Chapter 2: The Wilderness Must Be Explored
We learned early on that if you want to see something in Alaska, you most likely have to pay someone else to take you there. I read a statistic that said roughly 20% of all communities in Alaska are accessible by road, meaning…
(hang on, let me take my shoes off so I can count…)
(carry the one…)
(this little piggy went to market…)
…80% of communities can only be reached by boat or plane. And since we are not boat captains or pilots, we need someone else to help us explore.
Glacier Bay National Park has no roads. Most visitors arrive via cruise ship, as the park allows some of the cruise lines to sail a limited number of dates in park waters during the summer. The more adventurous (and rich) tourists can hire private planes for flightseeing excursions out of Juneau or Haines/Skagway. And the third option is to stay at the Glacier Bay Lodge and take their
guided 8-hour boat tour of the bay.
The bay was proclaimed a national monument in 1925, and then expanded and turned into a national park in 1980. It has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and is named for the nine tidewater glaciers (and over 1,000 glaciers overall) found within its borders. The boat tour took us on a 65-mile trip to the north end of the bay, but we still only saw a small portion of the park—the park itself is roughly the size of the state of Connecticut.
The boat was to leave the dock at 7:30 a.m., and we were told to be on board around 7:00. That didn’t leave a ton of time for breakfast, and we hadn’t yet been able to pick up our road trip supplies, so we were at the mercy of the lodge restaurant. Thankfully, they know that most of their customers are probably on the boat, so they open up for a breakfast buffet at 6:00 a.m.
Still being somewhat used to East Coast time, it was relatively easy for us to Rope Drop the breakfast buffet. We were only beaten by one couple to the line.
Because Rope Drop always works.
It was a pretty decent breakfast spread, too. Usually it’s the home fries that make or break these meals. If they’re hot and crispy, it’s a good breakfast. If they’re undercooked and mushy, it’s disappointing. These were good.
The one true variable in planning an Alaska vacation is the weather. Because almost every location in the state is surrounded by high mountain ranges, the state often makes its own weather. You can have everything from bright sunlight to drizzly fog to murky cloud cover to torrential storms, often all in the same day. Hence the need to be able to dress in layers, from jackets, hats and gloves all the way down to t-shirts and shorts.
Given that we were going to be on a boat moving through glacial waters, we broke out the cold weather gear. We’d hoped for a good weather day, but the morning was full of low clouds and fog. It didn’t make us optimistic for the scenery. After breakfast, we went back to our rooms to brush our teeth and pack our bags, since we had to make a flight out that evening. The lodge was really helpful with this. They had a storage area near the front desk where they would collect our bags and hold them. When we returned from the boat, they’d already be loaded onto the bus for the return to the airport.
We walked down the path to the dock. Here’s our cruise vessel. We boarded and headed for the second deck, grabbing some seats there and hoping for some good views. As you can see from the photo, visibility wasn’t great at this time of the morning.
The sightseeing cruise was scheduled to leave at 7:30 a.m. and return at 3:30 p.m. In addition, there was a national park ranger on board who would be narrating the cruise and providing context to the sights we beheld. Whenever we spotted any wildlife, she’d get on the loudspeaker and describe what animals we were seeing and rattle off some characteristics or behaviors to watch for. She also had the materials for the all-important national park passport stamp and the Junior Ranger badges.
So, we have an 8-hour tour, narrated by a national park ranger, and they included lunch as part of the deal (and some crappy coffee). All in all, I would estimate that the two rooms at the lodge, plus the boat tour, plus the cost of flying in and out of Gustavus was probably well over $3,000. Easily the most expensive part of the trip. This was our big splurge.
And it ended up being totally worth it.
We began the day by drifting past some sea otters, lazily doing the backstroke.
This was followed soon after by a seal getting some morning exercise.
We got an up-close look at a group of sea lions resting on South Marble Island.
This was the setup for wildlife viewing on the boat. The main viewing area was on the second deck, behind where we had set up camp indoors. The third deck was closed until we got close to some wildlife, and then the captain would slow the boat and they’d open that area up for photos and viewing as well. Then you'd just have to elbow people out of the way in order to get a good photo. I tended to try and shove the kids away, since I'm bigger.
