These boots were made for hiking and that's what we're gonna do! What a spectacular day we had hiking the Perseverance Trail.  In a record breaking 4 hours we conquered both the Perseverance and the Red Mill Trails. 

My parents arrived last night from Michigan and we wasted no time exploring the beauty of Juneau.  I was especially proud of my mom who lived up to the the trails name and "persevered" onward when all of us where ready to call it a day.

Did I mention that she is the only one of the group with two artificial hips and a bad right knee? You go girl!

The trail is pretty famous in Juneau. It was once a large gold mining operation in the 1880's. At the time it was running, it was the largest in the world. Some say that you can still pan and actually find flakes of gold in the glacier fed rivers.

As always, its hard to capture all the beauty.  Today, however, was especially so. It was a warm 63 and the sun was shinning, directing our path of memories.

Like most places in Juneau, the noise of rushing waterfalls joined in melody with the singing birds.  We also heard (but did not see) a bear rumbling round in the valley below.

Midway through our hike we stopped and had lunch (vegan sandwiches of course!) at the top of the large waterfall.  Ian actually found the hidden trail that took us closer to the majestic falls.

My mom named this the "Enchanted Forest." We thought little pixies might jump out from under the moss....but only a blue-shirt big-foot did.

My dad was especially excited to have hiked to snow in the middle of June. As a matter of fact, once Ian found it, he just had to create a snowball...and yes, he did throw it at those hikers behind him; namely me and my mom.

So perhaps the best was hiking to the Glory Hole. Not that it was all that great (although still very pretty) but the fact that we walked an extreme elevation, in bear ridden country, against all odds, and in extreme fatigue to reach its summit.  And we did, yeah us!

I had to also include this on the blog. On Memorial weekend my two friends (Rebecca and Mary), their nephew Gage, and I  kayaked over to Benjamin Island and camped for the weekend. We had a fabulous time together exploring the island and sitting around the fire.

A colony of sea lions call the island home for the summer. We hiked to a nearby cliff and watched them play for hours. I have a special affection for marine life and so I was overjoyed to be watching them so closely in their natural habitat.





This little guy was so cute. He would waddle around and then plop down for some sun bathing. When Rebecca and I went kayaking the following morning one of them actually followed us on our journey. He was about 30 feet behind us the entire time. I don't think there was any malice involved, mostly curiosity. Regardless, I really enjoyed the attention.

That same morning as we prepared to put our kayaks into the ocean we noticed that as the tide had gone out, there were hundreds of star fish left in the rocks. I am pretty sure that they survived as they still had some water beneath them and the next tide was coming in soon.

I just love Juneau. On sunny days, I can honestly say that there is no place in the world that I would rather be. The hiking, trails, mountains, and wildlife have made this place a perpetual vacation that we can call home.

Thankfully my parents are here to share the beauty with us. Next week Ian's family will also be coming for the day when their cruise ship docks in Juneau. We are really excited to see them and show off our little town.

Blessings and peace
Sarah