Our adventure in Alaska can only be described as magical! We started the trip flying into Juneau. We spent just one night at the Baranof Hotel. Although the best hotel in Juneau, it’s really nothing special. They do however serve the best King Crab meal in the area and has a great breakfast place downstairs.

At the wharf in Juneau, there’s a wonderful crepe stand with world class flavor. As for nightlife there are dozen or so bars with pool tables and cheap drinks - think dive bar. Juneau is Alaska’s capital and tiny (only 20,000 people). No roads connect it to anywhere. Yep, the only way to get in and out of Juneau is by plane or boat.

The next morning we set off via small charter plane to Gustavus, a tiny coastal town (pop 400) which is only accessible by plane (no ferries or roads). It's adjacent to Glacier Bay National Park. To give an idea of the size - “downtown" Gustavus is a 4-way intersection with a pizza place, a gas station and an ice cream store. No power lines are visible (all buried underground), making for uninterrupted wilderness meshing with an occasional small house. We opted to rent a small house, for only $150 a night, from Aimee.

It was a wonderful retreat, with octagonal-shaped with an open plan inside with windows all around overlooking the wilderness. No TV! We would enjoy the great silence surrounding the house, lay down and read books at night after dinner. There was a fire pit outside and we built a long burning fire the first night we stayed there. It also came with two rusty old bikes that we used to get "around town" and to the wharf for boating activities. In the summer its light until 11pm and the sun rises again at 3am – so the “white nights” leave plenty of time for outdoor activities.

If you want more luxury and service, there’s the Glacier Bay Lodge, which has trails leading from it into the forest and a pier next to it where the Glacier Bay boat trip leaves from. Another option for accommodations is the Bear Track Inn (Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart where staying there the week we were there).

The scenery in Gustavus is breathtaking. The town is surrounded by white-capped mountains, but in July the temperature is perfect (upper 60s and low 70s). Tall, majestic pine trees are everywere along the roads there are many clearings with gorgeous purple and gold wildflowers. Salmon Creek runs through town, and as you can guess, the salmon run there in mid-July. There’s also no way you can miss the bald eagles. Down by the docks, you’ll see dozens just hanging about, or from a distant shoreline you can easily make out their white heads scattered among the pine branches.

We did a number of activities from Gustavus as our launching point, which our host arranged prior to our arrival (we highly recommend asking your proprietor to arrange activities in advance). We started off with a whale watch, on the Taz boat. This was absolutely amazing! We saw groups of humpback whales feeding and breeching in twos just 50 yards from the boat! Via an underwater hydrophone system dropped in the water, we could listen to their whale songs. The area around Glacier Bay is so rich in marine life that the humpbacks come there every summer to feed, then they head to Hawaii for the winter (doesn't sound bad does it?). We also spotted several sea lions, bobbing their sand colored heads above the bay.

Our second activity was the Glacier Bay boat tour. This is a larger tour boat (80 feet) that doubles as a transport for campers in the Glacier Bay Wilderness. If you really want adventure, you can go on an expedition kayaking and camping (link to explorers website in prior article). The day trip took us past a sea lion filled island where the largest one sits atop a rocky outcropping lording over the others, past rock cliffs and puffins floating on the water. On the shore at one of the camper drop offs we saw a large brown bear (aka a grizzly) wandering over to see what was going on. Later in the day we saw a black bear on the shore. There are more brown bears in that part of Alaska than in any other place in the world, with a density of 3 per square mile in some areas. After 60 miles of traveling into the Glacier Bay inlets we reached the Margerie Glacier and stopped to observe the huge wall of ice calving into the sea. Each ice piece that breaks off lets off a huge booming sound. There are icebergs floated and did not drift as there was no current - dead calm. The air temperature near the glacier is freezing, although just 60 miles south it is in the balmy 60s. What struck us most was the mesmerizing azure color of the ice in the glacier that is explained by effect created by light travelling through the pressurized ice.

Our third activity was the most fun - kayaking with the whales! It was just us on board a 40' catamaran with the captain, a naturalist and Kayak guide. Since we were the only ones that day we got a private tour. This outfitter only takes a max 6 people on any one trip. The day started with wonderful fresh baked scones and tea for breakfast, then we went to a place called Point Adolphus where the whales feed. After we were put into the water in our sea kayak, we immediately saw two humpbacks surface only 15 feet from us - they were so close that we could feel the spray of water from their exhalation of air!! We spent about 2 hours paddling around, coming close to a group of sea lions, listening to the sounds of the humpbacks and seeing many in the water. Bald eagles dropped down into the water to catch fish or just serenely sat in the trees on the shoreline. It was incredibly peaceful and quiet. After kayaking, our guides served us hearty sandwiches and a healthy salad for lunch, which we ravenously devoured.

We flew back to Juneau and on our last day did a helicopter trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. We landed on top of the glacier and walked around wearing ice boots (supplied by the outfitter). Walking on a glacier can be perilous as there are 150 feet deep crevices and fast moving water slides that disappear down holes into the ice (moulons). We closed out the trip attending the Juneau 4th of July fireworks display at the wharf, crepes and hot drinks in hand, which started at midnight since it gets dark so late!

Michael Campbell

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