In
September, 2001 Maria and I again visited Juneau, Alaska and Seattle,
Washington with a side trip to Victoria, Canada. We forgot our
digital camera, so most of the pictures were taken with a cheap
disposal camera and were then scanned in, so I apologize in advance
for the lack of quality!
Mt.
Jumbo, my favorite mountain to hike, looms in the background
with the city of Douglas, Alaska along the water. This shot
was taken during a hike on Mt. Roberts. The shots below are
more shots from our hike.
A
look at the trail going up Mt. Roberts. Looks like it just
drops off a cliff, doesn't it? It's steep, but not that
steep. Mt. Roberts is the easiest mountain to climb in Juneau.
Mt. Juneau, seen in the background on the right side, is by
far one of the steepest.
On
the right side of the mountain you can see the tramway terminal.
Several years ago they built a tramway that leads halfway
up Mt. Roberts to a very nice Visitor's Center, providing
some spectacular views for tourists who aren't mountain climbers.
On the far side of the Gastineau Channel you can see West
Juneau, located on Douglas Island, where I grew up.
Another
view of the Mt. Roberts trail, just before the trail gets
really, really steep.... This part of the trail is maintained
by the tramway for the benefit of the tourists, so it is by
far the easiest part of the hike.
Mt.
Juneau looms in the background. Unlike Mt. Roberts, which
slopes gently (relatively speaking!) until it gets steep near
the top, Mt. Juneau is steep all the way up. I prefer hiking
Mt. Roberts over Mt. Juneau, because the views are much nicer
on top of the mountain.
As
you can see, we were already well above the clouds at this
point.
Another
view of Mt. Jumbo, on Douglas Island. The trail on Mt. Jumbo
follows the left side of this picture along the ridge. The
valley in the center is covered with wildflowers in the Spring,
which is incredibly gorgeous, but it is almost a sheer dropoff
leading to that valley.
A
view of the Gastineau Channel, which runs between the city
of Juneau and Douglas Island. The snow-capped mountains far
in the background are on Admiralty Island, which has the highest
bear density in the world.
To
see the next set of vacation photos, click on the arrow
