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You Can Walk to Glaciers Near a City

A virtual tour with Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT

Like many cities in Alaska, Juneau was founded because of gold. By 1906 the thriving mining town was a hub of activity and the state capital was moved from Sitka.

But today the mines are closed and their rusting frames tell of better times for miners. So it is now the only capital city outside Hawaii that isn't linked to the rest of the state by road .

It's amazing they didn't change the capital seat years ago. However, while there has been considerable talk about moving the capital to Anchorage or Fairbanks, everyone with whom we spoke said that will probably not happen. After all, there are 30,000 people in the area and like many capitals, government jobs employ half of the work force -- and that's a lot of political clout. However, it is more likely that some governmental agencies and functions will be shifted to the other two cities and all three will be able to claim the roll as "center of government." But the cost of shipping goods by ferry or plane to any of the towns in the Inside Passage, to say nothing of a state capital, is not an inconsiderable amount.

Incidentally, while there are modern medical facilities in Juneau, for other towns along the Inside Passage it isn't a good idea to require emergency medical care. In a town like Wrangell or Petersburg it can cost an absolutely staggering amount, tens of thousands of dollars, for a medical plane to fly in with trained personnel and take the injured person to Seattle.

On the other hand, crime is fairly low in these small towns. And it's almost unheard of to have a car stolen. Where would the thief take it?

We learned some of our facts (and I hope I've remembered them correctly) on the Mendenhall Glacier and City Tour. We had again wanted to take a helicopter ride to a glacier. But the clouds were too low (as they had been a few days earlier when we wanted a helicopter ride). So we took the tour instead.

According to the printed description of the tour that I'm using to refresh my memory in writing this note, it says "You'll see the Governor's Mansion, the Mendenhall Wetlands Refuge, and the University of Alaska Southeast en route to the inspiring Chapel-by-the-Lake." We must have driven by these places, but we only remember the chapel, a Presbyterian log church. But we do remember the last part of the trip to Mendenhall Glacier, "Juneau's famous neighborhood ice wonder."

In fact, that's the glacier in the picture, where we walked to the viewing platform after the bus dropped us off. Like other glaciers on the trip, it gave me a sense of nature's mighty works -- and the puniness of men and women. When shown the distance the glaciers have retreated, I am inclined to believe global warming is a reality. So while humans may be small when compared with nature, they also have been able to wreak havoc on the land.

By the way, notice the ground in the lower part of the picture and the plants growing on it. If you go to the next picture, You Can View Glaciers by Seaplane, you'll learn about the silt that is deposited off glaciers and creates different kinds of land depending on whether or not the glacier is an alpine or tidewater glacier.

Continue the tour with You Can View Glaciers by Seaplane

© Copyright 2000, Revised 2002, Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT