Day 8 - Juneau, AK

Our day in Juneau started with overcast skies and a very light mist. That didn't stop us from seeing the sights!

Our first sight of Juneau was this interesting waterfall off the mountain that appeared to disappear into the city itself.

Our adventures began with an excursion to see how dog sled teams train in the summer. We were able to take a spin on their summer sleds (with tires) then we got to spend some time with "our" sled team. As you can see in the video, most of them really enjoy interacting with us. The seasoned veterans of the team lead with the 'newbies' bringing up the rear. The youngest on our team was the black dog in the very back - her name is Joker and she is VERY enthusiastic. After the sledding, we were able to spend some time holding the newest of the sled dogs - they were 3 weeks old - and having some hot cocoa.

We learned about the heavy gear the Iditarod teams use and how the race got its start. We also learned a lot about the Alaskan Huskies that were bred specifically for use as sled dogs. We discovered that there was no breed of dog that could handle the heavy loads of the sleds and have the speed necessary to travel long distances so humans bred Siberian Huskies to a variety of other dogs and, thus, developed the Alaskan Husky. Siberian Huskies, we were told, are more suited for transporting heavy loads over short distances and the Alaskan Husky is more muscular and streamlined.

After we returned to the city, we walked around seeing the sights.

This picture of the bear is directly in front of the Capitol building in Juneau.

This is called the 4-story totem. Not because it is 4 stories tall, but because it tells 4 stories! This is outside of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. The museum used to be the sight of Juneau's public library. In front of this building is a U.S. Flag with 49 stars. Our tour guide told us that this building is the only place in the country that is authorized to fly this flag. The library was also the place where the citizens gathered to party when the territory was granted statehood on January 3, 1959.

 

This building is the Alaska State Capitol Building. It is very unusual in that it looks more like an office building than the traditional state capitol buildings in the lower 48.

This totem is called the "Old Witch." It is inside one of the government buildings. The totem was carved in the 1880's. We were told that the indigenous peoples who carved the totems never intended them to last forever. If left outside, the totems would break down after about 20 years. Totems were carved for many reasons - to celebrate a person, to shame someone, etc. This was a dying art as most indigenous people in Alaska were forbidden to practice their native traditions; however, there is now an active attempt to bring back these arts.

This is the Alaska Governor's Mansion. It sits as one of the highest residences in the City of Juneau. Also, we learned that Juneau is completely cut off from the rest of the state and can only be accessed by ferry or plane. The reason is that Juneau is completely surrounded on land by glaciers and ice fields over which roads cannot be built.

This is an Eastern Orthodox Church. It was one of the first churches to be built in Juneau. The reason that this church was among the first is because Russia originally owned Alaska and Juneau had a large population of Russians living here, and they were primarily of Eastern Orthodox faith. This is still an active church. We toured the inside (we did not take pictures) and we learned that congregants stand during the entire service.

After the walking tour ended we headed back to the ship to rest up for our next day's adventures in Skagway, Alaska. Thank you for viewing and stay tuned for our Skagway post!