2012 North Central Tour, May 20th - 28th, Cost $2,339.
Anchorage, Seward, Denali National Park, and Fairbanks. This tour will be canceled if less than 16 guests sign up before 2-1-11.
Jump to All-Alaska Tour
Day Zero (5/19, Sat)
All guests should arrive in Anchorage on or before Saturday evening, May 19, 2012. Guests are responsible for their own lodging on this night. This tour was scheduled to allow participants of the Pacific Northwest District Assembly to join the tour after the conclusion of the District Assembly, which is being held in Alaska for the first time in history. (Go to www.pnwd.org>News/Events>District Assembly for more information about the PNWD-DA.) However, you don’t have to participate in the PNWD-DA to join the tour. Everyone is welcome!Day One (5/20, Sun)
We will have an early morning tour orientation and breakfast together. Afterward, we will attend the Sunday service at the Mariott Hotel in downtown Anchorage. This service, which is open to the public, is the final event of the 2012 Pacific Northwest District Assembly, so it is certain to be a spirited event. After the service, we will eat lunch together at a downtown restaurant. Following lunch, we will travel by bus to the beautiful coastal town of Seward. Along the way, we stop at the Exit Glacier Nature Center. In addition to the hands-on exhibits, there is a beautiful half mile trail to an overlook that brings us face to face with a massive wall of ice. Afterward, our bus will take us to our hotel. You’re on your own for dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. (Note: whenever you see the ($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day.).
Day Two (5/21, Mon)
Breakfast will be at or near our hotel. After breakfast, we visit the Alaska Sea Life Center, the state’s only public aquarium and ocean wildlife rescue center. We will encounter puffins, octopus, sea lions and other sealife while peeking over the shoulders of ocean scientists studying Alaska’s rich diverse sealife. After our visit, we board an all-day boat trip takes us through Kenai Fjords National Park. Wear clothing in layers; there can be a large range in temperature as we move about the ocean and along the shore. There are two large heated cabins but you’ll be popping out on deck as soon as the first marine wildlife is spotted. That will probably be a sea otter before we get very far from the dock. They’re often seen floating on their backs in Resurrection Bay as we head out into the National Park. An Orca breached next to the boat here during one trip, and a fin whale once surfaced in the middle of a pod of Orcas. We’ll see sea lions and seals, arctic birds by the thousands – puffins, auklets, murres and others – and a tidewater glacier calving icebergs into the sea. A delicious lunch will be served on the boat. Vegetarian meals may be requested. Following the tour, we will board the Alaska Railroad’s “Coastal Classic” train to Anchorage. We travel along the ocean and past glaciers on one of the world’s most beautiful rail trips. We’ll watch for both moose and sure-footed Dall sheep. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own, in the dining car or snack bar of the train. The local Anchorage UUs will greet us at the depot and take us to their homes for the night.Day Three (5/22, Tue)
After breakfast with our hosts, we will meet at the Native Heritage Center, where five indigenous groups – Athabascan, Yupik, Inupiaq, Alutiiq and Tlingit/Haida people – have created a veritable living museum. Reconstructed Native dwellings surround a small lake. Native docents explain the traditions of their people. Contemporary artists, dancers and storytellers put on performances every half hour in the main hall of the museum while Native craftspeople in another wing will be demonstrating their work and talking about their craft and heritage. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is at the Raven’s Call Café, located on the Native Heritage Center campus. The café features a few menu items unique to Alaska. After lunch, we will shuttle to the world-class Anchorage Museum of History and Art, located downtown. The museum has superb collections of Native and contemporary Alaskan art exhibits on Alaska’s cultures from the earliest inhabitants to the 710,000 people living in the state today. You can explore the museum all afternoon if you like, or take some time to shop downtown or go for a walk. The Anchorage UUs will prepare an excellent dinner for us at their church. You will spend the night with your hosts.
