Tomorrow is Another Day

I imagine that everyone who goes through huge transitions in their lives experiences the same thing at some point. Anger.  Frustration.  Regret.  Loneliness.  Maybe depression.  And at the end of the day self-doubt.  Today was that day for me.  It was not a good day.  Personally or professionally.

I have not been in Juneau very long.  I know that after leaving family, friends, loved ones, my home, and my job, feeling all of those things is most likely normal.  But knowing that doesn't help.  Not right now anyway.  I'm sure that it will help tomorrow because it has helped every day to this point.  But not right now.

Tomorrow is another day. 

Here are some random pictures that I have taken over the past few weeks.  

A remnant of the gold mining era.  This picture was taken on the beach of Douglas Island S.  The beach is littered with many of these types of interesting objects

Taken from a trail at Mendenhall Glacier.  Absolutely beautiful.

Alaska Marine Highway Ferry

Kayak rentals at Auke Harbor.  Closed for the winter, but a wonderful way to view sea-lions and enjoy whale watching at other times of year

A stream in the snow of the Auke Nu Trail

A few more abandoned boats

 

Between Every Two Pines

Between every two pine trees is a door to a new world......John Muir

After spending a few hours walking, exploring and picture taking around the harbors of Auke Bay yesterday I finally made it to the Auke Nu Trail.  I didn't know anything about the trail aside from the fact that someone had told me that it was not very long.

When I first entered the trail it was completely ice and snow free, and it looked like a beautiful, quiet and wide open trail. The trail had a very gradual incline, and within just a few minutes (even though I had not climbed in elevation very much at all) it became very icy. 

I precariously made it through the first lengthy and icy section of trail before finding a stump to sit on and put on my Yak Trax.  Those cheap pieces of rubber, metal and velcro are worth their weight in gold, and whoever invented them is a genius in the same vein that those who invented the frisbee, hula hoop and the skipping rope are geniuses - a simple and cheap concept that probably made the inventors a small (or large) fortune.

Within just another few minutes the trail quickly turned into a combination of snow and ice.  I have been constantly amazed since I arrived in Juneau at how isolated  weather fronts can be here - dirt, ice then snow filled trail all within a few minutes of each other........

Eventually I came to an intersection, and since I had no idea where I was or where the trails led, I non-committedly followed the trail to the left, following an arrow that indicated John Muir cabin.  John Muir cabin??  Hey, that's the name of the naturalist and preservationist I had been quoting off and on since I arrived in Alaska and started this blog. 

It was obvious that I was just wandering on trails knowing absolutely nothing about anything aside from putting one foot in front of the other.....

It didn't matter.  I was outside.  I was on trails.  I was in the most beautiful place I had ever lived in.  It was sunny and the air was crisp but not cold.  It was obvious that I had been misinformed as to the length of this trail, but life was good anyway.

I had no intention of going too far, exploring too far off the beaten path - most of my synthetic outdoor clothing is still in Tennessee, I did not have a first aid  kit or a compass or a space blanket with me.  No-one knew where I was.  No.  when it became obvious that the trail was a whole lot more trail that I had been told, I planned on exploring for just a while and then turning back until I was better equipped and better supplied for such an adventure.

After being on this beautiful quiet pine tree filled trail for about an hour (a trail that began with wide open dirt ground double track, and gradually developed into snow and ice filled switchbacks and up and downs), I finally decided to turn back at the bridge.  It was good that I did I think.  On the way back to the trailhead I ran into three couples - a young couple with cross-country skis on their backs, a father and son with snow shoes on their backs, and an older couple with trekking poles and oversized overnight packs.  It was obvious that this was going to turn into a serious trail up ahead somewhere.

I want very much to check out this trail again - when I am better prepared gear-wise and information wise.

Walking back to the condo after leaving the moss-filled bottom section of the trail I ran into what I can only describe as a small boat graveyard.  When the tide is in these boats are underwater.  When the tide is out (which seems like a good portion of each day) these boats sit along the shoreline abandoned and forgotten.

The Most Wonderful Country In The World

Sunday morning and Juneau is in Day 5 of sunshine.  Temperature today was right around freezing, but the sun was shining in that watery greyish kind of way that you find frequently in the north in the winter, and with no wind it was another beautiful day to be outside.

I headed out alone today, desperately needing to just wander again solo without the pressure of having to make needless conversation with someone.  Just needing to be alone.

