Glacier Bay
July 2019 | Park 14
Part + Park 4 (of 4) on our epic adventure to Alaska.
Our journey to Glacier Bay started months prior as we struggled to figure out how to actually reach it. Information was a bit scarce, but we knew there was no way to drive there, so began researching options by boat and plane. We eventually pieced together what felt like a logistical nightmare: First, fly from Anchorage to Juneau. Second, take an early morning Lyft to the ferry dock to board a six-hour ferry from Juneau to Gustavus. Third, catch a “taxi” (which in our case was a rusty 15-passenger van) driven by a weathered, gruff old man whom we’d had to call from Denver to reserve a ride (…since he still manages his entire taxi business via pencil and paper) to get from Gustavus to Bartlett Cove. Fourth, make it to the visitor center in time to complete the mandatory orientation and check into Barlett Cove Campground. Oh, and fifth, don’t forget to confirm with the taxi service the day and time you need to reverse the trip — from Barlett Cove to Gustavus — to get back on the ferry to leave.
Somehow, these details all ended up working out without any issues. The Lyft came on time, the ferry tickets were correct, and I was endlessly relieved when we discovered the man we’d spoken to weeks earlier for the taxi service was an actual real person with an actual real vehicle so we didn’t find ourselves stranded on the ferry dock in Gustavus.
Once we arrived to the campground and pitched our tent, we started to feel giddy that we were actually there. The campground is located in the middle of an incredibly lush old growth coastal forest, directly in sight of the bay. Every night, we were treated to the sound of humpback whales’ loud exhalations and the crack of their fins slapping the surface of the water as they fed beneath the midnight sun. We spent three days here, visiting to the lodge for coffees in the morning, taking the Glacier Bay Boat Tour, and spending hours talking to representatives in Xunaa Shuká Hít, the Huna Tribal House. After many years of ruptured trust, forced displacement, and land theft, the relationship and respect that has been built between the Hoonah Indian Association and the National Park Service to bring the Huna Tribal House into existence in 2016 was one that made a deep impression on us. It was certainly not a linear process, but one that made our experience at Glacier Bay so much deeper and more impactful.
This was our final stop on our three-week trip to Alaska, and we were feeling both the sorrow of it coming to an end as well as the satisfaction and awe of a trip that had included so many beautiful experiences. We left Glacier Bay with full spirits and a sense of calm that I think only comes after spending a few days with these slow, quiet trees.
Until next time, Alaska.
Pictured below:
Old growth forest leading to Bartlett Cove Campground, situated near the Glacier Bay Lodge and visitor center.
Sunset over Bartlett Cove.
