Special GLOF Edition

I wanted to write about the Alaska menu, but then nature intervened. Welcome to the Special GLOF Edition!

What a Beautiful Day for a Jökulhlaup

I meant to write this update a month ago, but the mountain was calling. We had such fantastic weather! By the way, a Jökulhlaup is not a local word for a mountain snack, but more on that in a moment.

The House on the Mendenhall River

Actually quite peaceful...

Our view from the deck

On August 12th, a message popped up on the phone: “Suicide Basin glacial outburst underway, flooding expected late Tues–Wed. Residents in flood zone should evacuate.”

Our bags were packed, some already in the car. We knew this basin would drain and could prepare for it. In the end, we decided to stay home and watch the spectacle from here. Because it won’t be the last time we experience this.

Jökulhlaup

Jökulhlaup is Icelandic. Jökull = glacier and hlaup = run. A Jökulhlaup (glacial outburst flood) is a catastrophic flood that occurs when large amounts of water are suddenly released, breaking through a lake or an ice dam. In Juneau, there has been a Jökulhlaup every year since 2011, also called a “GLOF” (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood). Since 2023, these GLOFs have become particularly large. In 2023 a house was washed away, and in 2024 more than 300 houses were flooded.

55 Billion Liters of Water

This year another record was broken: 55 billion liters of water rushed down during the GLOF.

If you built a swimming pool on a standard soccer field to hold that much water, it would be 7.7 km (4.8 miles) high.

This year, Juneau built large barriers to hold back the water.

City and Borough of Juneau photo

They held!

Our house on the river, however, is located north of the HESCO barriers.

Our house is the one with arrow

From our perspective

A few hours later you could already see more land again.

In the end, everything was alright. The water came right up to the flowerbeds. Along with giant tree trunks, a wooden skeleton floated by, which Rob fished out. It now stands in front of the flowerbeds as a “scareGLOF.”

The basin emptied again yesterday, but with much less water. It didn’t reach over the riverbank.

And of Course: A Bear Update

When our friends Matt and Mary were here, we had this fantastic bear sighting - courtesy of Travis and Yeny. The video is from Matt. Rob and Travis are in the foreground, Matt, Mary, Yeni and I are behind them. More in Mary’s blog.

Next time, for real: the Alaska menu.

Life in a National Geographic Magazine

After complaining in the last issue that I hadn’t seen a single bear, I now have to take that statement back entirely. I’m living in a National Geographic article. David Attenborough’s voice is always echoing in the back of my mind. Bears, eagles, whales, sea otters, spawning salmon. I’m surrounded by nature’s wonders.

A beautiful corner of Alaska

Bears

Just a few days after my last report, I saw seven bears at once, right along the road that leads to the dump.

Like so many things here, even the Juneau landfill is located in a stunning spot: a river winds through a green meadow, surrounded by dense trees — and tucked behind it all: the dump.

By the way, wildlife photography is prohibited on the landfill itself.

Because bears here are well known as trash aficionados.

Shortly after that, things got more personal: A bear chased a chicken across our street. The chicken lost a few feathers but survived. I didn’t see it for weeks... and then, a few days ago, it reappeared.

Since then, our neighborhood bear has become a regular.

Snapped from the car: it crossed the road right in front of us as Rob was heading to work...

...and tried to break into our trash cans. Luckily, they’re all “bear-proof.”

And when you live in a National Geographic article, unfortunately these are the kinds of headlines you might wake up to: "Two bear cubs fatally electrocuted fleeing up utility pole"

Eagles

The bald eagle is as common here as pigeons in some cities. No wonder it’s jokingly called the “freedom pigeon.”

Naturally, eagles also love the dump. But we often see them right behind our house by the river too, catching and eating salmon, or just perched in the trees.

Both pictures were snapped with a much better camera than my iPhone by my gym buddy Travis

Whales

The two whale photos are from Whale Watch Captain Owen. We met him on the ferry. You can find more of his pictures on his website.

What magnificent creatures! We’ve seen whales from the beach, from the ferry and of course on our whale-watching tour. But the most breathtaking experience happened on our own boat: we witnessed a phenomenon called bubble-net feeding — a spectacular cooperative hunting behavior where whales work together to encircle and push herring to the surface. It’s something you can almost only witness here in Alaska.

It was like fireworks, only much, much better.

Sea Otters

The sea otters chill in the water, float on their backs, and just drift along. It’s every bit as adorable as it sounds.

Spawning Salmon

Salmon are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean, and return to their birthplace to reproduce. Often traveling thousands of kilometers. They find their exact river section again using their sense of smell and the Earth’s magnetic field.

There, the females dig shallow nests in the gravel and lay their eggs. The males fertilize them and then die. Pacific salmon spawn only once in their lifetime.

This dramatic, ancient ritual unfolds right outside our front door.

