A Walk To Nugget Falls

Yesterday my walking buddy Linda and I walked out to Nugget Falls.  It is (or used to be, anyway) at the face of Mendenhall Glacier.  The Glacier has receded so much in the past 35 years that it appears shrunken.  When I arrived in Juneau 35 years ago, the falls were still covered by ice (thank you, climate change).  You can see in the photo below how the ice used to be higher and wider.  It made me sad to see it.

When we arrived, we saw a lot of visitors, both local and tourists.  Folks were taking pictures of the icebergs (large pieces of ice) and growlers (small pieces of ice) in Mendenhall Lake.

The Falls are a fun spot to walk to - with an easy, flat trail that was recently renovated.  It took about a half an hour to arrive at the falls, which are magnificent.

Your humble blogger!

The Falls are huge and impressive.  Look how the people look like little ants next to it.  The spray from the Falls is so refreshing.  A friend said yesterday that she hikes out to get a dose of negative ions from the spray.  Maybe that is why is is so exhilarating to stand close to them.

An iceberg

We had a wonderful time, and did our hiking just in the nick of time, because the forecast is for heavy rain, flood warnings and high winds.  We woke up this morning to rain sheeted windows.  Mendenhall Lake is sure to be flooding today.  It is a good day to sit inside and read by the woodstove.  Fall is here, after a wonderful summer!

Someone built a cairn from the rocks nearby.