Exit Glacier--tour or on our own?

Hi again Alaska experts! My husband, 8yo son, and I are making this long-awaited trip to Alaska in June. After modifying our HAL cruise-tour, I'm happy to say that we now have an overnight in Seward before our cruise begins. Seeing Exit Glacier is a must.

We got our own tickets from Anchorage to Seward on the Alaska RR Gold Star service (instead of the HAL coach bus), so we'll be arriving in Seward around 11:30am. We sail on the Noordam the next day. We want to board as early as possible and start enjoying the ship right away.

We'll be staying at the Windsong. On their website, looks like they're owned by "Pursuit Alaska Collection." This company offers a trip to Exit Glacier from the Windsong. That looks convenient, but I haven't seen many reviews of the company. Another company with Exit Glacier tours is Exit Glacier Guides, but they don't pick up at Windsong, so we'd have to get to their location in Seward and they cost a little more. We don't want to rent a car. Anyone have experience with these companies? Or should we just take the Exit Glacier Shuttle and hike on our own?

Thank you again for your advice!

Do you want to hike on the glacier?

Hiking to the glacier, but not actually ice climbing.

Most of what I’ve read has to do with ice trekking tours. So no help there I’m afraid.

 

From what I’ve read the trailhead is well marked and the trail itself is pretty easy. But, I *think* the glacier has receded quite a bit from the trail.

Receding is a common occurrence these days, I see this comment in the boards and reviews about Davidson and Mendenhall Glaciers as well. Part of my reason to take my son now, while we can still get a glimpse of those natural wonders.

I went to the National Park Service website and they have info about the trails you mentioned--thanks!

It's easy to hike to the terminus of the glacier on your own. Depending on your hiking interests, you can also hike to the Harding Icefield where Exit Glacier begins.

 

Exit Glacier is part of Kenai Fjords National Park and there is a nature center and visitor center. The web site has information on the hikes and also on ways to get to the park by taxi or shuttle. When we went we had a car, but you said you didn't want to do that. I prefer doing national parks on my own so I determine where I go and how long I stay. The web site also has information on ranger led hikes. Your son might enjoy the narration from the rangers.

Just a quick comment to slightly expand RSF Cruiser's post -- the walkways/trails at Exit Glacier are very well signed. Actually the first section is paved. Unless someone is totally directionally challenged getting lost would be difficult.

I totally understand you said you don't want to rent a car. Could you reconsider? From Hertz you can have a car for your time in Seward (~24-hours) for about $150. To me, that's a pretty good deal. That's about $50 each for an "excursion". Not many excursions of any sort are that cheap. You'd be free to explore the Seward area at your leisure - it's a nice town. The drive out to Exit Glacier is only about 15-20 minutes and the cost of visiting the park is zero. The trails are well marked and fairly level - easy. We spent two full days (plus overnight) there last year and in the early evening we drove out south from the downtown area along the edge of the water - there were several whales in the area. We parked and watched them for about a half hour - pretty cool. Free. If you wish to eat a decent meal and kind of be with the locals the Sea Breeze restaurant (almost exactly across the street from Major Marine's office) has very excellent food - not fancy but not overly expensive either - I have a friend who lives at Seward and that's where he took us...though we had already ate there once already. :-) Right downtown are several nice shops to browse around in and maybe buy something.

 

Good luck!

I personally think the train ride is beautiful. One of my favorite moments in Alaska.

 

A long time ago, I somehow got hooked up with a shuttle that was ran by Windsong Lodge. They picked me up downtown and I went to their lodge for 20 minutes or so until their tour started. It was a good tour. I have no complaints. Sorry it is not current. It was a small group - maybe 5 of us.

Exit Glacier... The trails are well marked and fairly level - easy.

Good luck!

 

I recall them being fairly steep in places if you walk to the terminus of the glacier.

http://www.alaska.org/detail/visit-exit-glacier This should answer several of your questions about the hikes that are available. You are not allowed to climb on this glacier...while many of our glaciers are growing...(most people will not tell you that) many are also receding, and this is one of them...and it is quite dangerous. You can see....but not touch...However, if you go up on the Harding icefields there are some exceptions....You can also visit the Seavey dog kennels which are very close to the Exit Glacier..and there is an excellent little aquarium that features some Alaskan marine animals as well as birds. It is excellent. There are also animal encounters that you can sign up for early...It is the Sea Life Center in Seward. I believe it is about 8-9 miles from the Lodge to the glacier...Renting a car would allow you to explore more. there are also a couple of beautiful hikes that are not long and mostly flat right in back of the elementary school. It is a very cool little town. Nice restaurants....wonderful glacier and wildlife tours via boat, good coffee....and great fishing...You could even go out on a fishing charter and have the fish flash frozen and shipped to you at a time when you would be home....

