Five reasons to appreciate the rain

As a coastal mountain community along the Inside Passage, Juneau gets its fair share of “liquid sunshine.”  We are surrounded by a 1500-square-mile icefield and located in part of the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest (the largest temperate rainforest in North America). With the Pacific Ocean not far away, Juneau enjoys a recipe for rain. About 62” of rain each year, as a matter of fact. Juneauites all have their various methods of appreciating (or tolerating) the rain, but here are 5 things to make you forget it’s raining.

1. Berries Salmonberries are ripe right now and even blueberries are starting to ripen in forest areas with less canopy. Just plop a couple of these glistening gems in your mouth as a trail snack or gather some to take home for ice cream, cobbler, or pie!
2. Blue glaciers The glaciers are bluer. Well, maybe not, but it will appear bluer on cloudy days. If it’s raining, it’s likely cloudy. Take in the views of any of the glaciers in our area – from the Mendenhall to hiking to Herbert glacier, a day trip to Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm, or see them the easy way from the skies if the weather is conducive to flying (helicopter or float plane).
3. The color green The berry bushes, the Sitka Spruce, and Western Hemlock are green. The ground cover is green. The bushes are green. The forest is green. And it’s not just one shade of green either – you haven’t seen all the shades of green we have. Juneau is alive with green!
4. Waterfalls and streams It’s the bountiful rain that begins as a trickle on a mountain top and gathers speed as it joins up with other small rivulets to culminate in cascading waterfalls all over Juneau. On one rainy afternoon, a friend counted 109 waterfalls on the 5-mile stretch of road from downtown Juneau to the end of Thane. The rivers get full, the salmon have plenty of water to make their way up stream, and stream-side berry bushes are nourished for a fall harvest. Water is life!
5. Salmon Speaking of waterfalls and streams, the rain allows the cycle of life to continue to provide for healthy salmon populations. We have all five species of salmon here, and they return to the rivers where they were born to spawn and begin the cycle anew. The salmon feed people, eagles, and the local bear population, as well as everything from seals to sea gulls. Check out Steep Creek by the glacier or Sheep Creek past downtown toward Thane to witness the wild salmon run.

If Juneauites waited for the rain to stop before we went somewhere or did anything, we’d never go anywhere. Make the most of your inside time by visiting the local museums, unique shopping opportunities, delicious restaurants, and admiring the work of talented local artists. But there really is nothing like hearing the rain drip from trees onto the dinner-plate sized Devil’s Club leaves in the undergrowth, the roar of waterfalls cascading over rocks and moss, and watching the clouds get tangled in trees on mountainsides. Breathe deeply and soak it all in.  Juneau is magic, even in the rain.