Glacier Bay by land

Some highlights from our 3 days at Glacier Bay:

- Sea Kayaking. Saw a harbor seal pop up right in front of me.

- Day Cruise to John Muir Glacier. Big Cruise ships are not allowed to go there because of hundres of the harbor seals on ice in front of the glacier. Be sure to look for ice caves and glacier melt gushing from the bottom.

- Forest Walk around the Glacier Bay Lodge. Peaceful stroll on well maintained trail while you experience the quiet of the rainforest.

- Fishing for Salmon and Halibut. Both fly fishing and deep sea fishing are available.

- Wildlife watching. We saw bald eagles, humpback whales, bears, moose, birds of all types.

Quick Tips:

Glacier Bay National Park is in Southeastern Alaska where the weather is generally cloudy and rainy. There's a reason why they call it a temperate RAINFOREST. Daytime summer temperatures are typically in the 50's and 60's although it can sometimes dip into the 40's. Rain gear is highly recommended.

Best Way To Get Around:

There's only one road in Glacier Bay that leads from Barlett Cove to the Airport. Most lodging will provide transfers or bicycles for getting around. The only taxi service is more like a shuttle (charges per person) so if you're staying in Gustavus and are part of a group -- it may be worthwhile renting a car compared to paying / person round trip to get to Bartlett Cove.

The Whalesong Lodge is located in Gustavus about a 3 minute drive from the airport. We paid about $100 / night, much lower than what we would have paid at the Glacier Bay Lodge or the Gustavus Inn.

The nightly rate includes transfers to and from the airport but does not include any meals. And to get food, we had to either bike 5 minutes to other lodges in town or drive to the lodge at Barlett Cove.

People must be very trusting. The front door of the lodge is left unlocked. There were no locks on any of the 4 guest rooms. It felt like a bed and breakfast -- coffee and tea were available and the living room was stocked with books, games, jig-saw puzzles and a scrapbook with photographs. And you got to interact with the other guests. But no breakfast. And no cooking facilities. Beds were very comfortable. Hot water was plenty in the shower. Furnishings OK. Phone in the living room but no TVs. No front desk -- but they could be reached by phone to book tours and answer questions.

The restaurant at the Glacier Bay Lodge offers great Alaskan cuisine. It's located by the fireplace lounge area and has views of Bartlett Cove.

We started with the clam appetizer and it was most delicious...almost like a soup rather than steamers. My wife had the baked halibut and it was flaky soft and very rich. I had the salmon (after all -- we were in Alaska) and it was grilled to perfection. We were very surprised at the quality of the food given that we're in the middle of the wilderness. Our only disappointment was the bread -- it was the standard foccacia bread, but the olive oil and vinegar complemented it nicely. The wine selection is limited (hey -- we're from California) but after a day of kayaking, all we wanted was the iced water. The service was attentive and very professional.

All in all, the experience was very pleasant and the food excellent.

Although there were rental kayaks available, we decided we needed a guide as we'd never gone kayaking before. We chose AK Discovery because they seemed to have the most experience.

We booked the day kayak trip which meant paddling around Barlett Cove (about 60 miles from the glaciers). They picked us up at 8:00 from our lodge and provided all the equipment and basic instructions. Instructors were experienced and helpful. The kayaks provided are the fancy ones with foot pedals controlling the rudder.

We kayaked for a few hours, had a snack. Then we went on a hike along a bear trail before stopping for smoked salmon and bagels for lunch. After luch, we kayaked for a few more hours and then dropped back at our lodge at 4pm.

We saw eagles and harbor seals and some bear poop. It rained in the morning so we were glad we were all decked out in raingear. Arms got tired after a while and we were glad to have gloves to prevent blisters but definitely an experience of a lifetime. Very peaceful.

The only way to view the glaciers in Glacier Bay is by boat. We took the daily boat tour that leaves Barlett Cove at 7:30am and returns at 4:00 -- in time to catch the plane back to Juneau.

Because the glaciers are about 50 miles away from Bartlett Cove, we didn't actually see the glaciers till lunch time. However, there were plenty of other things to see. A national park ranger pointed out birds and other wildlife and provided commentary and answers to our questions. Every now and then, we would spot humpback whales. And if we saw something really interesting (like bears), the captain would stop the boat to allow us time to look.

The boat will seat about 170 people but there were only 50 people when we went so we were able to spread out. Each passenger got a free travel mug to get the complementary coffee, tea and hot cocoa. Some seats were set up like dining table booths while others were laid out in rows like airplane seats. There were enough restrooms and there's an outdoor deck for viewing.

It was raining most of the day but that did not damper our enjoyment too much. The advantage of going on a small boat instead of a large cruise ship was that we could get a little closer to the glacier. This was awesome, and we parked about 45 minutes in front of the glacier before making our way back.

The lunch provided was surprisingly good -- a hot ham and cheese sandwich with fruit and cranberry juice. We were also served a wild mushroom soup that tasted like home made. And of course, beer and snacks were available for purchase during the cruise.

Most of the large cruise lines are able to cruise by night so that you could wake up already in front of the glacier, but the day cruise allowed us to explore Barlett Cove and stop on a dime for wildlife -- something that the large cruise ships cannot do.