With high pressure still dictating the weather, and with the resulting incredibly sunny and warm weather LC and I decided to walk through the mountains on this Saturday morning.
By 9am we were heading out, and walking on Perserverance Trail, located in the back of Juneau.
I have heard stories often about this trail, and have always been curious to see it, so was very excited to have this wonderful day to dedicate to exploring.
Perserverance Trailhead is located at the end of Basin Road (the same road where I picked up the Mt Roberts Trail many months ago).
This trail has a rich mining history, as a few others also do in Juneau.
It was listed in one of my local trail hike books as an easy trail.
It is well known locally to have very beautiful views, but is also notorious for rock slides in the summer and avalanches in the winter.
I wanted to explore it when I was here alone last winter, and even though we had a lot less snow than is usual in Juneau, the avalanche stories still scared me away from it.
On a warm and sunny Saturday in September, I was eager to see what was there.
We parked the truck at the Mt Roberts trailhead, and walked the rest of the way to the Perserverance. Basin Road looking back towards Juneau..........
Immediately across the Mt Roberts parking lot is this...another gold mining remnant...........
It was a little before 9am when we set off, and even though the sky was blue the temperature was very cool, and both LC and I were both sorry that we were not wearing one extra layer.
Regardless, we were in very good spirits, and enjoyed the river and the trees and the mountains and especially the quiet.
I took a picture of this sign because I thought that it was very funny - a shooting prohibited sign full of bullet holes.......
Still on Basin Road, and continuing towards the trailhead.
This short walk before hitting the trail gave us great promise and that we would indeed be spending a good part of our day surrounded by mountains..........
Another piece of mining history located right at the trailhead.
Most of the time, whether here at Perservance, or across on Douglas Island and walking among the Treadwell artifacts, or whether seeing other objects that I have happened across on yet more trails in the area, I have no idea what I am actually looking at.
To me they are just pieces that I know are rich in history, and also to me and my non-technical brain they are just seemingly extraordinarily interesting works of art..........
An entrance to a mining shaft, located just minutes onto the trail........
We were both surprised at the hills we had to climb for the first 20 minutes on the trail, before it finally levelled off.
But it did not take long to realize that Perserverance Trail was going to live up to its reputation as a beautiful and open and picturesque trail.
I saw these mountains, recognized them as the very familiar mountains over on Douglas Island that I have enjoyed so much since arriving in Juneau, and knew that I would love this walk..........
A long section of steep climbing, rock bluff on one side of us, and mountain views and very steep drop-offs to the right of us.
The posts are meant to not only act as a barrier for hikers, but also to try and stabilize the loose gravel and rocks of this bluff.
Looking down you could see often were rocks slides had occurred in both the past and the very recent past.
We walked carefully, kept Jamie close, and truly enjoyed this place.........
This rock face was made of slate, that was as interesting as it was beautiful.
It glistened with iron, was mishapen due to both pressure and water, and contained both hairline and large scale fractures.
Unstable and absolutely lovely..........
Surrounded 360 degrees by mountains.........
A beautiful waterfall Ebner Falls, about a mile onto the trail, and close to the Mount Juneau Trailhead.........
And after cool morning temperatures, and shadows being cast all around us, the sun finally crested over the mountains........
Moving from rock trails and rock bluffs, to a trail surrounded on both sides by green.
We let up on Jamie's leash and she became Point Dog again........
While Jamie and my Mountain Boy sat to drink water and eat a ham and cheese sandwich, I veered down a small side trail to take these pictures of the back end of the waterfall.
For almost the entire hike we followed the beautiful, angry and raging river...........
Many months ago I named these three mountains The Triplets.
They are located over on Douglas, and when I am downtown they seem to follow me everywhere I go, and somehow seem to find their way into many of my pictures.
When I am out in the Valley the Mendenhall Glacier is much the same. It seems to be everywhere - a constant and familiar friend.........
There is something ruggedly beautiful about the ridges and washouts that scar the faces of many mountains in the area..........
The sun shining increasingly warmer as the day progressed............
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