Glacier Bay National Park

There are eight national parks in Alaska. Three of them are accessible by road. Two are only accessible by air. One is theoretically accessible by either water or air, but the water route would take weeks. The other is Glacier Bay.

The home base (read: visitors center) for Glacier Bay National Park is Gustavus (rhymes with "Gus Davis"). Gustavus is accessible by air, but it's also a stop on the Alaska Marine Highway System. Because Julie prefers to be at ground level, and because the ferries are almost never cancelled due to weather (unlike planes), we decided to take to the seas.

We started from Haines, and it took a total of four ferry rides for us to get there and back. The first leg was Haines to Juneau, where we arrived late at night, had a full day layover, and then departed very early.

The second leg was Juneau to Gustavus.

Another benefit to the ferry was that we'd be able to take the Jeep, which gave us transportation during our layover in Juneau. It also gave us a place to put the bunnies (in the back of the Jeep) since we were unable to arrange for a pet sitter in Haines.

They really know how to pack them in!

We arrived in Gustavus early afternoon. There is a lodge at the park, but as you may imagine, it's quite pricey. They also had a strict four person limit per room, so we would have had to book two. No thanks. There is also a first come, first served, free campground at the park. Yes please!

Humpback whale skeleton; it was hit by a cruise ship, which meant the cruise company was on the hook for this display

The campground was a short walk from the visitors center, but they provided wheelbarrows for lugging our gear. Strangely enough, we were technically in rainforest! There is a band of rainforest that runs all the way up from Washington into the Juneau area (Gustavus isn't far from Juneau as the eagle flies).

After we got set up, we headed to the Huna Tribal House, a joint venture within the park by the park service and the Huna tribe of Tlingit indigenous people, the natives of this area of Alaska. The house is absolutely beautiful, constructed of giant wooden beams. It's about five years old, but it still smells of fresh wood!

We heard a talk by a Tlingit woman on the history of the land and the tribal house. 

As nice as the area around the visitors center is, we were there to see the bay. To do so, we booked a day tour on a ferry.

Our tentative (weather dependent) itinerary

The weather wasn't ideal the day of our tour, but it was good enough to sail. Fortunately the ferry had a large enclosed area that was heated. It was also only partially full, since we were there at the very end of the season.

The goal was to sail to the end of the bay to see Marjerie Glacier, one of the few remaining glaciers whose toe is in the water. We were hoping to see whales, otters, sea lions, and puffins along the way.

As far as wildlife goes, the day did not disappoint. The animals didn't seem to mind the weather! We saw numerous humpback whales (all from a distance), even more numerous otters, multiple sea lions, and a flock of puffins (all on and around a small island where they are known to congregate). We also saw a mother brown bear (bears on the coast are not called "grizzlies") with her two cubs walking one of the beaches.

It was raining fairly steadily by the time we reached the glacier. We anchored there for lunch, giving those brave enough to watch the opportunity to see the glacier calving (chunks breaking off into the bay). The glacier moves seven feet per day, so this isn't a rare occurrence. Even so, it does require a bit of luck to be there when a large chunk comes off.

Julie and Caleb were the only two from our group willing to brave the elements, and they were rewarded for it. They saw three chunks come down. The sound was described as something like thunder.

Marjerie Glacier

There was a warming shelter at the campground, and we spent some time there after the tour. While there, we met another camper who was traveling Alaska in her camper van. After a few minutes of discussion, we discovered an amazing coincidence. We had crossed paths a month earlier... north of the Arctic Circle!

Those that have been keeping up may recall that we were not alone when we landed at Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic National Parks. There was one other small plane at each of them. Well, this girl was on that plane. She remembered seeing me and the kids. We couldn't believe it!

We had a lovely evening chatting with her by the wood stove. The kids enjoyed chopping firewood using the provided ax.

We had a little bit of time the next morning before we needed to be back at the ferry terminal. We did a little bit of tide pool exploration and then headed to the Gustavus Library. One of the kids' favorite things to do on our trip has been to experience libraries all over the country. They get so excited, running in to a new one, quickly grabbing some books, and finding a comfy spot to park for hours.

Unfortunately, we only had about 45 minutes this time before we needed to get to the ferry. As beautiful as Gustavus is, we didn't want to get left there!

Exploring tide pools

The ferry trip back was the reverse of the original trip but with a shorter layover in Juneau. We arrived there late at night and had to be back at the ferry very early the next morning.

We saw a number of humpback whales and some Dall's porpoises on the way back to Haines.