FRITZ, JO, AND JOE'S JUNEAU TOUR GUIDE

Excursions

Glacier Bay
Tracy Arm day cruise - Adventure Bound
ferry to Pelican
ferry to Skagway

Ride White Pass and Yukon narrow-gauge railroad
Hike mountain behind town
Rent car, drive the "loop" to Whitehorse, stopping at Tahkini Hot Springs, end at Haines.

Hikes (longer)

East Glacier Loop
West Glacier
Perseverance Trail
Pt Bridget trail thru Cowee Meadow beach
Herbert Glacier Trail
DuPont Trail
Mt Roberts (can take tram down for $5)
Sheep Creek
Dan Moller

Short Hikes to Beaches

Point Louisa
Outer Point Trail (20 min)
Shrine of St. Therese
Eagle Beach
Sandy Beach (hike down the beach)
Sunshine Cove (very short)
Lena Cove (roadside)
Petersen Creek Tidal Falls (Amalga Harbor)

Short Hikes - Other

Glory Hole/Treadwell - Douglas Mining History (take Joe)
Flume Trail (downtown, Gold Creek)
Cope Park (Gold Creek, Picnics)
Mendenhall Glacier, hike past visitors center to lake and waterfall
Switzer Loop boardwalk trail (from house)
walk the docks at the Auke Bay boat harbor
Downtown Juneau walking tour (Russian Orthodox Church etc.)
Dan Moller/Treadwell Ditch/Blueberry Loop (45 min).

Mountain biking with Joe (Jeff and Kate)

Dredge Lake Trail
Brotherhood Bridge Trail (Mim and Dan can walk)
West Glacier Trail

Boating Expeditions (Sneakeasy)

Island beach picnic
Going "over the bar" at Mendenhall Wetlands
Oliver Inlet (bears)
Circumnavigate Douglas Island
Taku River waterfall/beach picnic

Drives (stopping frequently to gawk and sightsee)

Eaglecrest Ski Area (hiking too from there)
End of Road, north Douglas (20 min)
End of Road, Thane (10 min)
End of Road, Echo Cove (45 minutes)
End of Fritz Cove Road (Smugglers Cove)

Rainy Days

Alaska State Museum (take Joe, find the "playhouse" tall ship)
Juneau City Museum
Augustus Brown Swimming Pool
Centennial Hall, Forest Service Information Center.
Alaska Brewery Tour

Kayak Rentals

Douglas: Juneau Outdoor Center 586-8220 $35/day (have 1^st timers rental clinic)
Auke Bay Boat Harbor Parking Lot
Alaska Discovery

Shops/Souvenirs

Alaska Brewing Company
Wm Spear Design (cloisenne pins)
Rie Munoz Gallery
Ad Lib/Decker Galleries

Going somewhere for a bite to eat

Hot Bite, walk the harbor docks (Auke Bay)
Twisted Fish (nicer) - on the water downtown
Bullwinkles Pizza (Joe). downtown and valley
El Sombrero. Downtown.
Fiddlehead (nicer). Downtown, near Foodland.
The "Hangar" at Merchants Wharf (Jeff and Katie) - downtown
Buzz's Paradise Cafe
Fiddlehead.
Armadillo Tex Mex Cafe
Douglas Cafe

Food to go (picnics, hikes)

Downtown

J&J Deli (sandwiches). Downtown, near high school.
Street Vendors downtown - summer
Rainbow Foods (lunch buffet)
Ricks Café (sandwiches) (next to Federal Building)
Foodland (salad bar)

Valley

Hot Bite - (Auke Bay Boat Harbor - best burgers and shakes in town!)
Carrs
Thunder Mtn. Cafe

Coffee

Valentines
Heritage Coffee

Grocery shop, and cook dinner
Boatbuilding (Harry's Bolger Cartoppers in progress)
Tour the boat collection
Endeavour
to see the effects of the tide rising and falling, tidepools at low tide
meet friends and neighbors
to see Mendenhall Glacier
to see a bear or think you have (well, it's a tourist thing)
go to something fun in Juneau that is very Juneau (concert etc)

Check the Crondahl's great Juneau Performing Arts Calendar
See the Perseverance Theatre's production of Fry Tales, written and directed by somebody who taught Joe (Roblin Davis)

take a tram ride up Mt Roberts every so often to meet at the end of the day

Watch the movie "Seeing Daylight" at the upper terminal

many walks in downtown Juneau (Mimi will like the shops!)
an afternoon tour of Joe's favorite places in Juneau led by Joe! (this could be really neat!!!)
visiting Joe's school (well I guess it's out, but looking at it)
looking at the mountains a million times as they change in the light
picnic on the beach
tide pools
walking in the old part of Juneau with the staircases
reading books to Joe in his own bed
listen to what Jeff's favorite places and memories are

