The Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge is a Juneau gem. Yesterday you wouldn’t have known it’s still springing UP from the weight of glaciers. After crazy rains and big tides, it earned its keep as semi-submerged wet land. Really, the refuge is one of the things that makes living in Juneau — even when the weather turns to shit–aesthetically pleasing. This intertidal oasis squeezed between Egan Drive, Gastineau Channel and Douglas Island is a rich gathering spot for migrating birds, fish, fishers, hunters, kite surfers, kite flyers, voles, meth addicts (so I learned while parking yesterday), crossing bear and deer, 737s, and as of this winter, a new gas station. Ugh.

Anyway, a few steps into yesterday’s slog, I almost turned back. The trail from our access point was non-existent. The muck looked like lava. Before I had time to be sensible, Cedar’s Lab genes kicked in and we were committed. I had as much fun watching her, I think, as she did mucking it up.

  • All washed up thanks to a dunk in the lake.