We also saw some tufted puffins floating near the island.
Ok, I can see you yawning. I guess you’re not impressed by puffins.
To this point, it had been a nice leisurely cruise into the bay. We stopped on the northeastern shore to drop off some people who were planning on staying a couple of nights, doing some camping and kayaking on their own. The clouds were still low on the mountains, but check out that color in the water from all of the glacial silt.
You’ll notice some differences in the photos I post. We noticed that the colors taken with our phones (they’re fairly new) were much more vivid than those we got with the “good” camera. I think that probably has something to do with the automatic software settings in the phone camera. It seems to be set to make the colors pop out more. But the zoom feature on the phone is still crappy and breaks down in quality almost immediately, so we were glad to have the other camera with the zoom lens, especially for wildlife. So, if the photo appears more colorful, it was from our phones, but if it has more detail (especially in a zoom) it was the Nikon.
Once we’d dropped off the kayakers, we sailed back into the main bay, and it was here that the real show began. We began to notice small vertical trails of vapor rising out of the water in random spots. If you looked closer at these vapor trails, they seemed to come from dark shapes just breaking the surface of the water.
Thar be whales.
Humpback whales, to be exact. And once we’d started finding them, they seemed to pop up all over the bay. Every time someone would spot the “spouts”, we’d rush to that side of the boat to watch as the whales came up for air. I’d estimate we saw roughly two dozen whales over the course of the day. We even saw a couple of them “breach” (that is, leap out of the water), though we weren’t fast enough to capture it on camera. But it was enough for us to be able to say we saw these majestic creatures out in the wild.
It was mesmerizing. I couldn’t get enough of them.
We sailed further to the northwest, deeper into the heart of Glacier Bay. We weren’t done with the wildlife sightings yet. If you look closely at this photo, you can see a family of mountain goats up on the rocks.
The boat crew began to prepare lunch for us. And as if on cue, the clouds began to dissipate, revealing Glacier Bay in all of its grandeur.
Now, instead of being captivated by wildlife, we were captivated by scenery.
Lunch consisted of a simple wrap, chicken with lettuce and tomatoes, along with a bag of chips and a bottle of water. Pretty simple, but it did the job. However, we were supposed to get chocolate chip cookies with it, and never did. I'm lodging a formal complaint with management as we speak.
Meanwhile, we could sit back and enjoy the ride and the gorgeous mountains surrounding us.
Did you spot the bear?
He was just moseying along the shore, turning over rocks and looking for some goodies to munch on. One day in Alaska, and we’ve already seen humpback whales, mountain goats and a bear. I’d say we’re doing pretty well.
The more we sailed into the bay, the more the mountains were revealed to us. It was breathtaking.
But also a little windy.
At the far end of Glacier Bay, we finally reached some of the famous tidewater glaciers. To our right was the Grand Pacific Glacier, mostly covered in a surface of dark rocks that it has slowly scraped off the sides of the valley. From here, we were looking into Canada, as the border is just beyond this point.
And to our left was the Margerie Glacier.
We floated here, roughly a quarter mile from the edge of the glacier, for about a half hour or so. We were just drifting along, hoping to see the glacier calving into the sea (“calving” is when parts of the glacier break off due to its movement and the sun melting the ice at the edge). Mostly there are just little pieces that fall off here or there, but every once in a while you can see a large chunk break off and fall, and the sound of the rumble is impressively loud, even from a quarter mile away.
However, it’s very hard to capture in a photo. We learned that if you hear the rumble and the splash, you’re already too late to catch it, as the calving has already occurred.
I did see one large chunk fall not long after we’d stopped, but wasn’t fast enough for a photo. Again, that’s ok. I can say I saw it with my own eyes.
It’s hard to get an idea of the size of these glaciers, but they are massive—close to a mile wide and several miles long. Here are some kayakers in front to give a bit of scale. Remember, they’re still a quarter mile away from the glacier like the rest of us.
Eventually we turned around and started to sail back through the bay. We didn’t stop as frequently for wildlife on the way back, but instead just relaxed and took in the eye candy. I was content to take it all in, spellbound.
We made one more stop at the Lamplugh Glacier, where we could see a hint of the typical “blue ice” often found in glaciers.
