glacier advice please

[emerylynne]

Ncl emailed me to inform that our Tracy arm Glacier explorer excursion is not available on our sailing May 10th. I booked it last fall. I understand from budget queen and others that it is probably because it is too early for even small boats to make it in.

 

I am looking for another glacier experience. Hubby does not want to do any flying. We would like to get up close. I am open to suggestions for Ketchikan, Juneau or Skagway.

 

I found Glacier point wilderness safari in skagway...any input on this?

 

thanks for any suggestions

[frames]

On our most recent trip to Alaska we did the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari.

It was incredible! At the bottom of this post, I have a link to a video I made from the pictures I took that day. From my journal:

 

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Day 6 – Wednesday June 8, Skagway

 

 

Few times in your life you get that feeling that what you are about to do will list in the top 5-10 things you’ve done in your life... well this was one of them. We signed up for the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion in Skagway. I had a good idea before we went that it would be good, but it far exceeded my expectations.

 

 

 

We were met at the pier by one of the guides (Jeff). He was a lively guy, especially at 7:00 AM. You almost wanted to take his coffee away and not give it back. J But we didn’t. He got us onboard the Chikat Express – a very fast catamaran that could reach speeds of ~50 MPH (http://www.ship-technology.com/proj...hilkat_express/). Our destination was Glacier Point. It was about 33 nautical miles from Haines and I think we were about seven or eight nautical miles from there.

 

 

 

As we made out way out of the channel, Jeff (our guide) told us how in 2001 he was one of us. After this excursion while on his vacation, he made the decision to quit his job and move to Alaska. He did. He is now a resident of Haines, Alaska. He really has passion in what he is doing and also in Alaska. He explained so very much to us on out ride over to Glacier Point. He was also very animated in his presentation style.

 

 

 

He was currently living at Glacier Point, in the wilderness with about 10-12 other guides. This was getting more fascinating by the moment. Besides explaining what things were and why things were in Alaska one of the other things he mentioned was how to tell a true South East Alaskan. He said to ask them for the red tide book. He pulled his out and showed it to us. It is a small pamphlet that tells what the tides are for each day of the year. Basically, you are in a lot of trouble in South East Alaska if you are not aware of the tides. For instance, that day there was a 19.3 foot tide fluctuation. The first high tide of the day was at 2:10 AM at 17.3 feet and the first low tide of the day was at 8:47 AM at – 2.0 feet. The second high tide was at 3:18 PM at 14.9 feet and the second low tide of the day was at 8:47 PM at 4.1 feet. He then told us we could pick up a free copy of this pamphlet at the Skagway True Value Hardware store. (Later in town we picked up a copy – a real Alaskan souvenir!)

 

 

We did a beach landing at Glacier Point. This is the wilderness, there are no docks. Within a minute of all exiting the catamaran, it was gone. So there we were far away from civilization, far from the crowds, far from the noise, far from everything. It was awesome. We had incredibly nice weather that day. The scenery was indescribable!

 

 

Jeff taught us that anything (mountains) with a sharp jagged edge had not been covered with ice. Anything shaped like a “U” is where a glacier had been at one point. We explored the surrounding area. There were thousands and thousands of wild roses just up from the beach. One of the significant facts about this beach was that John Muir visited here in the late 1800s (Travels in Alaska by John Muir). We were told that the glacier (Davidson Glacier) ended near the beach back when John Muir was here. Today the glacier is miles back as it is a receding glacier.

 

 

A few hundred yards away was a modified 4x4 school bus. It was our transportation to where they had all the gear we needed for this excursion. It was a short trip, maybe a few miles through the rainforest. Jeff pointed out information about the forest as we drove. The types of trees, size of trees and density of trees were all indicators of the age of the forest. It was very interesting.

 

 

 

We got off the bus next to a structure that had rain gear, boots, and extra jackets. Everyone traded their shoes for a pair of boots. Next everyone was given a jacket as the temperature would be about 20 degrees cooler as we got closer to the glacier. And finally each of us was given a life vest. It was sunny that day so the guides decided we did not need to have the raingear .

 

 

 

 

 

Next we all hiked about a quarter mile towards the beach on the Davidson River. A few hundred yards from the beach is where we first had a glimpse of Davidson Glacier. Of course everyone wanted to stop and take pictures. They divided us up into groups of 6-8, gave us safety instructions regarding canoes, and one by one we were on our way paddling to Davidson Glacier.

 

 

Our canoe guide was very knowledgeable regarding glaciers and our conversations were mostly in that area. This was an incredible excursion! At one point our guide picked up a piece of ice (from the glacier) and passed it around the canoe. We got within 100 yards of Davidson Glacier. Plenty of pictures were taken during this time.

 

 

In two trips to Alaska, this was without doubt the best excursion we had been on. The absolute highlight of our time in Alaska. Needless to say, we highly recommend it!

 

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[PennyAgain]

frames, your photo presentations are outstanding! Thank you for posting! What wonderful souvenirs you created! I'm impressed! WOW!

 

I love the sign about the bears at Mendenhall!

 

Some of your photos have a June 8 date. Is that correct? I wonder if this tour runs as early as a May 10th cruise would need.

[cruise junky joan]

I guess it's just me but how do i access your photos?

[PennyAgain]

I clicked on the line with the words for each tour.

[emerylynne]

thank you so much! I think this sounds like a great alternative for us.

 

one last question, is the paddling exhaustive and would my one armed help be sufficient? I am normally very active and would have no concerns but with only 1 capable arm at the moment I would hate to be a burden on the trip for others.

[frames]

the canoes have small outboard motors on them :)

 

when our crew got tired, the guide started the motor :) :)

[emerylynne]

booking now

 

 

thanks again for all the info

[ute_fan]

Frames -- what absolutely amazing pictures! I'd looked at this excursion last year, but ended up booking the longest train ride in Skagway instead. I definitely know what to plan on next time I get to Skagway now!

[frames]

 

Some of your photos have a June 8 date. Is that correct? I wonder if this tour runs as early as a May 10th cruise would need.

 

Yes, June 8th was the day we were there. I don't know how early they start going out there. Hopefully you can go.

 

Good luck!

[thawan]

Last year we went the week of May 13. Because of the reviews and pictures I had seen I really wanted this excursion, so I booked it. A couple of weeks before we went I started watching Mendinall Glacier and you could see the ice burgs in the water. I posted on here to see if anyone knew if where the canoe went, if the lake was clear. But no one knew.

 

I just checked and Mendinal looks solid white, but don't know how up todate the web cam is. When we got to our cabin there was a notice that it had been canceled :mad:

 

I had gone over the excursions before we left so knew what we wanted and we did the Ultimate Yukon, bus/rail and had a wonderful time. DH is a train nut.

 

So book it but don't be too upset if it is canceled, You may have better luck than us. but have an idea of what else you'd like. One advantage of going early, is that the mountains have lots and lots and lots of snow.