Yesterday W and I went out for a short walk and some basic grocery shopping. On the way to the store we enjoyed the sunshine so much that (There was actually sunshine! It's a rare occurrence here in Juneau.) we decided to walk along a trail along the Mendenhall River that's near the store. We went farther on the trail than we had ever been and by the time we started looking for a bridge to cross back over the river to go shopping we found ourselves at the top end of Mendenhall Loop Road.
We had only been to the see Mendenhall Glacier once from the parking lot and only for a few minutes. Because we had gone so far we decided that we wanted to walk a mile or two more to see the Glacier and Mendenhall Lake. So we did! We walked along hiking trails over snow and ice in the woods to get to the visitor's center. Once there we got to look at the glacier and the lake. The glacier was covered mostly in snow so we weren't able to see how blue the glacier normally looks, but what we did get to see and experience was even better!
The lake had frozen over and lots of people had walked across it to go see the glacier more closely and the icebergs in the lake. W and I were both hesitant to go at first because we're not the smallest people and it seems that a lot of people up here are smaller than we are, but as we got to the area that we figured was the shore we saw that there were some larger people already out on the snowy ice so we decided to take the chance. I'm so happy we did. We went a far way across the lake and looked closely at and touched two of the three icebergs in the lake. There was a beautiful waterfall near the glacier that we decided we wanted to go see better. However, as we left the main path that most people had walked across to reach the glacier, and took side paths, we felt the ice shift under our weight twice. We then decided that the waterfall looked great from where we could see it, and that we didn't want to go farther to see it better and fall in icy cold water. We went back to the main path and walked toward the glacier. We got to be roughly 150 yards away from the glacier when I started getting really negative thoughts about going farther. Then W said, "Do you feel like we should go all the way to the glacier, because I feel like we shouldn't." The moment he said that I agreed because of the thoughts I had had and we went back.
As we were going back across the ice we felt the ice shift a couple more times on the main path and felt happy with our decision to head back. We also saw some friends that we have made while living here. We visited with them for a while and then they gave us a ride to the store. The best part of shopping at the store was buying girl scout cookies! That's right, girl scouts were selling their cookies that day. We bought five boxes, there goes my diet. We bought these kinds: Thin Mints (a must - my favorite since I was a little girl), Thank U Berry Munch (yummy cranberry cookies), Tagalongs (cookies topped with peanut butter and covered in chocolate), Dulce de Leche (really yummy caramel cookies), and Savanna Smiles (lemon cookies for the lemon lover). So I think shopping was quite successful!
It was such a fun shopping trip, I only wish that I had taken our camera. I enjoyed seeing more rain forest and snow and lots of ice but I found myself missing the desert landscapes that have surprisingly started to feel like home.
2 comments:
I have been waiting for the Girl Scouts to show up outside our grocery store for weeks now. I need those cookies!
I am seriously dying for some girl scout cookies. My grandma sends me a boxful every year and I am anxiously awaiting my treat box! I love how descriptive you were about your fun trip to the store. I too, wish you had brought your camera. You don't have enough pictures of the place on your blog.
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