The Park Service folks say that over 90% of the people who visit Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve never set foot on land...or ice. Most visitors arrive via cruise liners with a thousand "friends" with whom to share the experience. The modern day commercial cruises took off in 1968, but steamships like the Queen plied the icy water since around 1885. John Muir was the regions biggest PR agent writing eloquently about the astounding beauty of this glacial landscape. If you love cruising, by all means that's the way to go, but for my money, I'd take one of the once daily flights from Anchorage to Gustavas, catch a shuttle to Glacier Bay Lodge and make that your base for an amazing stay. There's an early reservation special going on now from the lodge website.
The lodge was built in 1966 and just about nothing has changed. It is the only federally financed NP lodge in the system, and since there are no roads into the park, it is secluded and a real blast from the past. Staff lovingly refer to it as the Brady Bunch Lodge. The main lodge has a lobby, dining room, gift shop and interpretive center upstairs. The deck is the gathering spot for evening cocktails and meals. Fresh fish is pulled from the dock. Rooms are in detached one-story units that are tucked into the wooded hillside. Black bears roam about.
Small boats (75 passengers) make full day trips back into the waters where you are treated to an astounding display of birds, sea life and plenty of mountain goats, moose, bears and even wolves. Alaskan "Grizzly" bears are called brown or Kodiaks. You are so close you want to hold you breath as they pace the shoreline. A park ranger and the captain give a running commentary on where and what to look at. Add to that, gigantic glaciers "calving," and even the biggest cynic is bowled over by the power of the place.
We were there in August, and in addition to the four-legged mammals, sea lions, puffins and guillemots, we took an evening dinner cruise that put us in the middle of a whale feeding frenzy. There were humpback and minke whales, and plenty of Orca also going for chow. Eating our lovely salmon dinner was almost a chore that took us away from the railing.
As Bill Brown, a retired park historian put it: "...you know you're in the presence of glory."
MY TIPS:
- Reserve NOW and get a 25% discount starting at $149 a night. http://www.visitglacierbay.com/specials/index.cfm
- I'd stay about 4 nights. You can walk into Gustavus and catch dinner at a pizza joint or have ice cream for a change. You can also pick up picnic fixings.
- Read Kim Heacox's book, The Only Kayak: A Journey into the Heart of Alaska before going or while you are there. Beautiful and chilling. Kim and his wife live in Gustavus. Kim was featured in both Great Lodges of the National Parks and Ken Burn's The National Parks, America's Best Idea PBS series.
- Attend any Park Service program, and listen attentively to all of the precautions they dole out about hiking in the region.
- Go on BOTH the day cruise and evening whale watching cruise.
- You can rent kayaks or go on your own. I would opt for the guided day trip with lunch.
- For more on Glacier Bay Lodge and Camp Denali, buy Great Lodges of the National Parks, Volume Two . (These two beautiful shot were taken by Jerald L. Barnes who took all of the photos for the Alaskan lodges that appear in the book.)
- Take rain gear, waterproof shoes or boots, insect repellant (the strong stuff), layers including fleece, both a stocking hat and brimmed hat and light-weight gloves for the boat trips.
- They do have internet service at the lodge, but it is so annoying watching people on their laptops in the lounge. How weird it is to have people ohhh and ahhh over their digital photos instead of trekking out there to take more. Please, this is the wilderness!
- If you don't mind small planes, you can book a private flight that gives you better flexibility than the once a day commercial trip. Spectacular.
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