Day 79
   
   7/15/01
   Juneau, AK
   
   At 11am the ferry docked in Juneau, where I got off for a 2-day
   layover to catch a different ferry to Bellingham, WA.  The ferry terminal is
   inexplicably some 14 miles from the main docks in town so I was glad I
   had the bike.
   
   I rode up to the Mendenhall glacier, poised over the edge of town.
   Pouring out of the mountains, it calves off blue icebergs into a lake
   at the terminus.  Trails lead around the edge of the lake, and it's
   possible to get reasonably close to this picturesque glacier and a
   nearby waterfall.  The Mendenhall is retreating at about 30 feet per year.
   Perhaps, some say, it is under attack by global warming; others claim
   this is a period of natural recession for the glacier, and would have
   happened without any influence from man.  Certainly, we have examples in both
   directions.  The "little ice age" of the 1600's caused widespread
   freezing and hardship in northern Europe, while a hot, dry period
   lasting decades is thought to have caused the collapse of a number of Native
   American settlements around the 1100's.  So far as I can tell, the
   only thing everyone agrees on is that the climate is far too complex for us 
   to precisely predict such long-term trends.
   
   Juneau is a hilly place, the only land-locked state capital.  That may
   seem like a bad idea at first, but one can imagine residents in other
   parts of Alaska plotting to keep bureaucrats isolated!  Dependant on
   water and air transport, it is sometimes closed off for days at a time
   by inclement weather.  There is quite a bit of foot traffic from the
   frequent cruise ships that dock downtown, and tourism overshadows
   government.
   
   Deep green hills provide a backdrop to this long-and-narrow city,
   which gets near 200 inches of rain per year.  Sunny days are hard to come
   by, but I was getting lucky.  So were the parasailers, launching
   themselves from the surrounding peaks and landing near town.  The waterfront
   faces the Gastineau Channel, and the hills on both side make it appear that
   the city is just in a valley - which it is, if you mentally remove the
   water.
   
   My toes are beginning to heal from the frostbite I'd gotten on Denali.
   Really it was just frostnip, with no blisters or blackness, but a
   little temporary nerve damage sufficient to cause a continual numbness
   and tingling for a few weeks, and is of no concern since it will heal
   completely soon enough.  I might loose a few toenails, but who cares.
   
   The Long Day is finally over.  When night comes now, it actually
   becomes dark.  I do believe I'll miss that midnight sun.

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