The Salmon Run

We have had a whirlwind week in Juneau so far.  As I mentioned yesterday, our days have been long and busy, but it has been an outstanding few days so far.  I arrived in Juneau to a rainy forecast for most of the week, but I wasn't going to let that slow us down.  We have limited time and so much to see!

We woke up early on Wednesday with no definite plan for the day.  We were going to use the day to get acclimated to the city and just see where the day took us.  Our first stop of the day was the Salmon Hatchery.  The Chum Salmon are running and it was fascinating to see them returning to the place where they were born in order to spawn and complete their life cycle.

While we were there we saw several bald eagles just hanging out on the building rooftops or street lights nearby.  This was a juvenile that we saw while we were there.  He sat on this pole during our entire visit.

We also spotted a few of the local seals swimming around looking for dinner.  You could always tell when they were close by because the fish would scatter.

We learned all about the salmon life cycle and how the hatchery is working to help save the wild population of salmon in Alaska.  It was fascinating and the scenery was beautiful.

After our visit to the to the Salmon Hatchery, we headed downtown to walk around and visit some of the local shops and to get lunch.

After a good walk around, we stopped for lunch for a little local fish fry.  Nicol had the halibut and chips, while I stuck with the Alaskan Cod  Both were phenomenal.  Then after a good lunch it was off to explore more.  

As we drove South out of town, we found this amazing beach at Sheep Creek.  There were eagles everywhere and the salmon where running in the creek, so there was a lot to see and experience.

The girls and I had a great time exploring this area and we spent a lot of time here.  The girls loved all of the interesting new things to smell and taste-test.  I think this was a highlight of our trip so far.  Exploring nature is always a good way to spend the day with a GSP!

This eagle was amazing to watch and Nicol spent a lot of time taking pictures of him while the girls and I explored further.

We witnessed several salmon working their way upstream.  It is one of the coolest things to see in real life.

And at the end of our journey down the beach following Sheep Creek, we were surprised by this nice little waterfall and some beautiful flora and fauna.  It was a beautiful little place.

We then got back in the jeep to continue our journey past several houses on the side of the hill to the south end of the road.  

This was our sign to head home for the night after a very long, very busy day of adventure.  It was a great way to spend our first day!