June 2013 Alaska

Photo of mama and baby bear at Taku Glacier Lodge.

26 June 2013 Wednesday - Juneau Alaska
I joined the Wednesday hike group for the hike up Mt Roberts for wonderful views of Juneau and the channel on another unusually clear day!

20 June 2013 Thursday - Juneau Alaska
Officially the Summer Solstice began at 9:04pm with 18 hours 18 minutes of daylight....but that also means the countdown to winter and the days start getting shorter!

16 June 2013 Sunday - Juneau Alaska
Worked at the Visitor's Information Kiosk in the morning and then joined a friend for a flight on a float plane to Taku Glacier Lodge for their salmon bake and enjoyed watching the bears feed on the drippings....more sunshine and hot weather!

15 June 2013 Saturday - Juneau Alaska
We hiked the Auke Nu trail to the John Muir cabin in glorious sunshine, about three miles with 1500' elevation gain.... and then some of us took the long way back (maybe about five miles) with a bit more of a climb to Spaulding Meadows where we found beautiful views of the glacier and mountains

14 June 2013 Friday - Juneau Alaska
My friends from Palo Alto are visiting Juneau today on the Alaskan Dream Cruise, a trip that I took last May 2012 and recommended to them. They selected the perfect week to cruise from Ketchikan to Sitka because the weather has been perfect...and the forecast for the weekend is:

Juneau could see record heat this weekend
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP & KINY) — Juneau could see record high temperatures this weekend after a string of abnormally warm days that have left some residents grumbling about the heat.

National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Fritsch says daytime highs this week have run as much as 10-14 degrees above normal at the Juneau airport. He says normal temps for this time of year are around 62 degrees.

Fritsch says Juneau could see record temps this weekend. Saturday's record high at the airport is 83 degrees, dating to 1969, while Sunday's is 82 degrees, dating to 1948.

Fritsch says the warm weather is due to a thermal trough that's also triggered thunderstorms in other parts of southeast Alaska.

This weekend's warm temperatures are not expected to exceed the warmest day ever in Juneau to date.  That occurred on July 7, 1975, when it hit 90 degrees at the airport.  The second warmest temperature ever was 86 degrees on June 13, 1969, 44 years ago.

The forecast for the next two weeks calls for above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation for Juneau.

12 June 2013 Wednesday - Juneau Alaska
Today is International Salad Day, per our hike leader, anyway....so we all bring the fixings for a shared salad at lunch today for our three mile hike each way up the Dan Moller trail in the sunshine.....although still quite a bit of snow on the trail starting about halfway up.

11 June 2013 Tuesday - Juneau Alaska
The sun is still shining so time to wash the van and clean the windows and rugs in the van!

8 June 2013 Saturday - Juneau Alaska
A gorgeous day for a hike from Echo Cove to Kowee Creek (about seven miles) through meadows full of flowers (lupine, buttercups, chocolate lilies, shooting stars and more) and a pond full of pollywogs and views across the channel of the snow capped Wrangell St Elias mountains....such fun!

7 June 2013 Friday - Juneau Alaska
First Friday Art Walk downtown

5 June 2013 Wednesday - Juneau Alaska
Gave the Wednesday hike a miss because it is just pouring down rain and the hike was not one of my favorites anyway......so instead, I did nice walk out Basin Road and returned via the flume to stop at the gym, join up and work out! And it is always so much fun walking this town because you always run into someone you know....so that has kept me busy these past few days since I arrived.

3 June 2013 Monday - Juneau Alaska
Ferry arrived in Juneau at 415am! I am now renting an apartment above a garage just a block from my old house! Unfortunately, the owners have the big house for sale so not sure how long I will have a "home"! Still sunny in Juneau but the clouds are moving in today.

2 June 2013 Sunday - Ketchikan Alaska
First stop at port of Ketchikan....7-930am.....so catch up on internet at hotel across from ferry dock then two mile walk to town....there are already three cruise ships here at 630am! Afternoon stop at 3pm in Wrangell then 7pm in Petersburg......

1 June 2013 Saturday - Out on the waters of Canada and USA!
All day cruising on the MV Columbia ferry....no stops with morning rain and clouds and afternoon sunshine!