Glacier Bay National Park – Second visit – 07/02/2024 – 07/04/2024

I booked my second trip into Glacier Bay and chose the dates to be able to go to the 4th of July celebration in town.  I also decided to stay at the Glacier Bay hotel once again and this time I did not book a room with a view.  I got a regular room which was bigger than the bay view room!  The room decor has not changed in the three years since I was here last but also not in the past 20 years.  The hotel is dated and could use a refresh with at a minimum paint but some maintenance is also needed.  Simple things like there is peeling paint in the bathroom, parts of the heating system covers are broken off are just a few of the maintenance things that could be better in my room.  The good things about the hotel is there is a free shuttle to/from the airport, and the boat to the glacier is docked within walking distance of the hotel.

Boat to the Glacier – on the first full day in the park I decided to take the boat out to the glacier.  The boarding time was 0650 with a departure at 0715.  The boat has to be back promptly at 1530 due to the Alaska Airlines flight being at 1545.  The flight time was changed to allow someone to come in on day 0 and fly out on day 1 after going to the glacier.  I was told that the flight will be held for the boat, good to know for next time.  I found this out as I asked why on the way back to the dock did we not stop to watch some of the humpback whales we had encountered.  The boat ride itself was different this time in that we did not go to two glaciers but only one glacier, Johns Hopkins.  The boat did stop to see the stellar sea lions, and puffin on South Marble Island.  The stop on South Marble we also were able to see some Orca whales who were in the area and I am not sure we would have stopped if it was not a scheduled stop for the sea lions and puffin.  The boat did stop to look for some goats around Gloomy Knob, we saw four of them.  We had a scheduled stop to let off some kayakers who were camping in the bay for a few days.    Our unscheduled stop was to watch a grizzly bear and her three cubs, sounds like a kids book.  The bear was spotted just after Gloomy Knob at a tidal inlet.  We watched the bears walk along the beach, then cross the water via a swim and finally climb up a rock face.  The cubs did not really want to swim but wanted a ride on mom but she stopped a few times to get them off her back and make them swim.  That is was really cool to see that interaction.  When mom went up the rock face the cubs were very slow to follow which caused mom to come back down and go up a second way for the cubs.  One of the cubs even fell on the second way.  The cub fell about 10 feet down but was right back at it to get going.  When the four bears went into the brush we moved onwards towards the glacier.  The only other stop we had was at Johns Hopkins glacier.  The glacier is over one mile wide and is over three hundred feet tall.  On the way to/from the glacier we did encounter three cruise ships, maybe a reason for not going to both glaciers.  We were able to encounter a few kayakers at the glacier and along the way back from the glacier.  It is something that sounds like fun until I remember my Lake Clark incident so it is a no go for me.  We were served a lunch that for me was a ham and cheese sandwich, a bag of Doritos and some cookies.  Midway we had a snack of a seafood chowder that was actually quite good and a big bowl of that would have been better than the sandwich and chips.  On the way back to the dock from Johns Hopkins a few humpback whales were spotted but we just kept on driving past them at cruising speed.  It was disappointing that we couldn’t slow down or stop to watch the whales in a distance but the Alaska flight could not be held late and if we got back late then all heck was to be paid.  I might have skipped a day for the 4th of July celebration and gone back to Anchorage if I had known that prior but I hope to enjoy the celebration.

Gustavus 4th celebration – I stayed an extra night at the Glacier Bay lodge to got to the 4th fun in town.  I check with the hotel and was told that they were offering shuttle service downtown for $15 payable to the driver and the shuttle was running hourly.  I had already know that Strawberry Taxi, Krystal, was having a pickup at 9:30 but with the hotel’s shuttle I skipped Krystal and went for the hotel.  Well the hotel shuttle did not run on the hour but was a one and done for employees, so I contacted Krystal who could not do the pickup and I called John.  He is the second cab company in town and was coming to the hotel for a pickup at 11:30am so he headed my way.  I was waiting for him at 10:30am and he drove me close to town so that I could enjoy the festivities.  I did miss the pie for breakfast, and the cinnamon buns and donuts.  I was able to see the parade and even caught some candy, which I gave to some kids, and enjoyed the 20 minutes of the back and forth of the parade.  The length of the parade was 2 fire engines, 1 ambulance, 2 taxi cabs (Strawberry), an old car, a band playing with the pride group, a band on a flat bed truck, and a bobcat with a person on the front end.  All were throwing candy for the kids of all ages.  When the parade was done there was the flag raising, National Anthem, reading of the Declaration of Independence, and honor to our vets in the crowd.  Things really started to heat up with the slow bike race across the bridge in town with multiple heats.  It was a bunch of spirited races and the final heat was won by a multiyear winner.  I have to say that he was very good at not moving the bike and staying on it.  Additionally, there was Puffin races a relay race to get a stuffed puffin up a PVC tube filled with water using a plastic cup.  I was able to get a burger from the fire department which also offered hotdogs, and pulled pork.  The egg toss, and potato roll was later in the day along with fireworks at 11:45PM!  It was a great day to celebrate our national birthday.  If you are in Alaska around the 4th I highly recommend this event it is wonderful.