Flightseeing and Dog Sled in Juneau

[jstducky]

I just booked by 3rd cruise to Alaska for next July...

amazingly enough on my previous 2 trips I never did a flightseeing tour, but that's all going to change now.. thats why I had to take a 3rd trip!

anyhow, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with ERA Aviation Inc. I was thinking of doing the 4 glacier tour with the 1 hour dog sled. I know it's pricey, but its $20 cheaper than the ship is offering the tour.

I was wondering if anyone had any feed back on this tour, or with ERA in general?

Or do you have a recommendation of a good flightseeing and/or dog sled company?

thanks!

[two cruisers 723]

We went dogsledding with Coastal Helicopters in Juneau in June of this year. It was an awesome experience. They also do glacier landings. I'm not sure about combo's. But the dogsledding was $365 with them. And it was $410 on the RCL ship. So it was a nice savings for two people.

[jstducky]

two cruisers:

thanks so much for the info. i was looking into coast helicopters and i saw that the price listed on their website for 2005 is $395! thats a $30 increase in the price you paid!

how long was the helicopter flight? is the dog sled camp on top of a glacier? if not, is there a glacier landing as well?

thanks again

[two cruisers 723]

The helicopter flight is probably less than 15 minutes. The dogsled camp is on a snow covered glacier. You fly directly over Mendenhall Glacier to get there and get some great views of the glacier on the way over it. We got some good pictures of it from the helicopter. The area where the camp is is surrounded by towering snow covered mountains on all sides. It's gorgeous up there with snow everywhere. It was really wild because we were all bundled up in coats, scarfs, earmuffs or hats and gloves, then an hour later, we were walking around Juneau in shorts and sleeveless shirts. Too bad they raised their price so much. It's so expensive already. But it's a must do at least once if you're going to go to Alaska and can afford it. Enjoy it and book early to guarantee your spot.

[jrask]

As you can see, the dogsledding environment that you explore is very different than what you would get on a glacier landing (or hike). The glacier landing/hike is an exploration of the ice, the features on the ice, and you get to see that amazing blue color up close and personal (much moreso that you do from the air or your ship). The dogsledding is really about the dogs and will take you to a snowy area (which so happens to be on a glacier in the summer). [As an aside, dogsledding faces cancelations beyond that of the other glacier landings. It faces the normal flight issues, plus weather in the dog camp will cause a cancelation whereas a normal landing picks an alternative glacier to land on. Snow dependency also means cancelations in the latter part of the summer if it is particularly warm.]

Just different experiences that get equally enthusiastic responses. I would have loved to do both (time and money permitting). But realizing the differences and seeing the pictures from the two excursions is what changed my mind as to the excursion I wanted.

Happy excursion hunting!

[jstducky]

thanks both of you for your responses. i would love to be able to do a glacier landing and also the dog sledding. but alas, since both are expensive to begin with, i guess i need to figure out what is more important to me. since my cruises leaves July 3rd, i don't think that the issue of dog camps closing early will be such an issue with me since its still early in the season.

the glacier landing/hike sounds so amazing to be able to walk on the ice and see the crevasses, etc. but then again the dog sled is a truly alaskan sport and would be a great experience.

decisions decisions...

[jrask]

Agreed all around. How can I disagree with a Bruin. (Particularly since this weekend's game will be the first I've attended since returning to Califonria after grad school.). Everything is a compromise and finding what you would most like to experience. But the more you know about your options the better you will be at finding the right excursion for you. [I always throw in the issue about snowmelt late in the season because you read terrible messages in August of people who just received word that their upcoming dogsledding has been canceled, that this was what the big thing that they were looking forward to, and that they were having trouble booking another glacier flight so late in the game. Just heartrenching.

I would have loved to do both, but its cost-prohibitive on one trip and its also nice to spend your time in Alaska taking in all sorts of different things, so I don't think I would have done 2 glacier flights in a row anyway. Guess we'll all have to keep going there.

