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Home | Sitka| Anchorage | Fairbanks | Denali Nat'l Park | Talkeetna | Juneau | Chilkoot Trail | Dalton Highway |
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When Captain George Vancouver sailed through Icy Strait in 1794, GLACIER BAY didn't exist. Since then the Grand Pacific Glacier has receded 65 miles, to reveal a tranquil world of deep fjords lined by rock walls and fed by fifteen other receding tidewater glaciers. The flora of the bay ranges from mature spruce forests to delicate plant life, while brown and black bear, moose, mountain goats, sea otters, humpback whales, porpoise, seals and a colorful array of birds have made the area their home. Most, if not all of them can be seen on a day-cruise through Glacier Bay (the only way to access the area). The most spectacular moment comes when the boat, having negotiated its way through three miles of icebergs, comes face to face with the massive wall of the Grand Pacific Glacier. AMHS ferries don't go to Gustavus , the nearest town to the otherwise inaccessible park, so the cheapest way to get there is with Alaska Airlines who fly in once each afternoon in summer from Juneau for a bargain $32 each way if booked well in advance. Smaller operators such as LAB (phone 766-2222 or 1-800/426-0543) have more flights but charge around $60 from Juneau and connect Gustavus directly with Haines and Skagway. You might want to fly out and cruise back on the daily Juneau-to-Gustavus ferry run by Auk Nu Tours (2hr 15min; phone 1-800/478-3610, ; $45 one-way, bikes $10, kayaks $40).
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The ferry and flights are met by a bus ($10) which takes you ten miles to Bartlett Cove, site of the park headquarters and the dock for the all-day cruise on the Spirit of Adventure ($157) - the principal way of experiencing the park's wonders short of paddling. Also here is the park's only hotel , Glacier Bay Lodge (phone 1-800/451-5952; rooms $160-200, bunks $50-75) with tasteful hotel rooms and bunks in poky dorms with no cooking facilities. A better budget alternative is the first-come-first-served campground (free) beside the fjord. If you want a roof over your head, the best bet lies in Gustavus in the form of Bear's Nest B&B (phone 907679-2440, riddlephilip@hotmail.com ; $100-130), a completely self-contained and fully-furnished cabin with a double bed upstairs and a single futon down. Breakfast ingredients are provided though you'll have to bring everything else from Juneau, or wander next door to the Bear's Nest Cafe.
Glacier Bay National Park
Juneau
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Alaska
South of Anchorage
Homer
Kodiak
Denali National
Park
Fairbanks
Talkeetna
Wrangell-St Elias National Park
Prince
William Sound
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