The Windsong Lodge used to shuttle people around (free)- do they still do that?

Another snow day in NJ is allowing me to do some more Alaska vacation planning while I get to work from home today :-)

I agree we'd get around more with a car, but lately we, especially my husband, haven't felt like driving on vacations. I think after retirement that will change, especially since we can stretch our $$ better that way. We both, and especially my husband, have to drive a lot for our jobs. So for now we don't even do road trips. Vacation for now includes not driving for us :-)

15 years ago when we honeymooned in AK, we flew into Anchorage and rented a car, doing day trips from there and we enjoyed the freedom of not being on a schedule. Going back now, we both want to be in the passenger seat :-)

However, I'm going to use your advice as a reason to return to Alaska after we retire!

 

The Windsong does still advertise a free shuttle, so we'll still be able to explore downtown and the Sea Life Center. Windsong also has a paid excursion to Exit Glacier, a little lower cost than Exit Glacier Guides. Since we're staying at Windsong, this sounds convenient even vs a cab.

 

We definitely aren't risking stepping on glaciers--we'll be happy to enjoy the view.

 

I'll add Sea Breeze to my short list which right now only has the Salmon Bake restaurant near the Windsong on it.

Another snow day in NJ is allowing me to do some more Alaska vacation planning while I get to work from home today :-)

I agree we'd get around more with a car' date=' but lately we, especially my husband, haven't felt like driving on vacations. I think after retirement that will change, especially since we can stretch our $$ better that way. We both, and especially my husband, have to drive a lot for our jobs. So for now we don't even do road trips. Vacation for now includes not driving for us :-)

15 years ago when we honeymooned in AK, we flew into Anchorage and rented a car, doing day trips from there and we enjoyed the freedom of not being on a schedule. Going back now, we both want to be in the passenger seat :-)

However, I'm going to use your advice as a reason to return to Alaska after we retire!

 

The Windsong does still advertise a free shuttle, so we'll still be able to explore downtown and the Sea Life Center. Windsong also has a paid excursion to Exit Glacier, a little lower cost than Exit Glacier Guides. Since we're staying at Windsong, this sounds convenient even vs a cab.

 

We definitely aren't risking stepping on glaciers--we'll be happy to enjoy the view.

 

I'll add Sea Breeze to my short list which right now only has the Salmon Bake restaurant near the Windsong on it.[/quote']

 

 

 

It’s been a few years (2013) when we did a cruise tour. We were also at Windsong and I booked the early morning hotel sponsored tour to Exit Glacier prior to arriving. There were 6 in our group. Our driver took us back to the hotel in time to meet our coach for the trip to Seward. It was well worth our time and the rate was very reasonable.

 

 

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Good to know, Cindy! BTW, I'm going to check our your AK packing tips from your 2013 cruise!

There is an Exit Glacier Shuttle that will take you to the Park Center for $15/pp. I booked it and then we will do a hike on our own. We looked at the guided hikes, but we have too many different age groups in our group. Some will want to do the short hike, some none and others the trail to the end of the glacier. The park rangers have free guided hikes for these. I also emailed them and they said you could stay longer at the glacier than the "normal" shuttle (typically 2 1/2 hour trips) if we let them know when we get there. exitglaciershuttle . com is the site.

Thanks all for your help! We settled on the Exit Glacier tour from the Windsong, which will leave once we get to the hotel after our early train ride into Seward from Anchorage :)

Couldn't pass up the convenience of this tour to our itinerary (staying at the Windsong that night), but I suspect we'll pick one of the other options you shared on the next trip :)

Sorry for not noticing this sooner.

 

FWIW, Pursuit Alaska Collection actually helped arrange an entire 10-day land tour for us prior to our 6/22 Southbound RCI cruise on Radiance. My wife did most of the planning but the woman she worked with (Sharilyn) was beyond helpful in every aspect of the trip from hotels to excursions to train tickets to restaurant recommendations. We're spending two nights at the Windsong Lodge before boarding the ship in Seward.

 

I wasn't comfortable/adventurous enough to plan a 10 day, 5 city trip through somewhere I've never been on my own so this was a great compromise between doing a cruise line pre-tour and planning it ourselves. My wife told Sharilyn what she wanted to see/do and she put together a suggested itinerary, which we then revised about 50 times until settling on the final version.

 

Anyway, just wanted to vouch for them as best I can. We haven't taken the trip yet, of course, but working with them was nothing but positive!

Sorry for not noticing this sooner.

 

FWIW, Pursuit Alaska Collection actually helped arrange an entire 10-day land tour for us prior to our 6/22 Southbound RCI cruise on Radiance. My wife did most of the planning but the woman she worked with (Sharilyn) was beyond helpful in every aspect of the trip from hotels to excursions to train tickets to restaurant recommendations. We're spending two nights at the Windsong Lodge before boarding the ship in Seward.

