Juneau Question

[dawn.glenn@ns.sympatico.c]

When in Juneau my DH and I plan to do the Gastineau Gold Mine tour....and it appears as though the mine is up Mt Roberts. We also had thought about the tram ride up Mount Roberts. Will we see the same sights from the mine as when we go up the tram? .....or are they different enough to do both?

 

What was your favorite excursion in Juneau??

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

What was your favorite excursion in Juneau??

 

The Mendenhall Glacier was our favorite. We went there are port of a tour. (our TA gave us a shore excursion credit--so we used it here) However, it is easy to do on your own. The buses leave the port area all day and are $8 each way.

 

If you go on your own you can walk down one of the trails. The trail to Nugget falls takes you right beside the falls. (45 min to 1 hr) There is a trail that leads to the glacier itself. We only had time to go to photo point.

 

It was an ugly day and we thought we would not be able to see anything from Mt Roberts. But, the glacier was good. You can see how cloudy it was.

 

 

But, the highlight of the entire day was seeing the Mama bear and her two cubs near the visitor center of the glacier.

 

 

[Last Mango]

We did the whale watching offered by Princess and loved it. Saw a huge herd of sea loins. Humpback and killer whales. A great day!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done the whale wacthing with Orca Enterprises.

We have also gone out to Mendenhal Glacier a couple of times via the Blue Bus -- stay as long as you want.

Another time we went out to the gardens where the trees are upside down and also stopped at the Alaskan Brewery.

[sherryf]

When in Juneau my DH and I plan to do the Gastineau Gold Mine tour....and it appears as though the mine is up Mt Roberts. We also had thought about the tram ride up Mount Roberts. Will we see the same sights from the mine as when we go up the tram? .....or are they different enough to do both?

 

The mine is in a totally different area from the tram. You won't see any great views from the mine, but we did enjoy the tour.

[TwoSue]

We did a self-guided kayak trip across Mendenhall Lake. Got to see the glacier, iceburgs, and Nugget falls from the water. Awesome!

[firstalaskatrip]

We took the bus out to Mendenhall Glacier to walk around on our own and then did whale watching with Adventures in Alaska (Scania is the boat name). Both were great. On the whale watch, we saw sea lions, dall porpoise, humpback whales bubble feeding, and a close up pod of about 10 orcas that stayed with us for a while. It was an incredible experience. Apparently orcas and bubble feeding are each seen about 10-20% of the time depending on who you talk to, but almost every tour reportedly sees humpbacks and sea lions. It's also beautiful scenery and nice to see mendenhall up close and then see the glaciers from the water too.

[Budget Queen]

but almost every tour reportedly sees humpbacks and sea lions. QUOTE]

 

It's not almost, it is 100% sightings for humpbacks. :)

[PennyAgain]

Do not buy tram tickets ahead of the exact time you wish to ride. If you cannot see the top from the bottom of the tram, there will be little to no view. They never run out of tram tickets and the lines are not long.

 

In other words, don't buy tram tickets on your ship.

 

The mine is not at the top of the tram but elsewhere in Juneau. The mine is an interesting place to visit. However keep your eyes open when walking around Juneau especially gravel parking lots. Some folks do find a nugget doing that.

 

I certainly to look out for shiney things in Alaska.