Day 8 of 2021 Alaska Trip, Juneau, State Museum and Suburbs

Eighth and final day of my 2021 Alaska trip. Weather wasn’t great today, so I visited Alaska State Museum in downtown Juneau, before checking out some sceneries on the city’s suburbs.

This stopover in Juneau was largely driven by Mendenhall Glacier and Ice Cave. Given Juneau’s wet climate, I decided to spend 2 days and 3 nights in Juneau, and visit Mendenhall on the day with better weather, which was yesterday.
If the weather was great today, I would probably take on some hiking trails near the city, for which Mount Juneau and Gastineau Peak were great candidates. Unfortunately, it was a constant drizzle throughout the entire day, with peaks of those mountains concealed in clouds. So instead, I decided to take it easy, and visited Alaska State Museum downtown.

Before I left, I found my Airbnb was right next to Alaska’s governor mansion, which actually blended pretty well into a residential neighborhood.

Then I drove down the hill and began a tour of Alaska State Museum.

Alaska State Museum

The museum’s exhibits were arranged in time, from native Alaska to Russian Alaska to American Alaska. The native Alaska part had a recreation of tribal house, giving an immersive experience that I quite liked.

Then there’s Russian Alaska, I was a bit surprised to learn that in the early 19 century, Russian settlers had their footprints as far out as Hawaii and California. The main trade in Alaska of that time was animal fur, which was usually sold to China.

 

Then in 1867, Russia officially sold Alaska to United States. The museum mentioned that at that time, the colony of Alaska was losing money for Russia, largely due to endless conflicts with native Alaskans. Wikipedia added that Alaska would be hard to defend against Russia’s archrival of the time, United Kingdom. In the end, it’s a sale that kept both parties happy.

One thing I liked about Juneau’s Alaska State Museum (and consequently, disliked about Anchorage Museum) was its presentation of potentially controversial topics in a way that’s, in my opinion, neutral. Throughout much of the 19 and 20 centuries, native Alaskan people came into many conflicts with Russian or American settlers over resources, and with better equipment and technology from the latter the native Alaskan population were faring terribly throughout that time. But the museum tried to convey a message, not blaming the settlers by today's standards, but that, “despite these difficulties and oppressions, native Alaskan people endured and thrived”.

Then there’s American Alaska, when the state’s economy took on a few rounds of refreshment. At the turn of 19/20 century there were gold rushes towards various parts of Alaska. After gold rushes faded away, tourism started to emerge as people from lower 48 states were looking for exotic getaways. Finally, the discovery of oil in North Slope Borough and the subsequent construction of Trans-Alaska Pipeline made energy its main export. At the same time, fishing was still an important part of the state’s economy.

After finishing my tour of Alaska State Museum, it’s around 1pm in the afternoon. After my lunch and with much of the day left, I decided to head out of town for some sceneries that were accessible by car. My first step was Savikko Park on Douglas Island, a great place to view Gastineau Channel.

Savikko Park

Here, I was pretty interested in the old pump house, which pumped water from Gastineau Channel to the nearby Treadwell gold mine, once the largest gold mine in the world. Ruins of the old mine were still accessible via a hiking trail, but it’s not hiking weather today so I didn’t check that out. The pump house was once connected to shore through a pier, which was subsequently destroyed, leaving the house standing alone in the water, and that’s such a fascinating sight.

In addition, I also launched my drone and gave it an aerial tour.

And here's a video:

In addition, I also flew my drone onto Gastineau Channel, up till downtown Juneau (where proximity to Juneau Airport prohibited me from going farther).

Here's a video taken during the outbound flight:

And some photos captured on the flight back.

Savikko Park was about the southern end of the roadway on Douglas Island. After leaving Savikko Park, I drove north along Douglas Island, looking for scenery.

False Outer Point

Finally, I arrived at "False Outer Point", a roadside turnout that's marked as a scenic point on Google Maps. Located on the northwestern side of Douglas Island, it offered views of Favorite Channel with various islands surrounding it.

Crucially, it’s located outside Juneau Airport’s restriction zone, so I could launch my drone.
But the on-and-off rain which persisted for much of the day was starting to get heavy, and my drone didn’t have much battery left from the previous flight along Gastineau Channel. So I took the following video of forests along False Outer Point, before packing up and heading back to my Airbnb house.

Mount Juneau Trailhead

Finally, towards the end of the day, I needed to leave my Airbnb house for dinner. And with my drone fully charged, I decided to check out Mount Juneau’s trailhead anyways, since I would be hiking that trail should the weather cooperate today.
But unfortunately, after I drove down the unpaved road to its trailhead, it was raining steadily in the sky. So I launched my drone, and retreated back to the shelter of my car.

But first, next to the trailhead and opposite of Mount Juneau, there were the ruins of Last Chance Mine, a mine that operated until 1944. It was closed during my visit, so I thought an aerial tour from my drone was the perfect way to visit it.

Then there's Mount Juneau, covered in clouds and looking mystic. For a moment I wanted to use my drone to climb it for me, reason quickly convinced me not to do that.

After that, I drove to downtown Juneau and had my dinner, concluding my two-day visit to the capital of Alaska.
END