Mendenhall glacier

[david4005]

Has anyone done mendenhall glacier from cruise dock by riding city bus?

 

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[xlxo]

While I haven't... it has been discussed....

 

You are dropped 1.5 miles or 30 minute walk from the visitor centre. You need to double that distance and walking time for the return trip to the bus stop.

 

This seriously cuts into your port time.... especially if you need to wait for the return bus.

[xlxo]

I should add that it won't be pretty to hike 3 miles if it rains.

[epixx]

Yes; we have done this in the rain. Do you have any questions about it?

[david4005]

How long does it take to get from the cruise port to the glacier? Before hike. We are from Portland Oregon so the rain does not bother us.

 

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[epixx]

Including the walk from the dock (depends on where your ship docks) to the Transit Center and the walk from the bus stop near Mendenhall to the Visitor Center, it took us between 1.25 and 1.5 hours.

 

See bus schedule here:

 

http://www.juneau.org/capitaltransit/pdfs/busschedule5.pdf

[david4005]

Thank you

 

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[david4005]

Do a lot of people from the cruise ships do this?

 

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Edited July 4, 2016 by david4005

[Paulinda]

I think if you book an excursion with your ship it may cost around $40 per person including the $5 admittance per person park fee. Considering the cost of your cruise it's not terribly expensive doing this. I'm sure there are cheaper alternatives but never really checked them out. It's maybe a half hour drive to the park from the docks. Maybe a taxi could take you for less?

 

When we went, there was a couple on our cruise who were in there 80's or maybe even 90's that seemed to be confused. They did this excursion with us and were taken back to the cruise ship by taxi at 3PM. They told the park rangers that the bus left without them so the rangers ordered a taxi. In reality the bus was scheduled to leave at 5PM. I don't know how much this cost or who paid for it but it was good to know that they were looked after.

[mapleleaves]

we used the city bus on a rainy day. I'm from Seattle .... didn't care for the walk in the rain. It's a flat walk on a street in the suburbs, nothing to look at but trees and houses so not an interesting way to spend 40 minutes.

We were the only people walking to Mendenhall.

 

A few weeks ago someone asked about getting off the bus then using a trail to get to mendenhall instead of the road. They did so and posted their results when they returned. Might be worthwhile for you to dig back and find the post.

[mapleleaves]

look at reply #25 in this thread where they outline their walk to Mendenhall via the trail instead of the road.

Photos too.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50040474&highlight=trail#post50040474