Day Four (5/23, Wed)
After breakfast with our hosts, we board the Alaska Railroad’s “Denali Star” train to Denali National Park. This is another of the most beautiful train trips in the world, following rivers much of the way as huge mountains rise up all around us. We pass only a couple of towns during the seven-hour trip. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. will be in the dining car with linens on the table. It's a delight to eat while you watch the scenery go by. There's a dome car where you can enjoy the natural splendor, and for snacks, a bistro car with a high ceiling. Keep a watch out the windows as we approach Hurricane Gulch to see the highest mountain in North America at 20,306 ft. Measured from base to peak, Denali (the official Alaska name for Mt. McKinley) is the tallest mountain expanse in the world, bar none. We arrive in Denali Park at 3:30pm. There is time to go to the visitors center, walk along one of the many trails near the train depot, or enjoy the natural beauty of the park. You’re on your own for dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day., with several restaurants to choose from. But don’t stay up too late. Tomorrow we have another early start.
Day Five (5/24, Thur)
Breakfast at our hotel is early. We board a Wilderness Tour bus to take us into the park. When I first came to Alaska in 1981 “just for the summer,” it was to drive this same tour. I became enchanted by the land and people of this great state, and have lived here ever since. This 6-8 hour tour is a great way to see many animals – moose, caribou, sheep, grizzly bear, wolf, fox, unusual birds, etc. – and get a feel for the sheer expanse of Denali National Park. It’s the size of Massachusetts. If we’re fortunate enough to see the mountain called Denali (the Alaskan name for Mt. McKinley), we’re in for something spectacular! Denali is the highest mountain in North America at 20,306 ft. Measured from base to peak, Denali is the tallest mountain expanse in the world, bar none. Even if the mountain is not visible (it’s in full view only a few days per month), the wildlife and natural beauty of the area is still well worth the trip. A box lunch is included in the tour. After the tour, you may want to take a nap in your room, go for a walk, see a sled dog demonstration, or participate in another park activity. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own. There are some options for evening entertainment, including Cabin Night dinner/theater. The longer stay allows for a more relaxed pace while affording you a chance to experience more of the park’s activities.
Day Six (5/25, Fri)
After breakfast at our hotel, you have the morning and part of the afternoon to explore Denali National Park. If you like rafting, the Nenana River offers a lively whitewater trip (Denali rafting option #1: Cost $87.)When my father visited me a few years ago for his 80th birthday, he went whitewater rafting for the first time and loved it! Other options are hiking, a ranger-led interpretive walk, renting a bike, or visiting the park’s two interpretive centers. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own. We will catch the afternoon northbound train through the Nenana River Canyon, past the village of Nenana, and on to Fairbanks. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on the train. The Fairbanks UUs will meet us at the depot and take us to their homes for the night.
Day Seven (5/26, Sat)
You will enjoy breakfast with your hosts. Afterwards, your hosts will drive you to the magnificent University of Alaska Museum of the North. The building is exciting inside and out, and the exhibits and art it contains are outstanding. It includes a special show on Native Alaska contemporary art, interesting exhibits on Alaskan animals and the arctic environment, and informative presentations throughout the day. One permanent exhibit by Fairbanks award-winning composer John Luther Adams is in a room titled “The Place Where We Go To Listen.” It creates music from data streams measuring the rhythms of night and day, the phases and positions of the moon, the changing sky conditions, seismic readings, and disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field. Lunch will be on prepared by the local UUs. After lunch, we will visit the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, a 2,000 acre state-owned gem located on a former dairy farm at the edge of town. The fields of the Refuge are used by migrating waterfowl such as geese, ducks, and Sandhill Cranes. Each spring, Fairbanksans flock to the refuge to watch the birds arrive, assurance that winter is finally coming to a close. We will take a walk along the interpretive trails, where moose are sometimes seen in the forested areas. The Farmhouse Visitors Center houses exhibits on bird migration and the history of the dairy. Following our visit, we will travel downtown for a walking tour. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own. If you would like to take your hosts to dinner, this would be the night.Day Eight (5/27, Sun)
You have a choice about how to spend the first part of your Sunday morning. After breakfast with your hosts, you are invited to join the local UUs at 8:30am for a gentle canoe trip on the Chena River, ending at the beautiful UUFF sanctuary for their morning service. No canoe experience is necessary, since we’ll match novices with experienced locals. Sometimes we see beaver and moose. If you would rather sleep in, that’s just fine, because your host could drive you directly to the 10:30 am service. The Fairbanks UUs will host us for a light lunch and drive us to the nearby riverboat dock. The Riverboat Discovery, Alaska’s last sternwheeler paddleboat, goes down the Chena River. Along the way, we'll stop at a sled dog kennel, where an Iditarod veteran educates us about the sport of dog mushing. We’ll even get to see the dogs enthusiastically pull a dogsled on wheels. Later, an Athabascan woman will welcome us to her fish camp to show us how she catches salmon in a fish wheel, cleans them, and smokes them. We’ll visit a reconstructed village and see Athabascan women sewing gorgeous parkas from different furs. Native Alaskan young people, home from college for the summer, are docents in the village. The Riverboat Discovery is a first class Alaskan experience. Following our trip, local UUs will drive us to their beautiful sanctuary for a scrumptious dinner that they have prepared for us. They might entertain us as well. We will spend the night with our hosts.
