A Night at Peterson Lake

Emily and I rented a Forest Service cabin at Peterson Lake outside of Juneau. The hike in covers four miles of mostly mud and muskeg. The first two miles follows an old mine car roadbed complete with small rails and wooden ties. The last two miles consist of a plank board path elevated above the muskeg and water. The cabin at the lake was very cozy and even came equipped with a boat.

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A totem pole on the road to the trail head.

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The trail.  It isn’t very muddy on this part but it got a lot worse.

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Mud.  Lots and lots of it.

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A waterfall on the river that the trail followed.

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Emily walking on the plank trail.

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The old railroad next to the plank trail.

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Another waterfall.

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Peterson Lake.

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Peterson Lake Cabin.

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The boat that comes with the cabin.

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People can also fly in on float planes and tie up at the docks.

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Cooking on a sterno can.  Well, actually we were boiling water in this photo but same idea.

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Drying out firewood and socks.

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The cabin can sleep around eight people.

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Some mountains with glaciers visible in the distance.

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Getting ready to go boating.

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Safety first!

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Stretching out in the evening.

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Morning over the lake.

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One more row before we left.

Mendenhall Glacier and Other Bits of Snow

Glaciers abound in the Juneau area of Alaska. They are all hanging on the mountains and coming down into the water, just waiting for the humans to drop their guard. When we least expect it the glaciers will attack! Here are a few photos of Mendenhall Glacier and some of the others who might soon wrest control of Alaska from the United States.

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On the road leading to the Mendenhall Glacier.

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A creek that runs into the lake created by the retreating glacier.

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Mendenhall Glacier.  It has retreated about a mile since Emily’s mom first came to Alaska.

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The white streak on the right side of the image is a huge river which plunges down from the Juneau Ice Fields into the lake.

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As seen from the visitor center.

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A hanging glacier just waiting to attack.

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Another hanging glacier.  They’re all terrorist sleeper agents.

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Mendenhall from Douglas Island.