's gold mining history.

The real Alaskan highlight of the day, though, was when headed out on the water that afternoon.  We rented a boat and went off on a marine wildlife adventure, hoping to see some seals, sea lions and whales.  And we did - what a treat!

My amateur pictures can in no way capture this experience - the eagles keeping watch over the harbor, the seals and sea lions bobbing up and down in the water - but I tried to get a few.

We saw this whale spout from quite a distance away and slowly trolled and drifted closer, watching it make its way up the shoreline.  I will never get over the sheer size of these beautiful creatures!  We considered ourselves lucky to have seen it and were ready to start making our way back.

Just to mix it up, Graham suggested going around the other side of Shelter Island in the Lynn Canal for a different view.  As soon as we rounded the end of the island, four whale spouts sprayed in front of us.  And for the next hour we were treated to the most awesome show.  We could not even count the number of humpback whales we saw, breaching, flapping their tails, rolling and "waving hi" with their fins. One came up out of nowhere not 50 yards from our boat and showed us his beautiful arched humpback and tail.  All Addy, Cora and I could do was squeal with delight. (And maybe keep our fingers crossed Graham was going to keep the boat going out of the path of the whale!)

As headed back into Auke Bay harbor, we were all so thankful for that time.  Time together, time in nature, and time with the whales!

First Days

Addy went off to 2nd grade...

And our newly minted 5 year old went off to Kindergarten!

Mom and Dad came home to a cup of coffee.  And then out for a hike to celebrate.

The Lanz Ladies at Girl Scout Camp

Each year the Girl Scouts of Juneau organize a Mother-Daughter Retreat at Echo Ranch and we couldn't wait to go!

We left with happy smiles...and not to give anything away, we came back muddy, smelly, exhausted, but still with smiles (well as much of a smile as we could muster - definitely happy we went).

To get to Echo Ranch, you drive to the end of the road.  Literally.  The road out of Juneau ends in about 1000 more feet from the turn to Echo Cove boat launch.  From there, it is a 2 mile hike around Echo Cove to get to the entrance to camp.  I knew this because I had been to Echo Ranch to attend Becoming an Outdoorswoman.  I knew the girls could walk it, but how that walk was going to go I was unsure.  On the way out to camp, we had excitement on our sides and ran into friends along the way.  On the way back, it was a slightly different story.  It was tough.  

Friday evening we got to camp, had dinner, got our gear settled into our cabin and explored camp.  Then we settled down for the night.  The cabins are nice but simple.  Bunk beds, no electricity, and a wood stove for heat.  We laid out our sleeping bags and our latern and eventually fell asleep.  

Saturday was action packed from start to finish.  The highlight of the day for the girls was definitely the horses.  Tucker for Addy and Buddy for Cora.  When the sign-up sheet for the 9 yr. old and under crowd said trail ride, I figured they'd just have kids go for a guided walk around the stable.  But much to all of our surprise, the girls got about a 15 minute ride through the forest and the meadows.  This single experience pretty much made the camp experience for them.

We also got to have an archery lesson.  The girls paid such close attention to the instructions; I was impressed.  Unfortunately the bows were so big that Cora just couldn't hold her's up.  Maybe next year. 

A little putt-putt, canoeing and laser tag!

Both girls were really nervous about playing laser tag.  The "taggers" were really heavy and shockingly pretty realistic looking as a sort of weapon.  They started off very cautiously.  By the end, Addy was having fun.  Cora decided this was definitely not for her, turned in her tagger and set up camp under a tree.

We ended the evening with songs 'n s'mores.  Perfect.

Echo Ranch is just such a beautiful place; from the breathtaking views over Berner's Bay to the horses roaming free in the meadows at night.  We look forward to our next visit.

Will Hike For Crepes

We came.  We hiked.  We ate crepes.

We hiked our first mountain as a family - Mount Roberts.  It's a well marked trail about 2.5 miles long and gains about 1800 feet in elevation.  But the wonderful thing is that you don't have to hike down - the Mount Roberts Tram operates during tourist season and so we were able to ride down.  

It was a rainy day, and had been rainy for several days before.  Gold Creek was swollen.  And fast!

Cora wanted her turn carrying the backpack.  She didn't make it very far but we appreciated her effort :)

The girls found a tree canopy and some tree trunk "couches" to rest on for a bit.

The girls really were troopers and did great.  But by the end, they were even calling Dad out as he kept saying things like, "Oh, I remember that rock...it's near the end."  Or, "Oh ya, this turn, I remember it, not much further."  He was a great motivator but they knew what they were really hiking for - the promise of Crepe Escape for dinner.  And when we did finally see the tram station in the distance, Addy turned back to us, took a big long sniff and said, "I smell warm cheesy deliciousness...and Nutella."  Apparently placing her dinner and dessert crepe orders early.

The accomplished hikers.  Wet, tired, hungry, but proud.

Showing off our mud (Addy had just run through a puddle so her boots were surprisingly clean).

At the top near the tram we found this sign.  A warning to the tourists that rode the tram up, who may think about hiking down instead.  

For us, we had hiking boots, we had water, we had plenty of time, and we had the promise of crepes.

Sunshine Cove

To say that the weather the last few weeks has been great is an understatement.  It has been glorious.  Clear skies, sunshine, warm temperatures.  And so appropriately, we discovered a new beach called Sunshine Cove.

The girls were jumping with excitement when we told them that they could even wear their swimsuits to go in the water.  Make no mistake - that water is freezing!  But they were too happy to care.

As we were sitting on the beach, we could see the spray from whales out in the distance.  And then, not 200 yards away, about halfway between the shore and that island in the picture up comes up a whale.  I'm guessing a humpback but I can't say for certain.  It played around the area for some time and we just watched in amazement.  That's life, Alaska style.

Thunder Mountain - Conquered!

Thunder Mountain Trail
Length: 3 miles (one way)
Elevation Gain: 2,700 feet

Graham and I set out early Monday morning, Memorial Day, before the girls were awake to take on Thunder Mountain.  It was the first hike we attempted after Graham returned to Juneau following Naval Justice School last October.  We were short on time and so only made it as far as we could that day, knowing we would return.

Most of the hike was through the forest.  About an hour and a half in, we started to get little glimpses of what would be the views from the top.

It's also the beginning of wildflower season and every once in a while we'd walk through a muskeg or meadow and be treated to color like this.  The lupine at this elevation are just beginning to flower a brilliant blue.

Can you tell how hot and sweaty we are in this picture?  The trail book describes this hike as a "steep and arduous 3 mile climb" and it is not kidding.  Truth be told, we took this picture because this hike was kicking my butt and I was ready to be done.  My legs were wobbly and it just didn't look like the trees were ever going to really break to give us a better view than what we had at that moment.

We could even spot our house!











But then we ran into two other Coasties (miraculous in and of itself because we had only run into two other people the entire time we had been out that morning) who had done this hike before and said we were probably only 15 minutes from the end and that it was so worth it.  I'm so glad we listened to them.

Snow had not quite all melted off the upper parts of the mountain.  The snow ball that Graham threw at me actually felt really good :)

At the end, the trail got very steep.  This is probably my favorite picture from the whole adventure.  The last push up.  But the perspective, just to take it all in - from the small wildflowers on the ground below us to the vast expanse of snowy mountain ranges in the distance. 

And then we made it to the ridge.  Success.  Upper portions of the Mendenhall Glacier are center of this picture.  I found some clumps of what I think are mountain goat fur on the ground and brought them back down to show the girls.

From the top of Thunder Mountain.