Week in Juneau???? (updated 8/15)

[mtwarden]

Gents- looks we’re headed to Juneau for a week (early to mid August). Have to get out of this hell hole for awhile.

If anyone wants to chime in on places to see, places to eat, places to stay, things to do (and things to avoid) would be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Mike

 

[weekender7]

I spent 7 days in Jeneau at the bar (I don't drink) near the airport watching CNN on TV waiting for the fog to lift so I could get to brown bear camp. The jets can come and go in the fog but the small planes that fly into the camps are line of sight flying and require a 2000' ceiling to take off. I had a 10 day hunt that turned into a 3er. A few hours of that would have been "bearable" (get it?) but 7 days was a bit much. You can go halibut fishing if that interests you. Try to get a window seat on the right side of the plane for the best view of the glaciers as you come into Jeneau. You can see brown bears close up at the city dump if you want. Everything is expensive in Jeneau. 25 years ago, an 8' 2x4" was $10. I don't remember what a cheeseburger was but I remember it shocked me to look at the food menu. I doubt prices have come down.
Hope you enjoy your trip. I know we will at least get some awesome pics as you always provide on your endeavors.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

It's been a while, but here's a few. Pizza at the island pub in Douglas. While you're down there walk on Sandy Beach and check out the old mine ruins in the forest. Boardwalk trails on N Douglas island are nice and you can get to the back side of the island which feels a bit away from town and you can sometimes see whales. If it's clear find some dry wood and have a sunset beach fire on North D. New brewery and distillery downtown are both nice. Be cautious about restaurants downtown, most were overpriced tourist traps. The Hangar used to to be the best bet - get a beer and watch the float planes take off and land.

Get a good map of the area with trails (someone publishes one, forgot who. The gear shop downtown should have it). Walking up Gold Creek from downtown is a nice easy trail with beautiful views, take the left into perseverance basin if you want to make it longer. Boy Scout Camp north of town is a bit longer trail with great water/mountain views. Herbert and Eagle glacier are longer trails (12-15 mi?) but flat and end at cool glaciers. Eagle beach is almost roadside and another nice sunset spot.

If you want to hike a peak McGinnis would be my first pick, followed by Juneau (right from downtown) and Jumbo (cool peak but gnarly trail). If you have good weather and want to go big the Mt. Juneau to Perseverance basin ridge walk is fantastic. If you're competent for glacier travel you used to be able to walk up the north side of Mendenhall lake onto glacier, dunno if it's pulled back. If you just want exercise, taking the trail from downtown up Mount Roberts to the top of the tram is good, then you can ramble up the ridge. Used to be if you hiked up and bought a drink they'd let you ride down for free. Likewise walking up the ski hill. If big hikes are your thing let me know, I have some others. If the whales are in it's worth taking a boat tour to see them. Buy some live Dungeness crabs and boil them up in your place. Get some fresh salmon.

ETA: oh yeah, it might just be rainy and foggy the whole time. Bring good rain gear and get after it anyway. If you wait for good weather you might not do anything. Also, consider taking a ferry ride to Haines (or Sitka if you can get on the fast ferry) - pretty neat experience and nice way to see the country. Tracy Arm is really beautiful too and it's worth getting on the charter boat down to there, esp if you don't feel like hiking in the rain.

 

[mtwarden]

Great info-thanks much!

 

[weekender7]

ETA: oh yeah, it might just be rainy and foggy the whole time.

sorry OP, I should have mentioned this lololololo.

 

[hunterjmj]

You have to eat at Pel'meni. They sell Russian dumplings. If I remember right it's the only item they sell and they are so good. I believe it's downtown in the fisherman's Wharf building.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

You have to eat at Pel'meni. They sell Russian dumplings. If I remember right it's the only item they sell and they are so good. I believe it's downtown in the fisherman's Wharf building.

Heard they closed down, don't know for certain. Would be a real loss.

That does remind me though, the Coast Guard bar just a few blocks away is a good locals spot too, don't need any coast guard affiliation to walk in.

