Food at Mendenhall glacier

[alaskawdw12]

I was wondering if there is a place to eat at Mendenhall glacier visitors center?

 

Thanks! :)

[Assateague Island Princes]

Nope! Think bears....

[slider728]

I was wondering if there is a place to eat at Mendenhall glacier visitors center?

 

Thanks! :)

 

It has been a few years since I've actually been inside the visitor's center, but I believe there is no food, not even a snack machine available in the area. There are bears that hang out in close vicinity to the Visitor's Center when the salmon are spawning (they tend to hang out by the deck and elevated walk way in the paved parking lot South of the Visitor's center). You don't see them too often during the day, but bears and food are not a good mix.

 

There really isn't a whole lot in the area for food in general to be honest.

 

If you are looking for something quick, there is a McDonalds and a Subway in the vicinity of the cruise ships, a few blocks to the West of the round about/parking garage.

 

There is also a McDonald's and a Subway in the Nugget Mall area, about 4 miles from the Glacier which is on the way from downtown.

 

In the valley a few miles from the glacier, there are a few restaurants near the Mendenhall Mall (Bullwinkle's has some great pizza...after taking my kids to Juneau for the first time last summer, they want to go back to go to the "moose" pizza place. There is a grocery store called SuperBear in the same mall). Depending on how you are getting to the glacier, you could stop by the grocery store or call ahead and Bullwinkles will have a pizza ready for you. There are two locations, one downtown and one in the "valley" which is the one by the glacier. If you order in advance, make sure you tell them which location you are picking up at).

 

Otherwise, if you have time, there are a few decent restaurants downtown. The Twisted Fish is right next to the tram in the Taku Smokeries building. They are a tad on the spendy side, but I think their food is great!

[alaskawdw12]

Thanks you very much! :)

 

I figured there wasn't anything there, but I just wanted to make sure.

We really are looking for something quick, so it's good to know there's the Subway near by just to grab a sandwich.

 

I don't want to sound stupid, but I really know nothing about being in an area with bears...we don't have them here in Israel :)...should we not have any food in our bags when walking the trails at Mendenhall glacier or at Denali? Or is it just that we shouldn't be eating when we walk around?

[slider728]

Thanks you very much! :)

 

I figured there wasn't anything there, but I just wanted to make sure.

We really are looking for something quick, so it's good to know there's the Subway near by just to grab a sandwich.

 

I don't want to sound stupid, but I really know nothing about being in an area with bears...we don't have them here in Israel :)...should we not have any food in our bags when walking the trails at Mendenhall glacier or at Denali? Or is it just that we shouldn't be eating when we walk around?

 

That is a perfectly reasonable question.

 

Its all about reducing risk as well as trying to prevent bears from associating humans with food.

 

There are a number of trails around the Mendenhall Glacier area and as a child, I hiked pretty much every one of them. We took no special precautions. We usually had food in our backpacks for the longer trips (ranging from wrapped snacks to McDonalds Quarter Pounders with Cheese...I remember that because we were using the Styrofoam containers we had at the time to try and pan for gold). Despite the lack of precautions, I have never seen a bear unexpectedly in the area. I will be the first to admit carrying food isn't the smartest thing; however, sometimes it is a necessity.

 

As a general rule, you do not want to have food on your person in bear country if you can help it. If you do carry food, something wrapped like a candy bar or a trail bar that would cut on the scent is preferred. Bears might mistake the smell of "human" food as an easy meal or due to being fed by humans in the past, they might associate the smell of human food with an easy meal. Perhaps a bear is starving due to illness or an injury when it smells your food and decides it is going to take it from you as it is having problems getting food in the wild (and maybe take a bite of you too). When you are camping in bear country, they tell you to put all your food away from your camp, put it in a bag, and use rope and a tree to raise it high in the air to keep it away from the bears and keep the bears out of your camp.

 

If you walk around the area with a Subway sandwich or a slice of pizza, odds are you aren't going to have a bear following you. However, if a bear smells a sandwich and decides it wants it, you don't want to be the one holding it :)

 

Also, food in the area means food related garbage. They spend a lot of money on bear proof garbage cans, but the Park Rangers don't want the bears trying to get into the garbage for the safety of the people around there (as well as the bear).

 

I hope this explanation helps a bit. Bear attacks are very rare. When you see them, most likely the bear will ignore you or go the other direction. Not carrying food is all about minimizing an unwanted encounter with a bear.

 

While not carrying food is the "smart" thing to do, I'll share this...

 

Last summer, we were fishing and we have a boat outside of town in an area called Tee Harbor. My friend and I were walking up the boat ramp, carrying about 20 pounds of fresh halibut fillets, 6 live crabs, and an open bag of potato chips. A bear came out of the treeline and walked within 50 yards of us. The bear never looked twice at us. I'm not recommending you walk around with open chips and fresh fish, but I just wanted to throw that out...just because you are carrying food doesn't mean you are going to have issues....not carrying it is just a precaution

[PennyAgain]

I generally have some sort of munch when hiking in Alaska and elsewhere but I keep to the commercially prepared granola bars and such. I was taught as a small child that bears really enjoy processed meats such as smoked ham, turkey, salami etc and adore bacon; so I don't hike with any of those things.