 

I wasn't comfortable/adventurous enough to plan a 10 day, 5 city trip through somewhere I've never been on my own so this was a great compromise between doing a cruise line pre-tour and planning it ourselves. My wife told Sharilyn what she wanted to see/do and she put together a suggested itinerary, which we then revised about 50 times until settling on the final version.

 

Anyway, just wanted to vouch for them as best I can. We haven't taken the trip yet, of course, but working with them was nothing but positive!

 

Thanks, I hope it works out well for you! We're doing a land & sea tour through HAL starting with land first on 6/18. I also felt better for various reasons not doing all the planning myself. And I've found that even still, there's a lot of decisions to be made (albeit fun ones), with adding a few extras like Exit Glacier, dining choices on land, and port excursions. I only found a few reviews on Pursuit Alaska (all good), so I'm glad to have heard your experience with them thus far. I didn't know they do extensive trip planning, too!

if you are open to renting a car in Anchorage you might enjoy a walk to Byron Glacier so your son can play on the snowfield. (about an hour south of Anchorage).

 

https://everything-everywhere.com/byron-glacier-alaska-a-family-friendly-hike-between-anchorage-and-seward/

 

 

And since you're nearby, you could also stop by the Wildlife Conservation center for a walk or drive thru.

https://www.alaskawildlife.org/

if you are open to renting a car in Anchorage you might enjoy a walk to Byron Glacier so your son can play on the snowfield. (about an hour south of Anchorage).

 

https://everything-everywhere.com/byron-glacier-alaska-a-family-friendly-hike-between-anchorage-and-seward/

 

 

And since you're nearby, you could also stop by the Wildlife Conservation center for a walk or drive thru.

https://www.alaskawildlife.org/

 

How vast that ice field looks! I had no idea about it till you posted this website. Adding it to the next-time list! We'll only be in Anchorage for about 12 hours; train from Denali arrives around 5pm (cruisetour train), then train to Seward leaves early the next morning (booked on our own Coastal Classic). If we have energy to do anything other than dinner during the short time in Anchorage, we will consider renting bikes for the Tony Knowles Trail. Loved it 15 years ago, hope it's still a nice ride on 2 wheels to Earthquake Park.

Hello all. I was hoping to post a review in early July about our Alaska trip and my new camera. Unfortunately we couldn't go. I was diagnosed cancer in mid-June. I'm in the midst of chemotherapy now. I'm praying to be able to beat this terrible disease quickly. And re-book for 2020. I feel most terrible for my young son. I need to be here for him as he grows up. There's so much more I want to do with him. I'm praying to have many more quality years with him. He and I are best friends. Everything I do is either directly or indirectly for him. I can't even look at the camera right now. Once I get some good news about my health, I will feel comfortable planning again and learning the camera to capture the all-important memories with my son. I'm struggling emotionally for him as much as I am physically.

p.s. I'm re-posting this in my other longer threads where I got helpful replies to my questions, where I intended to report back.

I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I have been there. Surgery, chemo , and radiation for breast cancer in 2001 with a senior and sophomore in high school. It was hard to imagine leaving my kids when they were still dependent on me. So one family cruise, which was already planned before my diagnosis, 2 graduations, 2 college graduations , 2 weddings,and 5 grandkids later I am still here and my husband and I just took that wonderful trip to Alaska that you were planning. I will pray for you Dev’s Mom and hope that you have a future trip soon with your son and many more in the future.

Dev'sMom,

 

I was just about to share my experience walking up to Exit Glacier when I read your last post. I am so sorry to hear this. I will pray that you beat this disease and will be there for your son.

 

We have been fortunate to travel a lot since my husband's retirement and my visit to Exit Glacier was during one summer when we drove our RV all the way to Alaska from St Louis

 

But in August of 2015 my husband was diagnosed with leukemia. Fortunately for us, his was a type that was highly treatable (although with better odds for younger people, he was 77.) It was a rough time, chemo is so hard on your body; he spent almost 6 weeks in Barnes Hospital/Siteman Cancer Center. Because of his age and some other health problems he faced kidney dialysis and had his heart stop 3 times. The upshot is-he is in remission! We have returned to cruising and are looking forward to being back in Alaska, leaving from Vancouver on September 9 on the Noordam.

 

Take care, I am sure many friends and family are pulling for you. Keep your vision focused on the wonderful future that is waiting for you and your son.

 

God bless,

St. Louis Sal

 

P.S. as you can see by my signature, even though my husband's last consolidation therapy was in March of 2016, we were back on ships by the end of the year, celebrating with three cruises. Since then we have been to both Cuba and Iceland. We are packing in as much as we can together.

Edited August 30, 2018 by St. Louis Sal
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