Day Nine (5/28, Mon)
Your tour ends this morning. You are responsible for arranging and paying for your flight home from Fairbanks. There is an early morning flight that can connect with morning flights out of Seattle. There are also many other flights throughout the day. After breakfast with your hosts, they will bring you to the airport if you have a morning flight. If your flight leaves later in the day, you can ride to town with your hosts and continue your Fairbanks visit, taking a bus or taxi to the airport to catch your flight. Your host will work out travel details with you. WhaleCoast Alaska can arrange for an extended stay with the Fairbanks UUs if you wish to continue your Alaska experience on your own. (Extended Fairbanks option #2: $70/night.) We hope you had a wonderful adventure with WhaleCoast Alaska!All-Alaska Tour 2012, June 30th to July 11th, Cost $3,339
Fairbanks to Denali National Park, Anchorage, Sitka, Alaska State Ferry to Juneau.
Day One (6/30, Sat)
The 2012 All-Alaska tour begins in Fairbanks, Alaska’s Golden Heart City. Each guest arranges (and pays for) his/her own flight. It is recommended that you arrive in Fairbanks in the afternoon or early evening, so you can have some time to acclimate and get a good night’s sleep. You will be met at the Fairbanks International Airport by a Fairbanks UU and/or one of the tour directors. You will stay the night with your Fairbanks UU host.(Early Fairbanks option #1: $70/person per night.)
If you wish to arrive one or more days early and explore Fairbanks on your own, WhaleCoast Alaska can arrange for you to stay with a Fairbanks host and offer suggestions for activities. These extra nights in Fairbanks would also be a good time to journey above the Arctic Circle.Day Two (7/1, Sun)
You will have breakfast with your host this morning. After breakfast, we will meet for a tour orientation at the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks. Following our orientation, we will attend the Sunday service in their beautiful sanctuary. The Fairbanks UUs will host us for lunch and drive us to the nearby riverboat dock. The Riverboat Discovery, Alaska’s last sternwheel paddleboat, goes down the Chena River. Along the way, we'll stop at a sled dog kennel, where an Iditarod veteran educates us about the sport of dog mushing. We’ll even get to see the dogs enthusiastically pull a dogsled on wheels. Later, an Athabascan woman will welcome us to her fish camp to show us how she catches salmon in a fish wheel, cleans them, and smokes them. We’ll visit a reconstructed village and see Athabascan women sewing gorgeous parkas from different furs. Native Alaskan young people, home from college for the summer, are docents in the village. The Riverboat Discovery is a first class Alaskan experience. After our tour, the UUs will drive us to their beautiful sanctuary for a scrumptious dinner that they have prepared for us. They’ll entertain us as well. Your host will take you home for a well-deserved night’s sleep Be prepared for a strange experience of “nighttime,” as it will not get dark in this “land of the midnight sun” during our entire Fairbanks visit!