 

[mtwarden]

For some reason this looks better

than this

 

[Q child]

There are a lot of cool things to check out in Juneau.

There are a couple of food truck parks. One in the valley called Vintage Food Truck Park and one downtown. Both parks have a Crepe Escape which serves crepes filled with stuff wrapped up like a sandwich taco thing. Also deckhand Dave's sells fish tacos and fresh oysters.

Heard they closed down, don't know for certain. Would be a real loss.

Pel Meni's is open. It is good, and is always discussed when someone asks this type of question. Not sure why it's the famous Juneau cuisine though. Check it out.

You can drive to the glacier. I don't think there are that many places in the world where you can do that.
Mount Juneau or Mount Roberts, both accessed from the Basin Road/Perseverance Trail area are good day hikes if you want to get on top of a mountain. You can take a tram to the top of Roberts if you want to skip the exercise. Mount Jumbo trailhead on Douglas is also a pretty accessible trailhead, and an awesome hike. I'd probably recommend Jumbo for a mountain climb if you were going to go for it. Can be done in a day no problem.
There are a lot of great trails in Juneau. The Airport Dike Trail, Perseverance Trail, Rainforest Trail, East Glacier Trail, West Glacier Trail, Eagle Glacier Trail... Let me know how adventurous you want to get and I'll make a recommendation.

A boat trip to Tracy Arm Fjord is pretty cool. There are a ton of glaciers in there, and the scenery is really spectacular. It's a few hours round trip and there are a couple of tour companies that go in there.
Flight seeing is cool. You can do a fly around with Wings of Alaska. They will fly you over the top of a couple glaciers. Or they will take you to Taku Glacier Lodge where they will feed you some salmon before bringing you back.
You can charter fish. I've never done it, but there are a lot of operations. I can ask around if you want a recommendation.

The cruise ship industry is insane. There are often six ships in Juneau. So, I'd avoid the downtown/tourist trap thing if you don't like people. It's honestly not that big of an area, and really not that bad. It is just a bit of a zoo sometimes. You will not be able to avoid the people if you do any of the tours that I mentioned.
Bring a rain jacket. It's been a rainy b*stard this summer.

There are hotels and airbnbs and whatnot as places to stay. What kind of thing are you looking for?

 

[flathead#2]

We stayed at an old Hotel downtown with a cafeteria on the 1st level that had amazing reindeer sausage.
Best coffee I ever had was in Juneau.
The shore based fishing was incredible.
One of them cable trolleys takes you up to the mtn above town. (scared the **** outta me).
Lots of Hiking trails.
Mendenhall glacier.
Prolly my fav vacation spot.

 

[mtwarden]

Thanks Gents-very helpful!

There are hotels and airbnbs and whatnot as places to stay. What kind of thing are you looking for?

Three adults (wife and youngest daughter)—not overly picky; a place with a small kitchen would be nice. My wife likes to cook and getting fresh seafood is not feasible in Montana

For the hikes probably have to be slightly toned down from what I might want to do, but maybe one suggestion for a hike not toned downed for me (and have the ladies go shopping for the day )

 

[Q child]

We stayed at an old Hotel downtown with a cafeteria on the 1st level that had amazing reindeer sausage.
Best coffee I ever had was in Juneau.
The shore based fishing was incredible.
One of them cable trolleys takes you up to the mtn above town. (scared the **** outta me).
Lots of Hiking trails.
Mendenhall glacier.
Prolly my fav vacation spot.

That hotel is called the Baranof. I'm not sure if they still do breakfast. If not, you can get reindeer sausage at the Sandpiper Cafe.
Where did you find this coffee?

 

[17Hunter]

I was there for a week in late July 2018 with my family; wife and 2 daughters (12 & 14). We stayed in house on Douglas Island.

We did:
Mendenhall Glacier
Mt Jumbo
Perseverance to the summit of Mt Juneau
DuPont Beach trail - fished the bay and caught 2 salmon
The “Boy Scout” trail - fished the beach and caught several salmon
Fritz Cove - wife caught a 22 lb king
Tour of the salmon hatchery downtown

All of that was absolutely outstanding! And there was so much more we wanted to do, but ran out of time. Those trails, except Boy Scout Trail, are on AllTrails. We went on a halibut charter and the captain recommended Boy Scout trail. Ask some locals and I am sure they can point you in the right direction. Its north of the city.

