September 10, 2024.
7.25 mi. | 3180′ ele. gain | 8 hr.
We woke up to blue skies and the nicest weather we’d seen in a while. It appeared to be stable, so I said, “we’ve got to climb a mountain today.” We chose Thunder Mountain since it was one of the shorter options and it promised views of the Mendenhall Glacier.
After running a few errands, we finally hit the trail at about 11 am. We chose the trailhead located in a neighborhood near Glacier Valley Middle School because it appeared to be the less muddy option. If that’s really the case, I can’t imagine what the other side is like!
The trail was flat for a good minute, then it headed relentlessly uphill over lots of roots and mud. There were several sections where informal trails evolved in response to hillside collapses and mud trenches. This was not an easy hike.
However, the forest was quite beautiful. It was so nice to see clear, blue skies through the trees. And the forest floor was covered with berries. Most of the edible treats were huckleberries, but there were also creeping raspberry plants and even a few salmonberry bushes. Of all the edible berries in Alaska, I think their tiny, delicate raspberries are my favorite. I stopped to snack on them whenever I saw one of those wonderfully ruby red gems.
After the grueling forest mud slog, we emerged from the gloom onto delightful alpine meadows. The ground was dotted with blooming gentian and edge-of-fall foliage. We looked out on views in all directions to adjacent ridges, glaciated peaks and sparkling blue arms of the sea. If it wasn’t for the damn helicopters whizzing over the ridge every few minutes, it would have been an absolutely perfect experience.
We hiked to the highpoint, which was guarded by two ravens. There, we ate our lunches. We could see the Mendenhall Glacier forming an S-shaped curve between a couple big peaks (I can’t keep track of which is which). We even saw a handful of mountain goats relaxing in the far meadow.
From that perch, we still couldn’t see the foot of the glacier and I thought we could get a better view. I wanted to follow the ridge down to the far knoll beyond the goats. Aaron reluctantly agreed to come with me.
The next section turned out to be the highlight of the hike, if not one of the highlights of our time in Juneau. We passed by fluffy marmots, curious ravens and skittish mountain goats. The walk across rolling hills covered in tough alpine vegetation led to the view I’d been dreaming about. I sat and painted the scene while Aaron nestled into the soft leaves for a mountain top nap.
As I packed up my painting, I realized that I’d been sitting on a mat of blueberries. I tore apart my backpack looking for an empty container and, seeing that I didn’t pack one, dumped out my water bottle. We started picking and didn’t stop until we’d filled up that half liter container (plus our bellies). I guess we’d been too distracted by the glacier on the hike in to notice that we were walking on a gigantic blueberry patch!
The hike down was even harder than the hike up on our tired legs. It took a lot of slow step downs and audible grumbling to make it back to the van. Aaron threatened to remove this hike from his Alaska top 5 list because of how awful the return walk was! By the time we finished, it was nearly 7 pm! And we still had some shopping to do before arriving at our cabin rental.
These are the times that we’re grateful for long Alaskan days, although they are rapidly getting shorter now. I wouldn’t change a thing about what we did today, and if you asked me to go up again I’d be there in a second.