Day Three (7/2, Mon)
You will enjoy breakfast with your hosts. Afterwards, your hosts will drive you to the magnificent University of Alaska Museum of the North. The building is exciting inside and out, and the exhibits and art it contains are outstanding. It includes a special show on Native Alaska contemporary art, interesting exhibits on Alaskan animals and the arctic environment, and informative presentations throughout the day. One permanent exhibit by Fairbanks award-winning composer John Luther Adams is in a room titled “The Place Where We Go To Listen.” It creates music from data streams measuring the rhythms of night and day, the phases and positions of the moon, the changing sky conditions, seismic readings, and disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field. Following our visit, we will shuttle to the UAF Large Animal Research Station (locals call it the "Musk Ox Farm") where docents specially trained in the biology of the large mammals will tell us about them. We’ll see musk ox, caribou and reindeer. The musk ox lived through the last ice age. This is the only successful large terrestrial mammal to continuously occupy the arctic for the past 10,000 years. We’ll eat a lunch prepared by the Fairbanks UUs. After lunch, we will travel to downtown Fairbanks for a walking tour. We’ll learn about Fairbanks’colorful history, its people, and its buildings that date back to its founding years. After our tour, you will have a choice of activities. One option is to visit Pioneer Park, where you can experience “Gold Rush Town,” with its restored buildings from Fairbanks’ early years. You will also find historic exhibits and several interesting museums. Your second option is to enjoy a leisurely canoe trip down the Chena River, hosted the local UUs. You are on your own for dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day.. (Note: whenever you see the ($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day.) If you would like to take your hosts out to dinner to thank them for their hospitality, this would be your opportunity. Your host will take you home for a well-deserved night’s sleep.
Day Four (7/3, Tue)
After breakfast with your hosts, you will board the magnificent Alaska Railroad train to Denali National Park. The train route travels through scenic boreal forests, across Alaska’s second longest river, and through the village of Nenana. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on the train. Our scheduled arrival in Denali National Park is 12:15 pm. Your luggage will be delivered to your room so that you can have the entire afternoon to experience the park. You have the option of a gentle or whitewater rafting trip (Denali rafting option #3: Cost $87) on the Nenana River. Another option would be to enjoy an afternoon walk, experience the Visitor’s Center, see our country’s only National Park Service kennel, or participate in other activities of the day. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own at one of several area restaurants. Don’t stay up too late. Tomorrow we have an early start.
Day Five (7/4, Wed)
Breakfast at the Denali River Cabins restaurant is early. We board a Tundra Wilderness Tour bus to take us into the park. When I first came to Alaska in 1981 “just for the summer,” it was to drive this same tour. I became enchanted by the land and people of this great state, and have lived here ever since. This 6-8 hour tour is a great way to see many animals – moose, caribou, sheep, grizzly bear, wolf, fox, unusual birds, etc. – and get a feel for the sheer expanse of Denali National Park. It’s the size of Massachusetts. If we’re fortunate enough to see the mountain called Denali (the Alaskan name for Mt. McKinley), we’re in for something spectacular! Denali is the highest mountain in North America at 20,306 ft. Measured from base to peak, Denali is the tallest mountain expanse in the world, bar none. Even if the mountain is not visible (it’s in full view only a few days per month), the wildlife and natural beauty of the area is still well worth the trip. A box lunch is included in the tour. After the tour, you may want to take a nap in your room or participate in another park activity. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own. There are some options for evening entertainment, including Cabin Night dinner/theater. The longer stay allows for a more relaxed pace while affording you a chance to experience more of the park’s activities. (Denali tour option #4: $TBA: Extend your wilderness experience by taking the “Kantishna Wilderness Trails” bus tour instead of the standard tour. Venture 30 miles further into Denali Park. Fantastic views of Denali if it is visible. Includes a stop at the Kantishna Lodge restaurant for a delicious lunch and a chance to pan for gold.)
