Anyone hiked *up* Mt Roberts?

[Ronneeaght]

Hi! I see lots of great reviews about hiking once you get to the top of Mount Roberts. I've also seen how you can take the tram down the mountain for free with a gift shop/food purchase.

 

Has anyone taken advantage of this cost saving measure? How long did it take? What was the trail like?

 

My husband and I are both around 30 and fairly active, but we aren't expert hikers.

[tee_harbor]

Hi! I see lots of great reviews about hiking once you get to the top of Mount Roberts. I've also seen how you can take the tram down the mountain for free with a gift shop/food purchase.

 

Has anyone taken advantage of this cost saving measure? How long did it take? What was the trail like?

 

My husband and I are both around 30 and fairly active, but we aren't expert hikers.

 

It's narrow, switchback, challenging and basically straight up from the dock level. Realize you have to walk up steep streets to get to the trailhead too. When it's rainy, it can be very slippery. All that said, my not incredibly active friend and I did it and lived to tell the tale.

 

But I wouldn't do it just to save $50. Considering all the money you've spent on the cruise, and that every minute of your port time is valuable, I wouldn't consider it a good value for that money.

 

Whatever hiking you do, please have your cell phone with you and charged, and let someone on the ship know what your hiking plans are. A local, experienced hiker is still missing and presumed dead off that trail from earlier this summer. While several hikers have been saved this summer from having their phones with them, including a cruise ship tourist.

[Ronneeaght]

Yikes! Getting out into the woods is a priority for us while we are there. I figured that this was a chance to save some money at the same time. I guess we'll stick to the more beaten path trails at Mendenhall and once we get up the tram.

 

Thanks so much for the info! And good point about the cell phone. I might not have remembered simple precautions like that in all the excitement of being in Alaska :)

[AmberCascades]

We did it last week and lived (barely - lol) to tell the tale. The lady at the visitors centre told us how to get there and she looked sceptical and told us it would be rough. We aren't experienced hikers, but last year we hiked up Diamond Head in Hawaii and also hiked down into, across and back up the other side of a volcano, so we figured we could do it.

 

We were told it would take about 1 1/2 hours from the dock. We left around 9:15. It was a very steep walk up to where we met the road that would take us to the trailhead. We had to stop a couple of times to rest our calves. (Hubby also popped into a couple of stores along the way, so YMMV on the time).

 

Unfortunately, we missed the sign for the trail head and we ended up walking to the Last Chance Mining Museum and Preservation trail. Fortunately we ran into a hiking group who told us how to get unlost.

 

We back tracked and then found the trail head. I think it took about 2 hours from there. My dh is 62 and I am 53. I am overweight and have a problem with one knee, but we are both in pretty good shape otherwise. All in, from the start to when we finally trammed down again, was about 5 hours.

 

It was not super-easy, but the younger and fitter people were passing us and we never saw them at the top so I'm assuming they raced up there and then came back down before we got up.

 

We certainly had a feeling of accomplishment once we got up there. We had a restroom break and watched a movie about Tlingits which was very interesting. Then we bought some stuff at the gift shop so we could take the tram down for "free". The tram operator was very entertaining as well.

 

This was our second time in Juneau and we went on a flightseeing tour and did Mendenhall on our previous trip. If this is your first or only trip you might not want to spend half a day doing this, but now that I've recovered :) I'm glad we did it.

[bobnjeff]

My husband and I did it 4 years ago he was 67 and 49 for me. It was not very hard just a bit long. We passed a group of young guys half way up. They seemed to be struggling but it was not bad at all. Great views along the way.

[fishin' musician]

I also recommend checking out the hiking options in Skagway. Lower Dewey Lake and Yakutania Point/Smuggler's Cove are some of the less aggressive treks.

 

Lower Dewey Lake

 

Edited August 13, 2014 by fishin' musician

[Ronneeaght]

Hmmm, thanks all. Good food for thought. I guess we'll play it by ear and see what the weather is like. We don't have anything scheduled for Juneau but we are hoping for a while out at Mendenhall and maybe some kayaking. AmberCascades, given your experience I think it would be wise to budget quite a bit more than the 1 1/2 hours from the dock! I have also hiked Diamond Head and aside from the heat (which I don't think will be a problem on Mount Roberts ;)) found it to be a very enjoyable hike.

 

fishin' musician, our excursions don't end until around 6pm in Skagway. I guess we'll see how long these Alaskan summer days really are and if we think we have enough light left to do a hike afterwards. Those both look like great options.

[sjmbruce]

our helicopter tour was cancelled due to bad weather (rain and fog) in May. to ease my broken heart, my husband bought us tickets for the tram. once we were on top, we did a lot of hiking. due to the rain and the fact that there was still ice and snow on the trail, it was pretty slippery. it definitely would have been easier if it was dry.

[fleckle]

Hi! I see lots of great reviews about hiking once you get to the top of Mount Roberts. I've also seen how you can take the tram down the mountain for free with a gift shop/food purchase.

 

Has anyone taken advantage of this cost saving measure? How long did it take? What was the trail like?

I have not done it, but just looking down from the tram and from the top of the mountain, there is no way I would want to try hiking up -- not even if they paid me double or triple or quadruple the cost of the tram ride to do it. :D