Juneau, Alaska

The Little Capital of Greater Alaska


Bubble Hunt
Humpback whales carry out attack a shoal in group
Arm of Sea
The Alaskan Gastineau Canal in which the state capital was housed.
Red Dog Saloon
Customers mingle at the Red Dog Saloon, Juneau's historic and iconic bar-restaurant.
Meeting point
Seaplane slides to Juneau dock, after mooring in Gastineau canal.
tight ride
Passersby pass by on a shopping street lined with Juneau jewelry stores.
Mount Roberts Tramway
Gondola lift climbs the steep slope of Mount Roberts, already high above the Gastineau Canal.
Mendenhall Lake & Glacier
View of the Mendenhall Glacier from this side of the homonymous lake to which it originates.
Orthodox legacy
Orthodox chapel proves Alaska's Russian past, also in Juneau.
Landing more handy
Sea lions rest on a buoy lighthouse at the exit of the Gastineau Canal.
In the Taste of Time
Long glacier flows from the gigantic Juneau ice field that stretches into British Columbia.
Juneau by Ares
Two paragliders hover on the projection of the slope of Mount Roberts.
Thunder Mountains
Snowy top of the Thunder Mountains. Across its summits, the Juneau Ice Field is hidden.
Public Submersion
Baleia sinks before a boat full of enthusiasts.
flight over deck
Seaplane flies alongside a huge cruise ship moored in Juneau's main dock.
From June to August, Juneau disappears behind cruise ships that dock at its dockside. Even so, it is in this small capital that the fate of the 49th American state is decided.

There's always room for another boat in Southeast Alaska.

Isolated between the Pacific Ocean and the vastness of British Columbia, the region is fragmented by countless channels and fjords.

From them rise the Coast Mountains, a coastal range next to Tongass and one of the largest forests in the United States.

Alluvial Valley, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

The Alaskan Gastineau Canal in which the state capital was housed.

This rude nature makes the construction of roads unfeasible. With the exception of Skagway, Hyder and Haines, the local villages still lack a road connection to the outside.

The route of choice is, therefore, the Alaska Marine Highway, a kind of maritime highway that starts in the distant Aleutian port of Unalasca/Dutch Harbour.

And that goes through the interior passage of the «frying pan» to Bellingham or Prince Rupert, north of Vancouver.

We become your frequent flyers.

On one of several marine voyages, we boarded the “M/V Malaspina” in Skagway, bound for the Alaskan capital.

Alaska Marine Highway Down, Toward Capital Juneau

During the winter, practically no tourists arrive. Juneau lives a genuine life. State lawmakers entertain themselves here with their lobbies and political confrontations.

They meet daily to work at the Capitol and City Hall. Then, due to lack of space and supply, they socialize together in the few streets, restaurants and bars of the city.

Tight Ride, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Passersby pass by on a shopping street lined with Juneau jewelry stores.

From 2006 to 2009, the protagonist of this circle was the Republican governor Sarah Palin. Born in Idaho, she moved with her family to Alaska at a young age.

It didn't take him long to become attached to the state and to Juneau, where he has a poorly protected roadside mansion that he almost never inhabits, to the detriment of the original, in Wasilla.

But the Republican was not as fond of it as expected.

Twenty-two years after placing third in the Miss Alaska pageant, just days after taking office, Palin angered the people of Juneau by telling her commissioners that they didn't have to move to the capital.

Orthodox Chapel, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Orthodox chapel proves Alaska's Russian past, also in Juneau.

The truth is that few politicians like the prospect of being besieged in the miniature capital, condemned by a dismal weather and hours on end in front of the television. Even so, the governor's sincerity was excessive.

In August 2008, Sarah Palin left the state capital to strengthen John McCain's candidacy for the White House.

The result was not what the Republicans expected and the objective of the presidential election was defeated.

Lower 48 Americans' Surprise at the Capital of Greater Alaska

Summer has always brought changes to Juneau. "This is it??" people just disembarked from summer cruises ask over and over again.

Juneau has the ability to leave many of the Lower 48's compatriots in disbelief. Its small size seems like a joke to them.