Day Six (7/5, Thur)
Breakfast is again at the Denali River Cabins restaurant. Our shuttle departs in mid-morning. If you arise early, you can squeeze in one last walk. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own at the Morino Café near the train station. Once again, we board the Alaska Railroad for a magnificent journey through the Alaska Range, along several wild and scenic rivers, above breathtaking Hurricane Gulch, and through Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. Today, we ride “Gold Star” – first class seating! This is a train ride you will never forget. It is splendid riding in a full dome car, with magnificent views of the mountains, including Denali if it is visible. Dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own, in the dining car with linens on the table. After dinner, we arrive in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where your UU hosts will greet you and take you home for the night.Day Seven (7/6, Fri)
After breakfast with our hosts, we will meet at the Native Heritage Center, where five indigenous groups – Athabascan, Yupik, Inupiaq, Alutiiq and Tlingit/Haida people – have created a veritable living museum. Reconstructed Native dwellings surround around a small lake. Native docents at each structure explain the traditions of their people. Contemporary artists, dancers and storytellers put on performances every half hour in the main hall of the museum while Native craftspeople in another wing will be demonstrating their work and talking about their craft and heritage. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is at the Raven’s Call Café, located on the Native Heritage Center campus. The café features a few menu items unique to Alaska, such as reindeer stew. After lunch, we will shuttle to the world-class Anchorage Museum of History and Art, located downtown. The museum has superb collections of Native and contemporary Alaskan art exhibits on Alaska’s cultures from the earliest inhabitants to the 650,000 people living in the state today. You can explore the museum all afternoon if you like, or take some time to shop downtown or go for a walk. The Anchorage UUs will prepare an excellent dinner for us at their church. You will spend the night with your hosts.
Day Eight (7/7, Sat)
After a quick breakfast, your hosts will drive you to the Ted Stevens airport to catch the 8:00 am Alaska Airlines flight 62 to Sitka, arriving at 11:10 am. We will take a scenic drive around town, including a fascinating visit to the Raptor Center. There, we will learn about raptors such as the bald eagle, and view the rescued birds up close. Our bus tour will end at the Sitka UU Fellowship building, where we will set up tables and eat a simple lunch. After lunch, we will take a walking tour of Sitka, with a fascinating local guide. She will explain the rich and extensive history of the town, identify historic sites, and interject lots of local color. After the tour, we will walk to the Tlingit community house, Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi, for their dance performance. The large structural beams, central fire pit and tiered seating of the community house provide an ideal ambience. It all starts with the smell of burning cedar that is lit during the introduction of the first dance. The deep sound of the box drum fills the room as Tlingit dancers enter wearing beautiful regalia. They sing ancient songs that have been handed down for generations. The narrator begins with a Tlingit story and then interprets and explains all that is seen and heard. A dozen members of the tribe, also wearing traditional outfits, sing and dance three songs. The program is a half hour, but the dancers stay to visit with audience members who are so inclined. We will walk to the UU Chapel for a delicious dinner, often featuring locally caught salmon, and a chance to get to know the Sitka UUs. The Sitka UU congregation is smaller than the size of our group. Some of us will be hosted by the local UUs, while others will stay at a local hotel or B & B. Either way, we will be ready for a good night’s rest.
Day Nine (7/8, Sun)
We’ll begin the day with a delicious breakfast hosted by the UUs, followed by the Sunday service. If you are so inclined, you can be part of the service by reading a literary work about nature that inspires you. Following breakfast, you have the option of visiting the Sheldon Jackson Museum. This jewel of a museum is Alaska’s oldest. It contains a superb collection of Alaska Native cultural artifacts gathered from 1888 to1898 by a missionary. Other options are going for a neighborhood walk or hanging out with the local UUs. At 10:30, we will join the UUs for their Sunday Service. If you are so inclined, you can be part of the service by reading a literary work about nature that inspires you. Following the service, we will eat lunch at a fine local restaurant. After lunch, we will board a semi-submersible 40-passenger glass-bottom vessel. It’s a safe and comfortable way to visit the amazing underwater world of Sitka Sound. Huge windows four feet below the ocean's surface allow us to peer directly at sea life while we remain warm and dry. A driver will bring us other rare creatures from the sea bottom to view, and we might even see a wolf eel. Following our tour, we will visit the historic Russian Bishop’s house. This was once the center of Russian Orthodox Church authority in a diocese that stretched from California to Siberia. A Park Service ranger will discuss local history and the relationships between the Native Alaskans of the area and the Russians conquerors. Many of the original furnishings and icons of the house are preserved inside. Tonight’s dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. is on your own at one of Sitka’s many fine restaurants. If you would like to take your host out to dinner, tonight would be the night.