DO NOT go downtown when there are cruise ships in port.

 

[Q child]

Thanks Gents-very helpful!



Three adults (wife and youngest daughter)—not overly picky; a place with a small kitchen would be nice. My wife likes to cook and getting fresh seafood is not feasible in Montana

For the hikes probably have to be slightly toned down from what I might want to do, but maybe one suggestion for a hike not toned downed for me (and have the ladies go shopping for the day )

Perseverance Trail from downtown is a great hike for many. It's challenging enough so people feel like they did something, but not so challenging as to be prohibitive. 7-8 miles total for an out and back with maybe a few hundred feet of elevation.
Rainforest Trails on North Douglas is awesome. More of a casual walk than a hike. Under a couple miles. Just a little network of trails from the road down to the beach. Spectacular views at the beach.
Kowee Meadows which is "out the road," meaning it is north of town past where most people live. It's 35-40 miles from downtown. A pretty easy hike. I'd say it's 5-6 miles out and back. Through some really nice meadows before arriving at the beach on the south end of Berners Bay.
One of the mountains I mentioned would be awesome. Jumbo on South Douglas is probably the hardest and my favorite. I bet its 3300 feet elevation and maybe 8 or 10 miles round trip. It takes the better part of a day. Maybe 6-8 hours.
Checking on a couple of Airbnbs for you. Are you going to get a rental car?

 

[mtwarden]

Thanks everyone!

Perseverance Trail from downtown is a great hike for many. It's challenging enough so people feel like they did something, but not so challenging as to be prohibitive. 7-8 miles total for an out and back with maybe a few hundred feet of elevation.
Rainforest Trails on North Douglas is awesome. More of a casual walk than a hike. Under a couple miles. Just a little network of trails from the road down to the beach. Spectacular views at the beach.
Kowee Meadows which is "out the road," meaning it is north of town past where most people live. It's 35-40 miles from downtown. A pretty easy hike. I'd say it's 5-6 miles out and back. Through some really nice meadows before arriving at the beach on the south end of Berners Bay.
One of the mountains I mentioned would be awesome. Jumbo on South Douglas is probably the hardest and my favorite. I bet its 3300 feet elevation and maybe 8 or 10 miles round trip. It takes the better part of a day. Maybe 6-8 hours.
Checking on a couple of Airbnbs for you. Are you going to get a rental car?

Great info. Jumbo sounds like a good one for me

I guess it depends on where we are staying; if stuff is relatively close we'll Uber (or walk), if not we'll rent a car

 

[flathead#2]

That hotel is called the Baranof. I'm not sure if they still do breakfast. If not, you can get reindeer sausage at the Sandpiper Cafe.
Where did you find this coffee?

The coffee was downtown where they had several "food trucks" parked and one of them
was selling coffee only.
And yes, it was the Baranof.
It was a little warm our first night there and I couldnt find the AC controls.
Went down to the front desk and asked about the AC. They said they didnt have AC
and to open the window and put a fan in the window.
My wife said I was probably the only idiot who ever went to Alaska and asked for AC.
I did feel pretty stupid.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Take a sleeping pad, I’ve been there half a dozen times and 4 of those times, flights out got cancelled so I had to stay the night in the airport.

There was some satanic/witchcraft themed restaraunt down town that had a killer breakfast.

I saw a blue/glacier bear on a hike there once.

 

[weekender7]

I saw a blue/glacier bear on a hike there once.

Very cool. They ain't behind every bush.

 

[derrick454@]

Bring rain gear. It’s can go either way but it’s not warm rain up here.

I work up here and my guys have wore rain gear at least half of July.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mtwarden]

Thanks everyone!

Well my credit card is has some smoke coming off it One rental on the north end of Douglas Island for four days, one in town for the last three. Have a rental car for the week. Youngest daughter is going to meet us there.

Raingear √