I’d been telling Mary that in Haines we’d see a bunch of bears feeding on the salmon run. There’d be 50, 80, or maybe 100 bears! Once again, I disappointed her. Haines had exactly 8 bears: 1 male, 1 female with 2 cubs, and 1 female with 3 cubs. A couple of years before the winter had been so cold and so long that the bears woke up and there was no food for them, so they started breaking into cars and houses looking for food. More than 50 were shot at that time. So there are fewer around now too.

The ferry to Juneau was delayed, so we made the trip in darkness, and got into Juneau at about 2 am, ready to find a campsite. The campground at Mendenhall Glacier was only $10 a night, and had hot showers, and the best drinking water ever. I’d been telling Mary how great Juneau’s drinking water was for once I didn’t disappoint her. For once.

The trail to Herbert Glacier was washed out right at the end. Talk about disappointing! But it’s a pretty walk.

There at the Mendenhall glacier is a safe bear viewing area. The bear just walked into the water, grabbed the fish, took it to the shore, and mauled it for a really long time. Each bite was really noisy. And then it left a lot of the fish there on the bank. Days later, the carcass was still there…

It was 7000 miles past Fairbanks, so I had to get another oil change.