Day 3 - Endicott Arm and Juneau
After the missing Oyster Boy and pouring rain in Ketchican, the trip had one more disappointment in store for us. We were supposed to cruise up the Tracy Arm Fjord to where the glaciers meet the ocean. By all accounts it is supposed to be a spectacular experience. We woke up early - 5am. I turned on the GPS to see where we were. Sure enough, we were at the entrance to Tracy Arm. There were iceburgs in the water. It was all very exciting, except we were heading away from the entrance to the fjord. After circling around this little island we proceeded up the Endicott Arm.
Finally, an announcement came of the ship's PA system. A large iceburg was blocking the channel at the entrance to the Tracy arm. We had circled for almost an hour waiting to see if the tides andl currents would flushthe iceburg from the channel. Unfortunately, this was not going to be our day. We went part way up the Endicott arm until we ran out of time and had to turn around. No glaciers.
Besides the gloom of missing the Tracy Arm experience, there was the pouring rain, wind and fog. Juneau was shaping up to be as disappointing as Ketchican. Our shore excursion was to include a botanical garden of native plants, Mendenhall glacier, and the Mt Roberts tram.
As it turned out, the rainforest garden was rather nice! The rain eased up and a wide selection of wildflowers were in bloom. Next it was off to Mendenhall. The clouds were low on the mountains but the rain appeared to be done for the day. We hiked out to the Nugget Creek waterfall and took lots of pictures. We returned to town and rode the tram to the top. What a spectacular view. That pretty much consumed the entire day.