Click for a map of these places ==>

LONGER NARRATIVES:

MT. ROBERTS TRAM Something new (touristy, but OK to a point) is the tram from downtown up to the top (well treeline) of Mt. Roberts. For excercise, I like to hike up (the old way from top of 6th street) after work, have dinner in the mountain top restaurant, and ride the tram down (easier on the knees!). Riding down is $5, but if you eat there its free. Round trip is $20 or so. Joe loves it up there so we have often taken the tram up to treeline, then hiked up into the alpine meadows from there. I have mixed emotions about the Tram, as do most residents, but I must admit it is very nice to have a latte in the meadow at 2,000 feet!!! On your first trip up, it is well worth seeing the tram-top terminal film: "Seeing Daylight" in the Chilkat Theatre. Check out Gastineau Guides website for some pictures of the top of Mt. Roberts (but you don't need a guide to hike the trails!).

EAST GLACIER TRAIL. - a favorite of mine. Park at the Visitors Center at the Mendenhall Glacier -trail starts behind the Center....about 1 to 2 hours in a big loop. Go counter clockwise. Spectacular view over the water fall and gorge. Very well worth it. Halfway up, DO take the short side trail that says "AJ Falls"!

OUTER POINT TRAIL: Sunset Beach Picnic (best on clear day of course!) Drive out North Douglas highway to about 1/2 mile before it ends. Brown wood trail head sign on right says "False Outer Point Trail" (I think...at least that's what we call it). 20 min. thru woods, then you break out on a nice beach, with room to spread out if others are there (usually not). On a very low tide you can hike out to Shaman Island on the spit in front....neat place.

POINT LOUISA is nice for a shorter picnic...but usually will see other people there. Drive past Auke Bay, past Ferry terminal, maybe 1 or 2 miles, drive into campground on left (water side). Start driving around the campground loop (you don't have to pay for day use) till you get to the day parking lot (probably not labelled as such though). Hike down thru the woods out to the point that sticks way out into the water.

HIKING TRAIL GUIDE: Juneau has TONS of hiking trails....you can get a guide to the various trails at the Forest Service Interpretive center in Centennial Hall downtown (low brown building across from the State Office Building).

RESTAURANTS: The "Twisted Fish" on the waterfront by the tram terminal has a patio that is nice to hang out on nice days for food or drink (so I've been told, not done it myself). Same guy owns the "Hangar" in Merchants Wharf, where locals would go on a rainy day. Fiddlehead is still here and doing well. Armadillo Tex-Mex also by the Tram terminal, owned by longtime local T. Terry Harvey is pretty good by Juneau standards...El Sombrero is still there too.

PERSEVERANCE TRAIL: at end of Basin Road is a nice hike, good waterfall vistas not too far in. I take lunch up there sometimes....you can get a pretty good lunch from one of the street vendors downtown (I like the taco salad one)...or Rainbow Foods (natural food store downtown) has a great take-out buffet every day.

HERITAGE COFFEE/VALENTINES: Heritage Coffee on S. Franklin for morning coffee (often a skateboard crowd though), or the coffee place I can't remember across (Valentines) from McDonalds on Seward street (normal people hangout). Good used bookstore next door.

DOUGLAS CAFÉ If you get really tired of tourists, eat at the Douglas Cafe in downtown Douglas. Tourists would not dare go in there, but food is quite good.

FLYING TO JUNEAU: Coming down from Anchorage to Juneau, try to get a window seat on the LEFT side of the plane (always face east!). You'll see 19,000 foot tall Mt Logan (even if its cloudy it pokes WAY up thru the top!), huge glaciers, Prince William Sound, upper Glacier Bay, and, landing in Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier. On the other side of the plane you just see water! Except at Glacier Bay the right side has 14,000 foot Mt. Fairweather. These mountains look *very* tall - they start from sea level, unlike someplace like Colorado where the 11,000 foot mountains start from a 5,000 foot plain. It will be a little before sunset, and the low light and shadows on the mountains will be very beautiful!

Cool Juneau Links

Local photographer Pat Costello's great ongoing photo essay of the Juneau area. Should inspire you with LOTS of ideas for excursions!