 

I put my food into zip top bags (use zip top bags for keeping cameras dry as well) and put all wrappers and trash into zip top bags for carrying and disposal.

 

A Subway sandwich is not a bad idea but ask the person who makes it to put your dressings and wet toppings into separate containers so that you won't have a soggy sandwich.

[slider728]

 

There is also a McDonald's and a Subway in the Nugget Mall area, about 4 miles from the Glacier which is on the way from downtown.

 

In the valley a few miles from the glacier, there are a few restaurants near the Mendenhall Mall (Bullwinkle's has some great pizza...after taking my kids to Juneau for the first time last summer, they want to go back to go to the "moose" pizza place. There is a grocery store called SuperBear in the same mall). Depending on how you are getting to the glacier, you could stop by the grocery store or call ahead and Bullwinkles will have a pizza ready for you. There are two locations, one downtown and one in the "valley" which is the one by the glacier. If you order in advance, make sure you tell them which location you are picking up at).

 

My apologies on this. I was thinking about this last night...

 

The Mendenhall mall is probably closer to 4 miles from the Glacier Visitor's Center and the Nugget Mall area probably about 5 miles.

 

Not a big difference if you are going by car, but I didn't want you to try and walk and have a 40 minute 2-mile walk turn into a 1.5 hour 4-mile walk.

 

My apologies about that.

[alaskawdw12]

Thank you all very much for all the great info!

I feel much better now :) I was pretty sure it was ok to have a couple of sealed granola bars in our backpacks, but I just wanted to make sure, so that we can enjoy ourselves and not be nervous.

 

Thanks for the food recomendations as well!

[PennyAgain]

If having a few granola bars was a high risk factor, I would have been in deep trouble long ago.

 

I have seen tourists walk right past bears in Alaska so keep aware of your surroundings.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[slider728]

Thank you all very much for all the great info!

I feel much better now :) I was pretty sure it was ok to have a couple of sealed granola bars in our backpacks, but I just wanted to make sure, so that we can enjoy ourselves and not be nervous.

 

Thanks for the food recomendations as well!

 

Sealed granola bars or candy bars is a good to carry as they don't put out much odor.

 

I wouldn't be nervous. Unintended bear encounters are rare. The glacier area is frequented by people, so bears are going to be used to people being around and will probably be less likely to startle.

 

Here is a link talking about bear encounters from the Alaska Fish and Game website. It is probably worth a glance:

 

http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/safety/bears.htm

 

As I mentioned before, I've spent a lot of time up in the area around the glacier and I do not recall ever encountering a bear away from the stream area by the parking lot.

 

You should be just fine :) I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[tee_harbor]

JFYI:

 

If you are looking for something quick, there is a McDonalds and a Subway in the vicinity of the cruise ships, a few blocks to the West of the round about/parking garage.

 

The McDonald's closed this past year. The Subway is the only 'fast food' place downtown, although there are several quick, to-go meal non-chain places.

[slider728]

JFYI:

 

 

 

The McDonald's closed this past year. The Subway is the only 'fast food' place downtown, although there are several quick, to-go meal non-chain places.

 

No kidding? I did not know that. Thanks for clarifying. I didn't spend much time downtown this year and I hadn't noticed it closed.

[Mendenhall Ranger]

If you bring granola bars or other food to Mendenhall Glacier, you're welcome to have a seat inside the visitor center and munch on your snack. Or, you may eat once you're back on the bus. We only ask that you refrain from eating outdoors in the parking lots and trails. :)

 

As other posters have alluded to, the chance of having a negative bear encounter is very small. The issue is that once a bear gets a snack from a human, they start associating us with food sources - which significantly changes their behavior. Think the Yosemite/Yellowstone bears, who have learned to rip doors off cars with the swipe of a paw. Once a bear becomes habituated to human food, it's virtually impossible to disabuse it of that notion - and will usually have to be killed.

 

So far, the bears of Mendenhall have learned to ignore humans, not treat them as food sources. We work very hard to keep this delicate balance - because that's what creates so many wonderful opportunities for visitors to see bears up close and personal.

[irvington]

Thanks for this info, and hopefully this is not overly hijacking this thread. I'm hoping when there to combine a whale watching trip with Mendenhall. It seems like some of the whale watching trips will drop you off near Mendenhall. I guess it depends on what we are able to eat on the whale watching boat, but I clicked on this link since I was curious what to do to feed my kids (9 and 13) if we go straight from whale watching to Mendenhall. I guess it may be granola bars in the visitor center as needed. :)

 

Our last several national parks trips have been Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier -- which definitely make you motivated to avoid a close quarters bear encounter. There were several attacks last summer, and even some of the experts were skittish. Do people use bear spray and are they advised to make a lot of noise, and hike in groups, like in Yellowstone? or are those precautions not needed here?