Seaplane Mooring, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Seaplane slides into Juneau dock after mooring in Gastineau Canal

Especially when the shipping companies are present with several of their huge cruise ships, part of the city is “stuck” between the monstrous ships and the shops at the base of Mount Juneau.

The squeeze generates the same consumerist stimulus that governs Skagway, but suffocates the city.

Visitors with wide views and full wallets monopolize the few possible escapes.

From the ends of S Franklin Street, a cable car ascends to the summit of Mount Roberts.

Mount Roberts Tramway, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Gondola lift climbs the steep slope of Mount Roberts, already high above the Gastineau Canal.

From the same top, we unveil, in panoramic format, the townhouse in the city and the contiguous liners.

The long channel of Gastineau, furrows the dense forest.

We see it transformed into a busy airstrip, such is the number of seaplanes taking off to fly over other scenarios in the surroundings:

snowy mountains, lakes, the Mendenhall Glacier and the vast ice field that slips.

Glacier, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Long glacier flows from the gigantic Juneau ice field that stretches into British Columbia.

The latter are the region's great natural attractions, plagued by waves of outsiders throughout the summer.

Whenever the weather permits, helicopters after helicopters rise from the capital's airport to the icy domain of the Juneau Ice Field. where huge Dog Mushing camps await them.

On these expensive tours, cruise passengers combine divine scenic flights with quick baptisms on dog sleds.

Full Dog Mushing

The Breathtaking Visits of Orcas and Bossa Whales

Juneau attracts other visitors. As Alaska's warm months approach, huge colonies of humpback whales and other species arrive from tropical waters like those around the Hawaiian archipelago.

In about 30 days, they travel almost 5000 kms until they reach the frigid, krill-filled sea around Juneau.

With another marine menu in mind, hundreds of orcas follow.

Whales, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Baleia sinks before a boat full of enthusiasts.

As might be expected, its sighting has become one of the most popular activities in the region.

Contrary to what happens in other places as or more remote, it is simple and almost guaranteed.

We boarded at a busy marina in the immediate vicinity of Lake Auke.

Sea Lions, Juneau the Little Capital of Greater Alaska

Sea lions rest on a buoy lighthouse at the exit of the Gastineau Canal.

We set sail for the open waters of Auke Bay. We're on our toes from repeated night trips but we barely have time to grieve.

With just a few minutes of navigation, we find ourselves side by side with an opportunistic herd of orcas. Shortly thereafter, we detected the tails of another of these sinking mammals.

Soon, we are gifted with the main show. A group of humpback whales is positioned in an almost circle.

In a flash, they produce huge bubbles around them that disorient and force a large number of fish from the target school to emerge.

Whale Hunting with Bubbles, Juneau the Little Capital of Great Alaska

Humpback whales carry out attack a shoal in group

Once the fish are close to the surface, it is the whales themselves that emerge with their huge mouths gaping open, eager to swallow as many fish as possible, harassed by hungry and fearless seagulls.

Passengers, a little in disbelief, rejoice in the phenomenon, in most cases, only witnessed by them in television documentaries.

Or never seen.

The American-Alaskan Way of the Short Juneau Summer

With the customers satisfied and the scheduled time running out, the crew returns the boat to the dock. From there, they take you to an international get-together picnic lunch.

Fresh salmon and root beer blend well in the cool of the hillside forest where we found ourselves.

Soon, a chauvinist American couple sits at our table. “Portuguese?

We don't have many there in Texas. And they have already decided in which part of the United States are they going to stay alive?” the plump, ruddy husband asks us as if nothing else in the rest of the world could ever matter.

We abbreviated the meal. We return to Juneau's waterfront, which is always flooded with passersby. It is unusually hot for these latitudes and we only dress up after sunset.

On that day, at that hour, we surrender to curiosity.

Killed by an Alaskan Amber beer that we hadn't drunk since Skagway, we entered the Red Dog Saloon, a bar, now considered by many to be in bad taste, famous for having opened in the days of the Alaskan gold rush.

Red Dog Saloon, Juneau the Little Capital of Great Alaska

Customers mingle at the Red Dog Saloon, Juneau's historic and iconic bar-restaurant.

The establishment maintains the old formula of live music.

DJ entertainers update it who, still at the piano but equipped with much more technology and a huge tip bottle labeled Viagra, take spectators to ecstasy.

“Anyone here from New Orleans?” the bald white musician asks the crowd indulging in home-cooked meals. "I'm going to take off my cap." You can see why I won the Louis Armstrong lookalike contest.

He grabs a kind of language from his carnival mother-in-law, husks his voice as hard as he can and starts a sort of euphoric Blues recital.

Key West, USA

The Tropical Wild West of the USA

We've come to the end of the Overseas Highway and the ultimate stronghold of propagandism Florida Keys. The continental United States here they surrender to a dazzling turquoise emerald marine vastness. And to a southern reverie fueled by a kind of Caribbean spell.
Ketchikan, Alaska

Here begins Alaska

The reality goes unnoticed in most of the world, but there are two Alaskas. In urban terms, the state is inaugurated in the south of its hidden frying pan handle, a strip of land separated from the contiguous USA along the west coast of Canada. Ketchikan, is the southernmost of Alaskan cities, its Rain Capital and the Salmon Capital of the World.
Anchorage to Homer, USA

Journey to the End of the Alaskan Road

If Anchorage became the great city of the 49th US state, Homer, 350km away, is its most famous dead end. Veterans of these parts consider this strange tongue of land sacred ground. They also venerate the fact that, from there, they cannot continue anywhere.
Maldives

Cruise the Maldives, among Islands and Atolls

Brought from Fiji to sail in the Maldives, Princess Yasawa has adapted well to new seas. As a rule, a day or two of itinerary is enough for the genuineness and delight of life on board to surface.
Mount Denali, Alaska

The Sacred Ceiling of North America

The Athabascan Indians called him Denali, or the Great, and they revered his haughtiness. This stunning mountain has aroused the greed of climbers and a long succession of record-breaking climbs.
glaciers

icy blue planet

They form at high latitudes and/or altitudes. In Alaska or New Zealand, Argentina or Chile, rivers of ice are always stunning visions of an Earth as frigid as it is inhospitable.
sitka, Alaska

Sitka: Journey through a once Russian Alaska

In 1867, Tsar Alexander II had to sell Russian Alaska to the United States. In the small town of Sitka, we find the Russian legacy but also the Tlingit natives who fought them.
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Prince William Sound, Alaska

Journey through a Glacial Alaska

Nestled against the Chugach Mountains, Prince William Sound is home to some of Alaska's stunning scenery. Neither powerful earthquakes nor a devastating oil spill affected its natural splendor.
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Valdez, Alaska

On the Black Gold Route

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker caused a massive environmental disaster. The vessel stopped plying the seas, but the victim city that gave it its name continues on the path of crude oil from the Arctic Ocean.
Skagway, Alaska

A Klondike's Gold Fever Variant

The last great American gold rush is long over. These days, hundreds of cruise ships each summer pour thousands of well-heeled visitors into the shop-lined streets of Skagway.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Yaks
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 11th: yak karkha a Thorong Phedi, Nepal

Arrival to the Foot of the Canyon

In just over 6km, we climbed from 4018m to 4450m, at the base of Thorong La canyon. Along the way, we questioned if what we felt were the first problems of Altitude Evil. It was never more than a false alarm.
shadow vs light
Architecture & Design
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Full Dog Mushing
Adventure
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
good buddhist advice
Ceremonies and Festivities
Chiang Mai, Thailand

300 Wats of Spiritual and Cultural Energy

Thais call every Buddhist temple wat and their northern capital has them in obvious abundance. Delivered to successive events held between shrines, Chiang Mai is never quite disconnected.
Music Theater and Exhibition Hall, Tbilisi, Georgia
Cities
Tbilisi, Georgia

Georgia still Perfumed by the Rose Revolution

In 2003, a popular political uprising made the sphere of power in Georgia tilt from East to West. Since then, the capital Tbilisi has not renounced its centuries of Soviet history, nor the revolutionary assumption of integrating into Europe. When we visit, we are dazzled by the fascinating mix of their past lives.
Meal
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Tombola, street bingo-Campeche, Mexico
Culture
Campeche, Mexico