I walked down Glacier Highway, past the Alaska Marine Ferry Terminal, past Auke Nu trail (which was my intended destination), and down to the gas station (slash grocery store slash snack bar slash video rental store) in Auke Bay to get a strong coffee and strawberry danish - hardly a nutritious breakfast but enough to sustain me through a morning.

Right outside the gas station were some snow covered benches overloooking Auke Bay Harbor (where I was yesterday during the last half of my wanderlust exploration) and I stood beside them and looked out over the harbor while drinking and eating, trying to figure out what my next move should be.

I still had intentions of doing the Auke Nu trail, but decided to head down to another harbor about 1/4 mile away first to photograph some of the boats.  Some of the pictures of the harbor are below.

It was a beautiful quiet morning by the lake and I took many pictures.  I saw an eagle perched on a post, and sea lions and seals that played in the water - but could not capture them in pictures well enough to post them on this blog. 

As I was walking back up the pier towards the parking lot and then the road, I noticed an older lady with a professional quality camera, complete with huge telephoto lens.  I had noticed her taking pictures on the shore during the long time that I spent walking the pier.  We smiled at each other, and I broke the ice by complimenting her on her camera.  She showed me some of the pictures she had taken through the morning, and they were so detailed you could see every feather on the birds she had photographed, every whisker on the seals.  I was envious of her pictures and camera, and told her so.  She has aspirations to publish her pictures one day.

Again I had planned on heading to Auke Nu trail (which I knew nothing about aside from what someone had told me, which was that it was a short trail).

The photographer talked me into taking a walk along the beach first, and while the tide was out.  I'm glad I did. 

      

     

    

   

  

  

  

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

    

    

The beach was full of seaweed, shells, slate and barnacle covered rocks.  One of those rocks is sitting in my pack right now - a souvenir of my walk

    

Some pictures of some of the older large boats I have come across in my walks over the past couple of days - these boats can be found in commercial and residential parking lots throughout the area, perched on everything from boat trailers to wood pallets to oil drums - all in hibernation for the winter.

   

   

   

   

I did finally make it to the Auke Nu trail after my adventures by the water.  It's not a short trail.  In fact it is a beautiful wide-open pine-tree-filled and long trail.  Another story for another day.........

To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world......John Muir 

PS:  Thank you to everyone who has visited this site.  I appreciate you visiting and taking the time to view my pictures and share in my Juneau journey.  I have no idea who is reading this site, and if you would take a minute to sign up as a "Follower" (link is at the top right of the page) I would appreciate it.  THANKS!

So Beautiful You Want To Cry

My room-mate and I hiked two of the trails around Mendenhall Glacier this morning.  When we arrived at the Visitor's Center it was cold - maybe 25 degrees and the sky was beautiful, still and clear.  I was as excited as a child to look out over the glacier and know that we would be spending a few hours outside, away from town, out on the trails.

In SE Alaska on a sunny day it doesn't take very long to see what you so desperately need - mountains, trails, streams, wooden bridges, pine trees, moss covered rocks, moss covered trees, wide open spaces, endless sky, lakes, more mountains that travel neverendingly into the distance.  I saw all of those things today.  In just a few hours.

We climbed maybe 1500-2000 feet over the course of a few miles before running into another trail that would take us back down to the trail head - damanding for my room-mate but happily not as demanding for myself.  The trails were mostly snow and ice covered, and without Yak-Trax the trails would have been impassable. 

Although we saw a number of people walking on the lake (as well as bicycling and ice skating) we did not run into anyone on the trails.  In this most beautiful of places, on this most beautiful of days, we had the trails to ourselves.  It was a magical hike.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul..........John Muir

As we were leaving Mendenhall Glacier I realized that I was not ready to go back to the condo, and that I still needed to be outside.  The day was too beautiful.  The sun was too bright.  The sky was too blue.  And I still had too much energy to be still.  I needed to keep moving a little longer.  I had my room-mate drop me off at the Harbor in Auke Bay so I could take more pictures and take my time walking the few miles back to the condo.

It was a quiet walk - drinking chocolate milk and eating a cranberry muffin, stopping to check out the university bookstore, checking on real estate properties along the road that had for sale signs in the windows, taking pictures at Auke Bay and other points along the route home.

By the time I arrived home I was cold, tired, and my right hip was hurting - an on-again off-again issue that first surfaced soon after I injured my left knee.  Although "real life" intruded many times during my hikes today, I worked hard to try and push those thoughts aside so I could decompress.  It was a good day.  A very good day.