We had one final piece of business before arriving back at the dock in Bartlett Cove. Drew worked diligently on his Junior Ranger activity book and finished it off as we sailed back. The park ranger swore him into service and even announced him as the newest Junior Ranger on the boat’s speaker system. He seemed pretty proud of his accomplishment.
When we arrived back at the dock, we walked up the hill to the lodge to meet the shuttle that would take us back to the airport. True to their word, all of our bags were already loaded and ready to go.
The bus was surprisingly full, and we arrived back at the airport to find that the line to check bags was already out the door of the small Alaska Airlines building.
It was a complete and utter madhouse. The automated machine to print bag tags was out of paper, so everyone had to bring their luggage inside and have the attendant check them in. On top of that, the entire airport had 4 employees working for Alaska Airlines, and they were responsible for checking bags, performing the TSA inspection of said bags, and then checking in passengers and performing the security screenings of all of us. It reminded me of those old gags about out-of-the way hotels where a guest asks to speak to the manager or requests a plumber and they’re all the same employee.
On top of all that, the x-ray machines were down so the workers had to inspect each piece of luggage by hand.
About this same time, the flight from Juneau arrived and the passengers disembarked and all hung around the baggage claim shed waiting to claim their luggage. I felt like the entire population of Gustavus was now gathered in this one airport building.
Once we’d passed through the TSA checkpoint and the body scanner, we were all crammed into a little tiny bullpen surrounded by chicken wire. This was the “gate” where we waited to board the plane. We all got a huge laugh when they attempted to start boarding the plane by calling for their first-class passengers, Diamond Club members, etc. It's a bit surreal to be crammed into an ugly fenced-in area no larger than my garage and ask the people next to you, "Pardon me, but are you in the Diamond Club?"
I half expected a guy in full camo gear and riding an ATV to come up and offer caviar and wine out of his backpack.
Anyway, we dutifully waited until our proper boarding group was called and then began the highly sophisticated process of boarding the plane.
The flight to Juneau was such a short hop that we’d barely leveled out the plane before we were once again beginning the final descent. We had a couple of hours’ layover in Juneau, which meant we’d have to scrounge for dinner among the myriad options at that world-famous dining hotspot, the Juneau airport.
And by “myriad”, I mean one.
The Juneau airport café had a small seating area surrounding the food counter, plus a side room that was only for individuals aged 21 and over since it housed the bar. We saw one enterprising couple station their kids in the main seating area within their sight line and then find themselves to a seat in the bar.
There were 7 menu items helpfully displayed on the signs above the counter where we placed our orders.
When we reached the counter, the clerk informed us that they were out of pizzas, salads, and burgers.
My apologies. There were 4 menu items.
And that was how it came to pass that I had a sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich for dinner, washed down with a lemonade from the vending area.
Suffice it to say that this was the least memorable meal of our vacation. But beggars can’t be choosers.
The flight to Juneau was uneventful, and it made for another long day as we landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m., ready to find our hotel and go to bed as we stumbled off the plane and into the twilight of late evening.
I’m not gonna lie—this was weird. I’d never experience bright sunlight at night before, and I can’t say I really ever got used to it. It definitely messes with your internal body clock. Thank goodness the hotels all had pretty decent blackout shades on the windows, because they were definitely needed.
I’d read a lot of horror stories about car rentals over the summer, as the pent-up demand for travel after the pandemic and the shortage of car supply meant all of the rental companies were running out of vehicles. I’d made my reservation back in the December/January time frame, before we even knew we’d be able to go on this trip. I was betting on a vaccine being available, and it turned out to be a good gamble because a) it was indeed available, and b) I got a good price on the minivan and held onto the reservation.
My one fear was that they’d give the van away and we’d be stranded at the Anchorage airport at 11 p.m., but it turned out to not be an issue. They honored the reservation and had the minivan ready for us.
At 11:15 p.m., the sun was just starting to set. We were well asleep when it rose again, at 3:30 a.m.
Coming Up Next: Two days in, and we’re already scrapping our plans.
We all have different definitions of what is "necessary".
This is the most traction my astronaut dreams have ever gotten.
Honestly, I didn't even know that was a thing. That does not sound fun.
And you guys probably still jet-lagged... 
