Glacier Bay National Park, Icy Strait, Lynn Canal, Juneau Alaska

Passengers will board the Snow Goose at the Park Service Dock in Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay – a short taxi ride from the town of Gustavus. We will set sail into Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve after lunch and a brief safety and crew orientation. For the next 8 days, we will cruise, kayak, and hike this magnificent gem of our National Park System and explore beyond the Bay's boundaries.

The waters here are icy cold, and the air is crisp and clear. Wildlife abounds within the bay because Glacier Bay is a National Park and affords all the protections that come with such status. Guests can look forward to days of intimate contact with humpback whales, bears, moose, wolves, sea otters, seals, sea lions, goats, eagles, and puffins, to name just a few.

Since Glacier Bay has just recently emerged from the ice, it is considered a geologically young area. A trip up Glacier Bay is like a trip back in time. Old-growth forests give way to bare rock as we return to the bay's upper reaches. Here, the tidewater glaciers still tremble and roar as they slowly retreat back, dropping huge icebergs into the sea. Magnificent granite cliffs tower above our small ship as we wind our way up the fjord through the ice floes toward the faces of these massive glaciers. Along the way, our expert naturalist and guide will point out the finer points of plant succession, glaciations, local geology, and the interconnectedness of the animals that call this area home. The biodiversity of this place is simply amazing.

On the 5th day, Snow Goose will debark from Glacier Bay National Park and journey into the whale-rich waters of Icy Strait. Here, we will explore the older forests of SE Alaska with a much different background. Small islands dot this landscape, all with rich history, and some are still occupied by a few hardy Alaskans. Very different from Glacier Bay, we will slowly make our way toward the Capitol of Alaska, where guests will have a chance to explore the largest Alaska City in SE.