Juneau, Alaska Overview

Prior to the summer of 2011, I applied for jobs all over the country, mainly with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. It was anyone's guess where I would end up. One day I got a phone call asking about my interest and availability regarding a Forest Service position in Juneau, Alaska. I didn't know much about Juneau, other than a couple of basic facts: 1. It's the capital of Alaska. 2. It isn't connected to any road systems outside of the town. I also knew that Alaska was a state unlike any other. Its size, beauty, and remoteness made it a place that I had always wanted to explore some day. To say that Alaska's outdoor opportunities are endless is in no way an exaggeration. It wasn't exactly on my radar for that summer until I received the phone call, but it got me thinking: Why not this summer?

I interviewed over the phone for the interpretive Park Ranger position, and got an offer shortly after. The opportunity to work and live in Alaska for a summer would normally be a no-brainier, but my decision was made tougher since I had recently started dating my girlfriend, Stephany. I knew it wouldn't be easy to do a long distance relationship for the summer. After weighing my other options and talking with Steph, she was supportive, and I made the decision to accept the job.

I would be working out of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in the Tongass National Forest: the largest national forest in the country. My job involved presenting interpretive programs to the public on a variety of topics: black bears, salmon, arctic terns (a type of bird with the longest migration on earth - Antarctica to Alaska), glacier dynamics, and glacial ice, just to name a few.

The job was a good experience, and in the process, I met some interesting people from around the world. Many of my co-workers became good friends, and I got to do it all while working in a gorgeous area.

However, that was still work. Luckily, there were still two days a week that I had to myself to go do as much exploring as possible.

Besides being away from Stephany, the toughest part about the summer was transportation. I left my car at home due to the high price of shipping it on a ferry. Most of my friends were also without vehicles for the summer, so "getting around" involved riding my bike or taking the public bus. Sometimes it wasn't ideal, and sometimes I didn't get to go exactly where I wanted, when I wanted to, but I was still able to go do my thing easily enough.

Although there was plenty to do, I never made it outside of the Juneau area. In reality, even after a full summer of hiking and fishing every chance I got, I barely scratched the surface of all there is to see in Southeast Alaska, let alone the entire state.

Don't believe me? Here's Alaska superimposed on the contiguous 48 states:

In case you need any interpreting: if you consider the Aleutian Islands, Alaska covers an area from California to Florida, and north to the Canadian border. It's that big.

I hope you enjoy my following posts on the Juneau area. It was a great place, and I hope to make it back to Alaska some day for further exploration and adventures!

View of Mendenhall Glacier with Mount McGinnis and Mount Stroller White from Nugget Falls Trail, near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.