It’s almost surreal to see the sheer mass of salmon in the rivers. And of course, the bears are thrilled. As the salmon make their way upstream, the bear-watching hotspots shift from the landfill to the rivers.

Coming up in the next issue:

Wild harvest, fresh catch: the Alaska menu

Boats, Bears, and Do Juneau-ites Have Fur?

My House, My Car, My Boat

That's a slogan from a legendary 90s German banking commercial, and it hits the nail on the head for Juneau. In front of nearly every house sits a boat – usually on a trailer, ready to be pulled to the water by a pickup truck (not just any car!). From there, it's off to fish for halibut or salmon, or to search for king crabs in the ice-cold waters.

Many Juneau-ites also use their boat as a taxi to the surrounding islands, where they go hunting. The rule is: you must have at least one foot on solid ground when shooting. Since Rob is a passionate hunter and angler, the Andrades will soon be proud boat owners too. We already have the pickup truck.

Proud pickup owners

Bear Wisdom

Even before my move to Alaska, a dear Cariad colleague taught me this important motto:

"If it's black, fight back.
If it's brown, lay down.
If it's white, good night."

Here in Juneau, there are plenty of black bears, brown ones are rare. The black specimens are smaller and less aggressive. They can usually be driven away with a loud voice and determined demeanor. With a brown bear, however, it's: lie down, play dead, and pray that it loses interest. Now the challenge is, of course, how do you tell these furry fellows apart?

Black bears in front of friends' house

The bear stories from around here are pretty crazy: One broke into the garage, cracked open the freezer, and blissfully ate the ice cream – leaving the salmon untouched... after all, they can catch that themselves. Another fell through the skylight right into the middle of birthday party preparations, helped himself to the cake, and disappeared again through the balcony door that the owners opened in their panic. Me personally? I haven't seen a bear yet and I'm torn between disappointment and relief...

Skunk cabbage: one of the first plants to bloom in spring. Bears use it as digestive aid after hibernation. 

There's No Bad Weather, Only Bad Clothing (At Least For Newbies)

Welcome to the Tongass National Forest – the world's largest temperate rainforest! Here in Juneau, it doesn't just rain often, but it rains with a dedication that's in a league of its own. One of our early local investment was therefore two pairs each of Xtratuf rubber boots – "Alaska Proven" is the promising slogan on the box. One pair is ankle-high, one pair is knee-high.

The rubber boot collection

The rain jacket is standard equipment when venturing outside, rain pants are recommended depending on the "rain angle" (is it raining from above, from the side, or even from below). I am always amazed, when I encounter locals in shorts and t-shirts – at 11 degrees (that would be Celsius) and rain! My theory: After a few years here, you automatically develop water-repelling fur, like some animals have. I can't explain this weather immunity any other way.

Rubber boots "in action"

A day without rubber boots

Three things I learned in my first month in Alaska

"Alaska - the last frontier" is printed on our license plates. Alaska is vast, rugged, and in many parts untouched and remote. So much so that Juneau is the only state capital in the US that can't be reached by car. Though I already knew that before coming here.

1. Stoic gaze + clipboard = cold sweats

I had also suspected that I'd need to retake my driver's test, since my US license had been expired for more than three years. What completely caught me off guard though, was having to parallel park during the driving exam and that every forward and reverse movement costs you points. "Holy Saint Parkus, be with me. Grant me spatial awareness and precision." But I passed with flying colors (and only a few points deducted).

2. Gas Station Prices Are Like Glaciers - They Barely Move

$3,46 at Gas N Go

The gas price hasn't changed a single time since we've been here. $3.49 per gallon, and at some stations even just $3.46. You might think that in a city where no roads lead in, people don't drive much. But that's not quite right, because the vastness I mentioned also applies to our daily commute. We're currently still living on Douglas Island and Rob works in "the Valley." Since we only have one car at the moment, I drive Rob to work and pick him up (12 miles each way). At noon I coach at SEAK Fitness: 8 miles each way. Here are some facts about our Subaru's mileage:

• Purchase, March 13th: 3 miles
• Arrival in Juneau, April 21st: about 4,400 miles
• As of today, May 21st: 5,900 miles

3. My First Baby Steps as a Vibe Coder

I've spent the time between my chauffeur duties and my coaching sessions with my new colleague Cursor AI. Cursor AI is a code editor where you describe what you want, and the AI writes the code for it. "Build an app for people who aren't really into fashion but would sometimes like to know if they can wear a certain something like that?" It wasn't quite done with that one sentence - we also needed a database for uploading images and comments, authentication, deployments, etc. Cursor and I got along great at first, until we really got into it and I had to throw everything away multiple times. Then I learned how to communicate better with him(?). And Cursor keeps learning anew that I have zero clue. But together we were successful and you can check out the result here - feel free to upload pictures and comment too. Please let me know if I should add your Google account as a test account.

https://can-i-wear-that.vercel.app/  

My cool project

In the next edition: Boats, bears, and do Juneau-ites have undercoats?