The
Visitor Center
is the building on the left. On the right, just visible, is a covered
area offering grand views of the glacier.
Our next stop was the other tourist attraction, the Mendenhall Glacier. This glacier ends in a lake, which then empties into the Gastineau Channel. The lake is over 200 feet (60 metres) deep at the end of the glacier!
The
Visitor Center
is the building on the left. On the right, just visible, is a covered
area offering grand views of the glacier.
Kelly, at the front of the viewing platform for the glacier.
A more detailed view of the glacier's end. Like most of the
world's glaciers, the Mendenhall is
in retreat.
In the 1960s, it's end was about where the visitor center is now located,
or roughly to the base of this photo. There's also a
closeup
of part of the glacier, showing the blue colour which glaciers have.
The surface of the lake in front of the glacier was still frozen!
That's not salt in the picture, it's ice buckling up at the edge.
This was about as close as we could approach the glacier, unless
we decided upon some mountain climbing!
From here we toured the site of the mines which were the cause of Juneau's foundation, then we returned to our hotel for a little rest and recreation before heading out for dinner. We went to a restaurant which I had found in my walking tour yesterday, and was just a few blocks from the hotel. The meal was great, and the atmosphere enjoyable.
And so our first "all land" day came to a pleasant end.
Shrine of St. Therese
Alaskan Trip