[RockyTopMom]

Jstducky:

I did the combo with ERA that you mentioned. I enjoyed it greatly. The pilot took us over at least 4 if not 5 glaciers. It was about 45 minutes in the helicopter and one of us sat in front on the way and another one of us sat in front on the return trip. We got to see different types of glaciers, one receeding, one advancing, the "dead" glacier, etc. The pilot pointed out bear tracks in the snow and mountain goats to us during the flight. Unfortunately, we didn't see any bear. The dog sledding was awesome and the dogs were just wonderful. I did this in May 2004, also out of Juneau as I wanted to do different things in Skagway. The driver from ERA picked us up at the pier area and we asked to be dropped off back down-town to do a little explorering on our own before going back onboard. It was no problem. The only thing they didn't tell us was that we couldn't bring backpacks, etc. on board the helicopter. They do have lockers at the heli-port and will give you a ticket for your bag. We insisted on bringing our cameras and there was not a problem with that.
I went flightseeing in Ketchikan, with Michelle at Island Wings. A most delightful young lady who really knows her stuff!
Enjoy your cruise and remember, anything you don't get to do this time...well, there's always a fourth trip to plan.:D

[two cruisers 723]

It has to be a hard decision. You just want to do it all. When we go back (and we will), I'm sure we'll do the glacier landing this time instead of the dog sledding. Actually we had originally booked an ice trekking on a glacier tour that ended up being cancelled well before the cruise causing us to change our plans. I thought it was our sign not to miss the dog sledding. So we went for it. But next time we'll be out walking on those glaciers looking down into the crevases for sure. It sounds awesome. That's why you have to go back. So much too do there.

We had also booked the flightseeing in Ketchikan with Island Wings. Unfortunately, it rained that morning and the fog was just too thick. Our tour got cancelled. So, of course we'll have to go back to get our chance at that one again.

I guess there's no guarantee that any of the tours you book will happen for one reason or another. But there's one guarantee and that is that you can't have a bad time in Alaska. I will say that we went dogsledding on June 29th this year and there was plenty of snow. I did hear that the tours beginning August 19th & later did all get cancelled due to warm weather. So I'd caution anyone going in late August, early September about that possibility.

Happy planning.

[jstducky]

jrask... i alwasy love meeting another Bruin fan! let's hope they beat Stanford this weekend! we need a win after 2 losses! thanks again for all your advice. I agree that the snowmelt issue is a problem. I too have read posts of people who had their tours cancelled. if I am not mistaken though, the tour I am looking at states that even if the dog sled is cancelled, if they can do the helicopter tour then they will and adjust the price accordingly. so i guess at least i'd get a helicopter tour out of it.

rockytopmom... thanks so much! i'm glad to have found someone else who has done this combo tour with ERA. glad to hear that you had a wonderful time and that the helicopter tour is actually approx 45 minutes. that seems like a good amount of time. plus the time with the dogs. i think i am really leaning towards this tour. thanks for the advice as well about the backpacks. i would never have known as i take a backpack with me at all times when i leave the ship. i too will insist on at least bringing my camera on board, as i can't be separated from it. how else will i remember this trip when i am gray and old??

thanks again for all of your help! i think you are both right.. everything we don't do this time around, well i'll just have to plan a 4th trip up there sometime in the future.

sometimes its amazing to me that this will be my 3rd trip. some people live a lifetime and never get to experience the wonder and beauty of alaska. i know that i am truly lucky to get to go up there 3 times.

[jstducky]

two cruisers:

i definitely agree with you there that you can never have a bad time in Alaska. i have always said, on this board and to my friends, that you could go to Alaska 20 times and still never see and do everything there is to see and do in Alaska.

Alaska amazes me everytime i go. i don't think i could ever get enough it or go back again.

i guess perhaps for a 4th trip, i'll have to remember island wings and their misty fjords trip. i wanted to do a plane trip in Ketchikan as well, but the cost with doing the dog sledding is just so expensive!

thanks again to all for your help. i truly appreciate it!