Itinerary - In Brief
Itinerary - Detailed
Day 1:
Juneau / Gastineau Channel
Depart from Juneau's IVF dock at 12:30. As you head south down Gastineau Channel, watch as the symptoms of civilization slip into your wake. Soon the power lines and cruise ships are far behind you. Your first nights anchorage is in a quiet harbor outside the borders of Glacier Bay National Park. Here you launch kayaks take your first paddle together.
Day 2:
Glacier Bay / Bartlett Cove / Shag Cove
Today you enter Glacier Bay, and stop in Bartlett Cove for a Park Service orientation to the Park and it's regulations. Following an opportunity to explore the area on foot, you cast off and head further into the Bay. At Shag Cove, the anchorage for this evening, you may see Brown Bears, Mountain Goats and a myriad of sea birds.
Day 3:
Blue Mouse Cove
Today's cruising will lead you to beautiful Blue Mouse Cove. This is an excellent spot to explore by foot as well as by kayak.
Day 4:
At Sea
As you weigh anchor and head out into the morning mists rising from a mercury calm sea you will see bear trails winding from the ridges down to the waters edge. At this time of year snow is still low on the flanks of the mountains, and animal trails can easily be identified.
Day 5:
Grand Pacific Glacier / John Hopkins Inlet
The highlight today will be a visit to the Grand Pacific Glacier, or it may be the otters that you may see as you kayak in John Hopkins Inlet; or, it may just be the particular shade of blue that the sky takes on after the sun sets late in the evening. In any case, it promises to be a day of superlatives.
Day 6:
Hiking and Kayaking
As you continue your casual wanderings around the Bay the geology begins to assert itself. Biological life here is so fresh, the whole area being ice-filled within the last two-hundred years, that the "bones" of the place are still very apparent. Fresh scars and marks resulting from the Glaciers gouge are still as fresh and crisp as they were when the ice finished its work. Watch for Mountain Goats to be low, feeding and sunning themselves near sea level. Occasionally you might see bears moving from one island to another, swimming in pursuit of fresh vegetation for their early season salad diet. There will be opportunities for either a hike or a paddle following the days run.
Day 7:
Bartlett Cove / Disembark
You will have a leisurely travel today, ending at 11:00 am in Bartlett Cove. Float planes will meet us there and return you to Juneau. This abrupt return to civilization will form an interesting contrast to the week in the wilderness that you have just experienced.
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