We're doing a short little series on our favorite places here in Juneau! So many times up at the tram, we are asked where the locals go, or where the prettiest spots are.
Well, here are your questions answered! Our favorite places to go to, and the places we think you've just gotta see while you're here!
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As many of you know, this last winter wasn't really a winter by Juneau standards. There was hardly any snow, which greatly affected our local and much loved ski area, Eaglecrest.
Quinn and Abigail both had gotten season passes, sadly they didn't get to use them.
But Eaglecrest is a wonderful place to go all year-round! Although the skiing and snowboarding draws many people in the winter, the rest of the year locals come from all over Juneau to hike and enjoy the lovely scenery.
A few days ago Quinn and I decided to hike up the mountains with our friend Jacob.
Jacob and Quinn have been friends for probably forever, and they shared stories with me as we hiked about all the trouble they got into as children (and teenagers) on and off the slopes of Eaglecrest.
The sun was shining beautifully, making our hike even more enjoyable. The trail to climb up into the mountains is actually more of an access road for the ski area, so that vehicles can get up to the top to work on the buildings and ski lifts.
Two summers ago we got permission to drive our own big truck up the mountains, but that was for our Alaska Odyssey show movie!
We may have wished part way up that we could have taken the truck...but where would the fun be in that?
At one of the first ski lifts we passed, the boys decided to show off their strength by climbing around.
It's easy to tell that these two are best friends, isn't it?
The higher we climbed,
the more snow we saw.
Because of the warm winter we had, snow was much higher on the mountains than it was supposed to be. Quinn even said that had the winter been normal, we wouldn't have been able to hike at all, there would have been too much snow.
At first the snow wasn't that bad...
But it quickly got quite deep, and soon we were a line of hikers, trying not to fall over in the thick snow.
The day was warm, and Quinn had worn shorts.
Yes, he may have regretted it later.
The cold didn't bother us for long though, we grew hot from hiking, and soon the cold mountain breezes blowing from the peaks were welcomed.
We slowly climbed higher and higher, the snow getting deeper and deeper.
The sun has been forecasted all this next week, so by next weekend a lot of this snow will be melted away (making this hike a lot easier!).
As we got near the top, we could see tracks from desperate skiers who had hiked up to get some skiing in, even though the ski area was long closed.
And when we finally reached the top, it was hard to believe how much snow we had been walking on!
(It was also a bit hard to get down)
The views were stunning, and well worth the hard hike through the snow:
At the top we rested and soaked up the sunshine.
Jacob also did some flips off of the ski lift into the snow. Causing him to get pretty cold, and causing us to get colder just watching him!
We built a mini snowman before hiking back down, but we hoped to have a bit more fun...
We had brought trash bags for sledding!
The plan was for us to just sled all the way back down the mountain, but unfortunately the snow wasn't soft enough (the sun had set, causing the top layer of snow to harden into ice). That didn't stop us from trying though!
Well...maybe next time.
We had a great time hiking, and (when there's a bit more snow melted) we hope any of you who are coming to Juneau will put this hike on your list of things to do. The views are amazing, and the trail (though steep) is easy and well maintained. We'll be doing this trail again very soon, maybe we'll see some of you along the way!
---------------------------------------------------------
Quinn and Abigail both had gotten season passes, sadly they didn't get to use them.
But Eaglecrest is a wonderful place to go all year-round! Although the skiing and snowboarding draws many people in the winter, the rest of the year locals come from all over Juneau to hike and enjoy the lovely scenery.
A few days ago Quinn and I decided to hike up the mountains with our friend Jacob.
Jacob and Quinn have been friends for probably forever, and they shared stories with me as we hiked about all the trouble they got into as children (and teenagers) on and off the slopes of Eaglecrest.
Two summers ago we got permission to drive our own big truck up the mountains, but that was for our Alaska Odyssey show movie!
We may have wished part way up that we could have taken the truck...but where would the fun be in that?
At one of the first ski lifts we passed, the boys decided to show off their strength by climbing around.
It's easy to tell that these two are best friends, isn't it?
the more snow we saw.
Because of the warm winter we had, snow was much higher on the mountains than it was supposed to be. Quinn even said that had the winter been normal, we wouldn't have been able to hike at all, there would have been too much snow.
At first the snow wasn't that bad...
But it quickly got quite deep, and soon we were a line of hikers, trying not to fall over in the thick snow.
The day was warm, and Quinn had worn shorts.
Yes, he may have regretted it later.
The cold didn't bother us for long though, we grew hot from hiking, and soon the cold mountain breezes blowing from the peaks were welcomed.
The sun has been forecasted all this next week, so by next weekend a lot of this snow will be melted away (making this hike a lot easier!).
And when we finally reached the top, it was hard to believe how much snow we had been walking on!
(It was also a bit hard to get down)
The views were stunning, and well worth the hard hike through the snow:
Jacob also did some flips off of the ski lift into the snow. Causing him to get pretty cold, and causing us to get colder just watching him!
We had brought trash bags for sledding!
The plan was for us to just sled all the way back down the mountain, but unfortunately the snow wasn't soft enough (the sun had set, causing the top layer of snow to harden into ice). That didn't stop us from trying though!
Well...maybe next time.
We had a great time hiking, and (when there's a bit more snow melted) we hope any of you who are coming to Juneau will put this hike on your list of things to do. The views are amazing, and the trail (though steep) is easy and well maintained. We'll be doing this trail again very soon, maybe we'll see some of you along the way!
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