August 13, 2013 Tuesday
Day 37
Today we are off on a 3 day, 2 night adventure, woo-hoo! We are leaving our camper at our campsite, Mendenhall Lake Forest Service Campground and the car at the Juneau airport. We are flying on Wings of Alaska Airlines to Glacier Bay National Park in Gustavus. We took off at 10:45am for the one hour flight on a 5 passenger, 1980 Cessna 207. We flew 3,500 ft over the Chilkat Mountains, beautiful lakes and forests. I got to ride in the front seat next to our pilot who I think was 12 years old, at least he looked 12. But he was a great pilot, providing us with a smooth take-off, flight and landing.
A driver from Glacier Bay Lodge picked us up at the tiny airport in Gustavus and took us to the lodge, built 1966. We drove through Gustavus, population 390.
While we waited for our room to be ready, we had our usual p b and j picnic, watched the movie in the information center, which warned us about these beautiful red berries, that are in the forest- baneberries. Do NOT eat them because as little as 3 berries can shutdown your nervous system and kill you. yikes!
We took a hike on the Forest Loop Trail and the Beach Trail, saw lots of baneberries and several types of mushrooms in the moss covered forest. We stopped and admired the reflections in Blackwater Pond which was a peaceful, reflective pond. An interpretive sign by the pond told of visionaries and how they (thankfully) had the foresight to preserve wild lands. According to this sign, Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden (which praised the benefits of being close to nature), as he gazed at the reflections in Walden Pond. John Muir read Thoreau, Teddy Roosevelt read Muir. From 1903-8 Teddy Roosevelt made wild lands conservation a focus of his presidency, establishing 5 national parks and 18 national monuments.
Inspiring. We are so grateful that lands like these are preserved and protected. Last stop on our hike, was at the dock on Glacier Bay, where we could see Mount Fairweather, 15,000 feet tall and the highest peak in the park. It was 67 miles away, but the weather was so clear and beautiful, we could see it. Amazing to be able to see so far. It seemed close. I guess when the area is so incredibly vast, it plays tricks with your eyes.
At 3pm we could finally check into our room, with a lovely view of the bay. We were exhausted by all the activities, the fresh mountain air, etc. and my knee was really bothering me, so we took a nice long afternoon nap, with the windows open. Woke up, had dinner in the Lodge Dining Room, watched a spectacular sunset and went to bed again. Zzzzzzzzz
Wildlife Sightings
Bald Eagles
Mountain goats (as we flew over the mountains)