Mendenhall Glacier - ice is gone!

The ice is gone. The bears are out and seen daily at Mendenhall. Bus loads of tourists are traveling to the Glacier. People who live around the Governor's mansion are upset because buses swarm around the governors mansion now. Before she ran for VP, it was not a popular attraction but everyone wants to see it now. The governor says she would like to put a sign up welcoming them. I will also note that she is NEVER there so she is not really impacted. In Juneau float planes are taking off a lot and Helicopters are all over the glacier too. Busy place. Juneau has narrow streets that go straight up hills, so buses are a big inconvenience in the downtown area.

Having massive amounts of tourists around takes some getting used to. It used to be so quiet around here. When the cruise ships come in, Juneau changes a lot and fast.

Homer, Alaska Story: The trumpeter swans are now in Homer. A family who live on a lake invited people over for breakfast to see the trumpeter swans as the people ate breakfast. It was a yearly tradition. This year, as they ate and watched, an eagle swooped down and killed a swan and ate it in front of the breakfast gatherers. The remaining swans took off and flew in a circle above just watching their bird friend being eaten. The people were not happy. Historical Note: In Homer: There was a lady who fed the eagles for 50 years. The eagles had easy access to food. The lady died last fall and it is now illegal to feed eagles in Homer. The eagles now have to search for food. This is the first year of the new law.
(There was a big fire ripping through rural Homer this past week. We have not had a lot of rain and vegetation dried out. A burn barrel got a fire going and the wind spread the fire. 700 acre fire that blew through containment lines. It is settling down now that the wind is subsiding.)