Moraine Ecology Trail - Mendenhall Glacier - Juneau, Alaska

date hiked: July 26, 2007
distance: 1.5 miles
highest elevation: 100 feet
elevation gain: 10 feet
time: 1 hour

The Moraine Ecology Trail at first gives you an amazing view of Mendenhall Glacier from a beach. Soon after, the trail winds its way into forest covered in moss, streams crossing constantly, and evidence of a glacier-carved landscape abounds. There is an active beaver colony and although I find the beaver fascinating, locals say the amount of beaver activity here is a problem. The beavers are changing the water flow constantly. The salmon are here too…and that means there are bear too. Damn bear.

I share my bearanoia with Rebecca, our hotel clerk. I expect her to tell me it’s ridiculous to be afraid of running into a bear. Instead, she says, “Yeah, I would be afraid. I don’t blame you one bit.” I imagine that is her idea of camaraderie. Instead, my bearanoia is validated. Damn bear.

I don’t see any bear on this trail. In fact, I don’t spend much time thinking about seeing bears. It’s quite populated here.

I didn’t realize how wet things would be. I don’t know what I thought, but I didn’t imagine that things would be so full of water. The meadows look amazing, then you realize they are more like swamps…they’re covered in water. Not that it makes them less amazing.

The green also amazes me. It seems different. It’s like there are a million shades of green and they are all right here. How can there be so many different greens? I wish I could capture them all. The Moraine trail loops back to the beginning and Tyler and I are off to Nugget Falls.

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