July 17 – 22, 2024: We ventured off the AlCan Highway at Haines Junction and headed south to SE Alaska on the panhandle to Haines, AK. From there we took the Fjord Express from Haines to Juneau, flew from Juneau to Gustavus to visit Glacier Bay National Park. We ended up spending 2 nights at Glacier Bay Lodge due to a cancelled Alaska Air flight from Gustavus to Juneau.

Haines, Alaska

Haines is a fairly small town that has a lot to offer. It is a desitnation for some of the smaller cruise ships, but we seemed to miss their time in Haines and it was amazingly quiet. We had a bear in our campground attacking the garbage dumpster, which I didn’t have my memory card in my camera to capture!

Fjord Express to/from Haines/Juneau

Glacier Bay National Park – Lodge & Boat Tour to John Hopkins Glacier

National Park Boat Tour down Glacier Bay

We saw multiple glaciers on our journey to John Hopkins glacier, but this glacier was the most signficant and we spent the most time there. Our wildlife journey included sea otters (hard to capture their cuteness in a photo from the boat), a variety of birds, sealions and seals, mountain goats and a coastal brown bear and her cub!

Forest Walk in Glacier Bay NP– as soon as you get away from the coast, you are in the forest of hemlock and spruce trees with little ponds scattered everywhere.

Flight from Gustavus to Juneau-We ended up on Alaska Sea Planes rather than Alaska Air when we returned from Gustavas as our Alaska Air flight was canceled the night before since it could not land due to lake of visibility on the plane’s part. Best flight cancellation experience with an additional night a Glacier Bay Lodge, extra time for a wander on the Forest Trail and a fun flight on a much smaller plane.