200 Years of Playing with Luck

At the end of the XNUMXth century, the peasants surrendered to a game introduced to cool the fever of cash cards. Today, played almost only for Abuelites, lottery little more than a fun place.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Traveling
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
Basotho Cowboys, Malealea, Lesotho
Ethnic
Malealea, Lesotho

Life in the African Kingdom of Heaven

Lesotho is the only independent state located entirely above XNUMX meters. It is also one of the countries at the bottom of the world ranking of human development. Its haughty people resist modernity and all the adversities on the magnificent but inhospitable top of the Earth that befell them.
sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Engravings, Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
History
Luxor, Egypt

From Luxor to Thebes: Journey to Ancient Egypt

Thebes was raised as the new supreme capital of the Egyptian Empire, the seat of Amon, the God of Gods. Modern Luxor inherited the Temple of Karnak and its sumptuousness. Between one and the other flow the sacred Nile and millennia of dazzling history.
Windward Side, Saba, Dutch Caribbean, Netherlands
Islands
Saba, The Netherlands

The Mysterious Dutch Queen of Saba

With a mere 13km2, Saba goes unnoticed even by the most traveled. Little by little, above and below its countless slopes, we unveil this luxuriant Little Antille, tropical border, mountainous and volcanic roof of the shallowest european nation.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
Kukenam reward
Literature
Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Time Travel to the Lost World of Mount Roraima

Persist on top of Mte. Roraima extraterrestrial scenarios that have withstood millions of years of erosion. Conan Doyle created, in "The Lost World", a fiction inspired by the place but never set foot on it.
Ross Bridge, Tasmania, Australia
Nature
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
View from John Ford Point, Monument Valley, Nacao Navajo, United States
Natural Parks
Monument Valley, USA

Indians or Cowboys?

Iconic Western filmmakers like John Ford immortalized what is the largest Indian territory in the United States. Today, in the Navajo Nation, the Navajo also live in the shoes of their old enemies.
Traditional houses, Bergen, Norway.
UNESCO World Heritage
Bergen, Norway

The Great Hanseatic Port of Norway

Already populated in the early 1830th century, Bergen became the capital, monopolized northern Norwegian commerce and, until XNUMX, remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia. Today, Oslo leads the nation. Bergen continues to stand out for its architectural, urban and historical exuberance.
Earp brothers look-alikes and friend Doc Holliday in Tombstone, USA
Characters
tombstone, USA

Tombstone: the City Too Hard to Die

Silver veins discovered at the end of the XNUMXth century made Tombstone a prosperous and conflictive mining center on the frontier of the United States to Mexico. Lawrence Kasdan, Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner and other Hollywood directors and actors made famous the Earp brothers and the bloodthirsty duel of “OK Corral”. The Tombstone, which, over time, has claimed so many lives, is about to last.
Bather, The Baths, Devil's Bay (The Baths) National Park, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Beaches
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Virgin Gorda's Divine “Caribbaths”

Discovering the Virgin Islands, we disembark on a tropical and seductive seaside dotted with huge granite boulders. The Baths seem straight out of the Seychelles but they are one of the most exuberant marine scenery in the Caribbean.
Golden Rock of Kyaikhtiyo, Buddhism, Myanmar, Burma
Religion
Mount Kyaiktiyo, Myanmar

The Golden and Balancing Rock of Buddha

We are discovering Rangoon when we find out about the Golden Rock phenomenon. Dazzled by its golden and sacred balance, we join the now centuries-old Burmese pilgrimage to Mount Kyaiktyo.
Chepe Express, Chihuahua Al Pacifico Railway
On Rails
Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico

The Barrancas del Cobre & the CHEPE Iron Horse

The Sierra Madre Occidental's relief turned the dream into a construction nightmare that lasted six decades. In 1961, at last, the prodigious Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad was opened. Its 643km cross some of the most dramatic scenery in Mexico.
Society
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
Casario, uptown, Fianarantsoa, ​​Madagascar
Daily life
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar

The Malagasy City of Good Education

Fianarantsoa was founded in 1831 by Ranavalona Iª, a queen of the then predominant Merina ethnic group. Ranavalona Iª was seen by European contemporaries as isolationist, tyrant and cruel. The monarch's reputation aside, when we enter it, its old southern capital remains as the academic, intellectual and religious center of Madagascar.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Wildlife
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.
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