Day Ten (7/9, Mon)
We’ll begin the day with a delicious breakfast hosted by the UUs, followed by a visit to the Sitka National Historic Park Visitors Center.
There’s a Sitka Spruce forest behind the Visitor’s Center with many totem poles along the ocean shore. This is the location of the final battle between the Tlingits and the Russians, and with its soaring spruce trees the forest feels like a natural open-air cathedral. If you are so inclined, you can be part of the service by reading a literary work about nature that inspires you. A bus will shuttle us to the ferry terminal to catch the Alaska State Ferry headed for Juneau. Alaska’s capital is 95 miles away as the raven flies, but a trip by water is about 150 miles. The scenic waterways on the route offer a wealth of wildlife viewing opportunities, including whales. We’ll take sub sandwiches on the ferry for lunch. We arrive in Juneau at 6:00pm. Our shuttle bus will drop us off at an oriental restaurant where you can buy dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day., but there will be another option nearby. Our hosts will meet us at the terminal and take us home for the night. Since the Juneau congregation is also small, some of us will be hosted by Juneau UUs, and some of us will be in a hotel.
Day Eleven (7/10, Tue)
Enjoy breakfast with our hosts or at our hotel, and then we will meet at the Juneau boat dock. There we will board a small boat for a visit to the beautiful Tracy Arm Fjord. This all-day excursion is an experience that many guests find to be the highlight of their tour. We will see tidewater glaciers calving icebergs into the sea, mountains and 2,000 foot granite cliffs rising straight up from the water, and incredibly deep and narrow fjords. The fjords wind past waterfalls to massive glaciers, their icebergs dotted with fur seals, while Humpback whales, killer (Orca) whales, and bald eagles are often seen at the mouth of the fjords. The great nineteenth century naturalist John Muir noted that the fjord was shut in by sublime Yosemite cliffs, nobly sculptured, and adorned with waterfalls and fringes of trees, bushes, and patches of flowers. Modern-day visitors come away equally impressed. You won’t find the big ships here, they are simply too large. You can buy your lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. on the boat, usually a sandwich, soup, and chips. After the boat trip, you’re on your own for dinner($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day.. There are several restaurants within walking distance. This would be a great time to treat your host to dinner, if you are so inclined. You will spend the night with your host or at your hotel.
Day Twelve (7/11, Wed)
After breakfast with our hosts or at our hotel, we will go to the Mendenhall Glacier and Visitors Center. There, you can see a glacier that has been retreating dramatically for decades. A short trail highlights the glacial ecology of the area. There is also a short, fenced boardwalk path where we sometimes see black bears. Photo Point Trail, a 5 minute walk, leads to a scenic overlook, and there is another trail to a waterfall. There are many indoor and outdoor interpretative displays for those who don’t feel like walking. Due to US Forest Service group permit regulations, each guest must pay his/her own admission fee ($4) in order to enter the Visitors Center. After our visit, we will shuttle to the downtown area. Lunch($)Note: whenever you see the ($) symbol, it means that you are responsible for the designated meal. Your tour includes an average of two meals per day. will be on your own, and you will have some time to explore Juneau. Possible activities include the State Museum, a walking tour or nature hike, a tram ride to the top of Mount Roberts and its nature center, a helicopter ride to a glacier, or a gold mine tour. If you are feeling more adventurous, you could take a guided kayaking trip or glide through a forest canopy on a zipline. The Juneau UUs will host a delicious dinner for us. This will give us a chance share pictures and reminisce about our tour highlights. Tonight’s lodging is included in the tour.