Alaska Expedition 2003

7thhead

August 7 - 10

Phil Sammet's Nautilus Explorer trip: Juneau Alaska to Prince Rupert British Columbia Canada, August 10 through August 23, 2003. 

8/7 Fly into Juneau, Alaska mostly without incident. We carried 2 large bags each (and a carry-on): one bag each carrying gear for above water and underwater exploration. The airlines had no issue with bags as far as weight, each being between 50 and 70 lbs. The TSA did leave a nice note in both of my bags saying they had hand inspected them, but all was left in an orderly fashion, so orderly that I doubt they did anything other than just open the bag and leave the note.

Our one flight incident was High Anxiety Man on the flight from Seattle to Juneau. This guy had been flying all day (having originated on the east coast) on a diet of cheeseburgers and coke. Midway through the flight he went into a cold sweat, became very nervous, agitated, and uneasy. Seemed to be a sugar crash with some flight anxiety mixed in. Oh, and he was in the emergency isle, but moved prior to landing in Juneau. This boy should stick to the bus next time.

We spent 3 nights, from Thursday evening through Sunday morning, at the Alaskan Hotel in Juneau. This hotel is your standard turn of the century rough and tumble type of place, essentially a bunch of small rooms for boarding gold rush miners. Oh, no elevators, just turn of the century stairs. Pack lightly.

There are a lot of rooms in the Alaskan, many of them in the interior of the building. To allow some natural light, there are light wells that abut onto the rooms. These light wells not only provide natural light, but since there is no air conditioning equipment (being Alaska and all), the windows to these light wells open...and everybody has them open. This produces the lovely late night sounds of The Light Well People. These are people who are up late (very late) chatting about who knows what, and the early riser (very early) fishermen types going on about the days plans. The Light Well People seem to be quiet between 6:30am to around 9:00pm. From 9:00pm to 6:00am The Light Well People are very rowdy.

The time in Juneau was spent decompressing, hiking about the mountains, and generally taking in the sights before the next two weeks of lounging on the boat. We had beautiful sunny days (mid/high 80s in the day, low 70s in the evening), with a tad too much humidity. Yes, layers are good, cotton is bad, synthetic cloth that wicks moisture away from your skin is good. 

8/9 Evening dinner with our group at Fiddleheads. However, when we arrived, it was full, so we sat at the upstairs tables...only that was no longer Fiddleheads. This was a gourmet restaurant, with excellent food and the best sauces. Even the balsamic vinegar for the salad was rendered down to a thick molasses consistency. VERY good food.

8/10 Early bright and sunny morning cab ride to Phil's hotel to meet up for the Death Hike (which it was not) to, and under, the Mendenhall Glacier. We arrived at the base of the glacier hike trail (the WEST side of the lake) around 8:30 and proceeded on a 90 minute walk up the mountain and then forged down to the head of the glacier. Once at the glacier's edge, we found a runoff stream that cuts under the glacier, so we followed it under. Phil mentioned that when you crawl under a glacier you need to wear a brightly colored costume to enhance the experience of the well lit, ice blue, glaciated roof above your head. We failed to heed Phil's advice, as did everybody, including Phil. We spent a few hours messing about under the ice sheet, and then headed back down the mountain to meet up with the Nautilus Explorer at Auke Bay. Dinner on the boat and a short trip around the tip of Auke Bay to Lena cove for an evening check out dive between the shore and the wreck of the Princess Kathleen.

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