How to do Mendenhall?

[scottishclover]

Busy planning for our Alaska cruise next year and looking for some help for our Juneau day. Thinking of either doing the Mendenhall glacier trek with Alaska Above and Beyond or doing whale watch then Mendenhall Glacier combo with Juneau Whale Watch. Has anyone experience of either of these tours? We love to hike and would aim to hike the East Glacier Trail if we did the second option. We have two teen girls and don't have an endless budget for excursions and there is quite a significant cost difference (around $400 total) between the two.

 

[darwinsrule]

We did a Whale Watch/Mendenhall combo in August 2017, not DCL but since most of the tour operators are the same it probably won't be much different. Without knowing the exact details of the tour you are looking at I can tell you the one issue you might run in to is timing. With most of the combo tours you have a limited amount of time at Mendenhall, usually around 1hr. That determined what we did (Nugget Falls out and back with may 10 min at the falls).

 

[mmmears]

Above & Beyond is fantastic. We had 2 sets of friends do the hike (separately) and both highly recommended them. We did the kayak across the lake and then trekked up on the glacier and did some ice climbing. It was a fantastic, adventurous day that we will never forget. They provided everything we needed plus 2 great guides. Much more strenuous than looking at the glacier from the ranger station, but soooooo worth it. If you love hiking I'd book their hike onto the glacier.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

An alternative that we did was to rent a car from Juneau rentals (pickup right next to the pier) then we did the glacier by ourselves. You could hook up with whale watching independently. It was great to have the freedom to do as we wished with the car.

 

[Geomom]

We did one of the Glacier Shuttles--$30/person roundtrip--they come by every half hour to drop off/pickup people. We went with Juneautours for it. You take the free Disney shuttle to town, and all the tour companies have kiosks right there, and the glacier shuttle picked us up there (and dropped us back off there hours later.)

 

[Agent 86]

We love to hike and would aim to hike the East Glacier Trail if we did the second option

I'm pretty sure that this is the hike we did. Although, we did it through Disney not independently.

It was really enjoyable. My one ... quibble would be that we booked an "Adults Only" hike, which Disney cancelled and moved us to an "All Ages" hike. It ended up being all adults and one ... eight (?) year old who was not interested and who complained a lot of the way and kept asking for rest stops. Obviously that's not something you can really control, but perhaps look for a teens and older hike.

 

[Intr3pid]

Do the whale watching tour in the morning, and DIY the glacier hike in the afternoon. You can rent a car from close to the port - Avis is nearby and Juneau Rentals is actually just outside the dock.

If you skip the tour and get to the glacier by about 2pm or 3pm, most of the tour buses will be gone. You will get to park right at the visitor center. There will still be plenty of non-cruisers on the trail (the hike takes about 45 minutes). And, once done, you can drive around the town on your own. We actually drove all the way north to Point Bridget State Park.

The drive to the glacier traces the edges of the wetlands - very scenic. Back in town, don't miss the big whale statue - you can take its picture with Wonder in distance. Then, drive over the bridge to West Juneau, and frame an entire queue of cruise ships against the backdrop of lush cloudy mountains.

 

[GPaLarry]

Years ago we hiked that trail, but not as part of a cruise. Unless it has been changed, it has a lot of old growth forest that looks like something our of Jurassic Park. Well worth the hike. We also did the Perseverance Trail out of downtown Juneau, which is a also very cool. Just beware that bears were there first and usually have an attitude. Cruise on...

 

[WDWLODGE]

We are a family of 4 and have a car reserved from Juneau Rent a Car($85) and we have a private whale watching excursion booked with Rum Runners($600). Our plan is to head to Mendenhall early in the morning. After Mendenhall we plan on walking around town for a little while. Then after lunch we have our whale watching excursion.

 

[anricat]

An alternative that we did was to rent a car from Juneau rentals (pickup right next to the pier) then we did the glacier by ourselves. You could hook up with whale watching independently. It was great to have the freedom to do as we wished with the car.

This!

We rented a car in the morning, which was $60 (cheaper than three of us taking the shuttle) and explored on our own then in the afternoon we were picked up for our whale watch next to the ship for the afternoon. I don't really think you need an excursion our tour of Mendenhall to enjoy it and Juneau Car Rental is literally right at the dock.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

This!

We rented a car in the morning, which was $60 (cheaper than three of us taking the shuttle) and explored on our own then in the afternoon we were picked up for our whale watch next to the ship for the afternoon. I don't really think you need an excursion our tour of Mendenhall to enjoy it and Juneau Car Rental is literally right at the dock.

This for us too! We left Mendenhall to explore on our own. Eagle beach is amazing! Bears, salmon, bald eagles!

 

[kerry1379]

My husband and I did the Mendenhall Glacier Trek with Above and Beyond Alaska. It was phenomenal-our most favorite excursion of all of our cruises! We did the 8 hour hike with time spent on the glacier. The hike isn't easy and included a rock scramble portion. Our group had several older teens on it and they handled it well. Traversing the glacier was a "memory of a lifetime" for my husband and I-harder than I expected too since it is not smooth and flat. But at one point our guides placed an anchor and then gave us the option to lean over a crevasse and look down into the glacier. I have not seen a more beautiful blue in my life. Our guides were excellent-very knowledgeable and had an energy about them that carried through the group. I would recommend reading their website very carefully and take their recommendations seriously.

We enjoyed whale watching too-just not at Juneau. We did that at Icy Point as well as Seward and had great experiences with that as well. Best of luck planning!

 

[scottishclover]

Thanks for all the detailed replies. We are renting a car in Skagway so probably not an option for Juneau. The two reports about the glacier hike with Alaska Above and Beyond have swung it for me. I really love to do one stand out thing on holiday and I think this would be it. We are experienced hikers and especially love the rockier parts of the Alps so I think we would cope okay with the terrain. Great to read all your suggestions.....will just need to cruise Alaska more than once!

 

[ludari]

When I was at that port I did the bike and brew tour to Mendenhall Glacier which included a stop at a brewery and the end of the bicycle tour to sample local Alaskan beer. The tour was outstanding and the crew was very informative and eager to answer any questions. During the bicycle tour we stopped along the way to take in local sites especially different few points of Mendenhall Glacier. When we got near the entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier we dropped off our bicycle and walked into the park and had enough time to take a quick tour of the park and enjoy the spectacular views. Afterwards we all jumped into vans and headed to the brewery. I enjoyed this tour but having done this tour at the end of the cruise seasons (I was on the last Alaskan cruise for that season) the bicycle where in bad shape. I also did the Mount Roberts Tramway tour which had great panoramic views of Juneau and the inside passage but I prefer more active tours.