[slider728]

Thanks for this info, and hopefully this is not overly hijacking this thread. I'm hoping when there to combine a whale watching trip with Mendenhall. It seems like some of the whale watching trips will drop you off near Mendenhall. I guess it depends on what we are able to eat on the whale watching boat, but I clicked on this link since I was curious what to do to feed my kids (9 and 13) if we go straight from whale watching to Mendenhall. I guess it may be granola bars in the visitor center as needed. :)

 

Our last several national parks trips have been Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier -- which definitely make you motivated to avoid a close quarters bear encounter. There were several attacks last summer, and even some of the experts were skittish. Do people use bear spray and are they advised to make a lot of noise, and hike in groups, like in Yellowstone? or are those precautions not needed here?

 

While I am sure it is not an absolute, but I believe all the major whale watching tours leave out of Auke Bay Harbor. If the tour operators would be dropping you off at the glacier as a favor, there are a few options for food at the harbor. In the parking lot of Auke Bay, there is a "shack" or a stand called the Hot Bite. I recall they are a bit spendy, but they got decent burgers (sorry, don't recall the price. It has been a few years). Also right next to the harbor is a small convenience store called Deharts. Deharts has snacks like you would expect to see at any convenience store, but they also got some decent chicken and other hot deli type foods. I stopped by there and got some chicken for my 6 year old daughter while filling up the boat with gas one night and she ate 4 pieces. She isn't much of a meat eater. She really liked it (I think the chicken is just OK, but the location can't be beat). The same places are on the way from Tee Harbor and Amelga harbor, but I do not recall any tours that leave out of those harbors.

 

If the tour operators are willing to accommodate you a bit, there are a few places to stop on the way to the glacier. The Sand Bar is on the way from Auke Bay. The Sand Bar is a little hole in the wall place off of the main road. However, it does have some excellent halibut and chips. You should be able to order some food to go.

 

As I mentioned before in an earlier, there are a few places to eat at the Mendenhall mall. I'll give another nod to Bullwinkle's Pizza. I don't think the pizza is as good as it once was, but it is still pretty good.

 

Given the entire eating at the Glacier thing, your best bet for food would probably be the Hot Bite or Dehart's at the harbor. While there are some other options, you'll likely be eating on the run or up in the visitor's center if you stop there (though the Sand Bar night be worth it if you want some halibut).

 

 

In terms of bears at the glacier...

 

Anytime you are near bears, they should be taken seriously as they are unpredictable. That being said, I've never heard of anyone being injured by a bear up at the glacier, even when I hear of people being terribly stupid.

 

So....it is probably best to take the precautions you mentioned with making noise and bear spray. It is better safe than sorry.

 

On the flip side, I've never ran into a bear where I wasn't expecting to see one up there. Now that I am a father and take my kids up there, I opt for the better safe than sorry approach and make noise while we are walking (in the past I've carried a firearm as well, but I kind of dislike doing that as it sometimes makes tourist skittish). Bear spray isn't a bad idea, but I am not sure how that would work with being on a cruise ship. I'm not sure that security would let it through onto the ship and at $40+ a can, it would be too expensive to buy in every port.

 

If you use a little common sense, you should have problems with bears at all.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[alaskawdw12]

Thanks for this info, and hopefully this is not overly hijacking this thread. I'm hoping when there to combine a whale watching trip with Mendenhall. It seems like some of the whale watching trips will drop you off near Mendenhall. I guess it depends on what we are able to eat on the whale watching boat, but I clicked on this link since I was curious what to do to feed my kids (9 and 13) if we go straight from whale watching to Mendenhall. I guess it may be granola bars in the visitor center as needed. :)

 

Our last several national parks trips have been Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier -- which definitely make you motivated to avoid a close quarters bear encounter. There were several attacks last summer, and even some of the experts were skittish. Do people use bear spray and are they advised to make a lot of noise, and hike in groups, like in Yellowstone? or are those precautions not needed here?

 

LOL overly hijacking? not at all! That's exactly why I posted this question :)

 

Thank you everyone for your great advice!!!

 

Mendenhall Ranger - we wouldn't even think of eating while on the trails. We're scared of the bears! :) It's great to know that we can sit and calm down our rumbly tummys in the visitors center. That's a great idea! Thanks!

[alaska_planner]

and now you understand why i did all my camping in the dead of winter...

the bears were (hopefully) deep asleep somewhere under the 10 feet of snow we were snowshoeing on...

 

no bears, no snakes, no bugs.......perfect!! :)

 

of course, this was in the michigan UP - not exactly grizzly territory...:rolleyes:

[alaska_planner]

and now you understand why i did all my camping in the dead of winter...

the bears were (hopefully) deep asleep somewhere under the 10 feet of snow we were snowshoeing on...

 

no bears, no snakes, no bugs.......perfect!! :)

 

of course, this was in the michigan UP - not exactly grizzly territory...:rolleyes:

 

and we only carried freeze dried food....though all food would have been frozen solid in any case...

 

i'm wondering where you got this interest in seeing bears....it certainly wasn't from me....:eek: