Juneau’s local eagle population seems to have boomed this year as locals report seeing more activity than normal at some of the hot fishing spots around town.

Take the dock near Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc., for example. Eagles have been seen in large numbers perched on pilings and wrestling for already dead salmon at low tide.

Stephen Lewis, a wildlife biologist who works in the Juneau Raptor Management Office for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said he too noticed the large numbers of eagles perched near DIPAC.

Not far from the Mendenhall Glacier, nestled among the ferns and the mosses, and the thick stands of bulky alders, are a set of stones neatly placed in a wide horseshoe. They are the remains of a parking lot built in 1930, which served as a congregating area for visitors who sought to experience the hulking glacier in an up-close and personal way.

Of the things found on a low tide morning in June, perhaps the most exciting was the two-foot-long sea cucumber.

It looked like a deflated balloon and felt like wet leather. The skin of the creature was dotted with knobby protrusions and the head was hard to discern from the “other” end.

Yet its discovery on a sandy beach near Auke Bay became a teaching point for Sun to Sea Science Camp Instructor Bonita Nelson. She called to the students and explained why it was rare to find such a large specimen on the beach.

The route two good friends traveled between Oregon and Juneau is familiar to many. The mode of transportation they chose, however, was unusual. Their arduous trek on 70s-vintage 10-speed bikes through forests and mountain passes was not about the scenery or the destination. It was medicine for their souls.

Mike Hoyt and Jay Lee, both 24, said they quenched their thirst for adventure over the course of approximately 2,100 miles and 34 days, while exploring the lands and history of the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and the Yukon.