Mom and the whales

Blain's mom, Eileen came up for a whirlwind tour of Juneau and a cruise around the local marine parks. On the way we had absolutely spectacular whale sightings and a good deal of fun. More later, but here are some of our better photos from the trip.

The views and trails from the Mt. Roberts Tram were great. A gorgeous day to do it.

We didn't know that marmots can grow so big in Southeast. Must be all the salmon.

The Aleut ceremony in Funter Bay was a sad and poignant reminder of the cost of war on us all. These aleutians were rounded up after the japanese invasion of the island chain and more or less left to starve. All of the headstones dated to 1943-44 and there were too many children's. A history of this horrific uprooting can be read here.

We ate well. Here's mexican night.

This was one Mom caught of the whales bubble-net feeding in a huge group of 13-14 humpbacks. What a sight!

Movie of the best trail bridge ever

Except for maybe a catapult, this is the coolest design ever for crossing streams. At the Canoe Cove Cabin in Bridgett State Park out of Juneau.

More Haines happiness

Here is the lovely house of Marnie and Greg. They are doing a great job of landscaping, and it is a joy to sit amongst flowers and gardens. Note the hard-working Marnie in the photo.

Also note the screw off Blain on their moped instead of helping. What a great little gitaround.

The weather isn't always like Colorado, they tell us. They get some snow in winter. This snow stake on Mt Rapinski tells all. Note the second photo of the top marker...

All that snowmelt does good things for the groundwater, and the mushrooms have been coming out en mass. This handsome birch bolete caught our eye.

Mt Rapinski was a major achievement for Blain. Broken leg kept the distance down on past hikes, but it held up great for this 3600 ft peak. I know our Colorado buddies will give us a hard time for the altitude, but keep in mind that we started from 5 ft. below sealevel.

And Mo was proud of him.