Juneau

Early Wednesday morning, we arrived in Juneau. It is hugging the side of this channel and is quite small....by state capital standards although it encompasses the largest area of any capital at 3000 sq. miles. You cannot drive to Juneau. It is accessible only by car or boat.

There were several other cruise ships in port. Part of the lure of cruising is the chance to get off the ship and explore the area. You can of course do this on your own but the ships offer various excursions. They can be from the simple and affordable to the exotic and very expensive. Prior to the trip, I examined our options carefully, did my research and decided that we should try ziplining. Now , this is not something I would ordinarily even consider. I am not of the high adventure sort but do enjoy more physical activities, biking, hiking, skiing etc. Not bungee cord jumping, hot air ballooning or anything of that nature. So this was a true leap of faith and nerve. The ship consultant assured me that it was safe, fun and all ages could and have done it. (no one under 12 however). She made it sound like a walk in the park. But, when we met off the ship with one of the guides, she was more direct and gave us a chance to back out after explaining more of the risks. I'm not sure that Sandy and Maureen were as informed as I was but they were eager to try it. Jerry and Tom opted to pass on this one due to some orthopedic issues.

We were transported over to the site by boat and then given another opportunity to back out. We were not the oldest in our group of 9. Surprisingly , or stupidly, I was not intimidated.....yet. This is Paul on one of the first zips. We started out on a small trial one, but still high off the ground. We were harnessed in and had multiple cables connected to safe areas at all times. We wore hard hats (not that they'd have done much good if we'd smacked into a tree) and leather gloves to brake ourselves on the cable. Some companies have the guides slow your descent but on this one we did all the work......I volunteered to go first.

Here we are standing on one of the platforms. We were high up in the trees, standing on these small platforms , safely ?? attached to various cables. We had two guides to help us at all times.

And then, if 10 zip lines of lengths up to 750 ft weren't enough, we had the joy of walking two long extension bridges.....high off the ground. Again we were tethered to a cable. The entire group did fine except that we did start out at 9 people and after the first zip, a young asian man with limited English skills, couldn't go on. I think he was the result of the ship consultant's over zealous encouragement. They had to lower him off the platform.

I think this is Maureen , using her fine "recliner form". The brochure suggests that the views of Juneau, the bubbling creek, possible bears and the old gold mine and the rain forest will only add to the enjoyment. Folks, let me tell you right now....this was not about the views. This was about keeping your eye on the guide, trying not to go sideways and wanting to brake the entire way down as you are traveling at 35 MPH !!!! Yes, it is exhilerating but I can go that fast down a hill in a CAR.

This is a view of the forest floor. The plants are huge. I did not take this from a zip line .

Paul again. We all did great. Managed to use good form, didn't crash into the platform and didn't brake too soon and get stranded out in the middle.After the final zip, we were still many many feet off the ground and had to rappel (sp??) down. That was kinda fun actually. Sandy has pictures of that. And she also has pictures of the awards ceremony where we received our medals of accomplishments.

And then it was back to the ship where we retired to the Crows Nest lounge for some libation, pats on the back and scenic views of the float planes taking off and landing.
We all agreed that if given the opportunity to do it again, at half the price at least, we would have done another 10 zips immediately.

Later we strolled the town and it was unimpressive with the usual tee shirt shops , jewelry stores and too many tourists. The weather was perfect and next time, after the zipline, I'd like to do some whale watching.