SOUTHEAST ALASKA GALORE

12 NIGHTS  DELUXE TOUR

Your personalized tour of Southeast Alaska, considered by many the most beautiful coastal scenery in the world, begins in Alaska’s Capital City of Juneau (population approximately 31,000) and concludes two hundred miles south in Ketchikan (population approximately 15,000)

DAY 1: Arrive in Juneau and check in to your bed and breakfast or hotel. This is a free day to explore on your own, depending upon your arrival time.

DAY 2: Embark on a tour of the Mendenhall Glacier. This massive glacier (1.5 miles wide at its base) is within the Juneau road system. Spend some time perhaps at the U.S. Park Service Visitor’s viewpoint, or watching the Park Service’s movie about the Juneau Ice Field and its many glaciers. Perhaps you will wish to hike the trails that bring you to viewpoints even closer to the glacier. Afterward, you will raft through numerous ice bits across the lake that is formed below the glacier, and take a rafting trip down the Mendenhall River. (This is a gentle rafting experience, NOT whitewater)

DAY 3: Take off from Juneau airport in a small sea-plane, and land in the water near Pack Creek on Admiralty Island where you will be met by a guide from the Forest Service to escort you for your bear viewing. This is a full day tour to the place known to the native Tlingit Indians as The Island of the Bears. In fact, Admiralty Island has both the highest population of bears and the highest density of bears than anywhere in the world! This is a full day tour

DAY 4: Tracy Arm is a narrow, glacier-carved fjord located about 50 miles south of Juneau. The walls soar over a mile high, and the glacier-fed waters plunge an additional depth of 1,500 feet! The often ice-choked head is fed from both the North and the South Sawyer Glacier. This is a full day tour beginning at 8:00 am and returning at 6:00 pm. You may bring your own lunch or purchase lunch on-board. Many who have seen numerous Alaskan glaciers consider this, although not the biggest, the most spectacular in its setting

DAY 5: This is a day for exploring Juneau. You may want to shop in historic downtown Juneau, stroll by the Governor’s House, visit the State museum, the Capitol building or St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (the oldest Russian Orthodox Church in Southeast Alaska). This day also includes a Tram ride over 1500 feet up the side of Mount Roberts, and perhaps hike all or part of the remaining 1500 feet. Gold Creek’s Last Chance Basin is a short walk from downtown, and is the locale where gold was first discovered in Juneau. Buildings from the original A/J Mining Company and other ancient equipment still remains. (A tour of a portion of the mine itself is locally available.)

DAY 6: No trip to Juneau is complete without spending some time adventuring afloat! Enjoy trolling for the famous Alaskan wild salmon in spacious comfort. Relax as you experience the spectacular surrounding scenery while fishing the deep pristine waters of the Alaskan fjords. This deluxe whale watching/fishing and wildlife adventure guarantees you will see whales, and includes complimentary “Alaskan” snacks.

DAY 7: Fly to Glacier Bay and check into the Bear Track Inn. The Bear Track Inn features exquisite accommodations, incredible activities, scrumptious meals, true Alaskan ambience and hospitality. Glacier Bay is internationally recognized as the “Gateway to Glacier Bay National Park". Gustavus is surrounded by majestic scenery and pristine wilderness and supports a diversified and extraordinary array of Alaskan wildlife. All meals and transfers included.

DAY 8: Cruise Glacier Bay- Glacier Bay National Park includes 16 tidewater glaciers: 12 actively calve icebergs into the bay. As water undermines the ice fronts, great blocks of ice up to 200 feet high break loose and crash into the water. The Johns Hopkins Glacier calves such volumes of ice that it is seldom possible to approach its ice cliffs closer than about 2 miles. The rate at which these glaciers retreat is known nowhere else on earth. Scientists have documented this rapid retreat, hoping to learn how glacial activity relates to climate changes. Return to Juneau that evening.

DAY 9: Cruise aboard the Alaska State Ferry, or fly, eighty miles north to historic Skagway (winter population 700). You will marvel at the awesome beauty of the Alaskan wilderness. Check into your hotel, and enjoy the frontier flavor of the local restaurants and shops. Once in Skagway, you can view the region by air, sea, or land. Organized tours of Skagway are available that may include stops at the Trail of '98 Museum, Gold Rush Cemetery and a hike up to the lookout perched on a mountainside over the city; or you can explore on your own.

DAY 10: One of the wonders of engineering was the construction of the railway from Skagway to the Yukon. Fueled by the gold rush, the rail line opened less than a year from commencement of construction! Ride in one of the original passenger cars to the Yukon Summit. After your tour (about 4 hours long), you will return to Juneau by your choice of flight or ferry.

DAY 11: Fly to Ketchikan, check into your hotel and explore this “Gateway to Alaska” city on your own or via short guided activities. Guided activities include sportfishing charters, kayak expeditions, bike rides, snorkeling, boating and hiking adventures; or jump in and drive a jeep, mountain buggy or a Harley Davidson. For exploration on your own, pick up a map at the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau’s Visitor Information Center and follow the numbered signs posted along the route to learn about the community. Popular attractions include local museums, Creek Street, native cultural attractions, as well as plenty of shopping and restaurants.  The route can be walked in as little as 60 minutes.

DAY 12: Misty Fjords National Monument Tour begins just a short distance outside of Ketchikan. Experience a portion of the 2.2 million acres of wilderness and unique landscape on a 2 ½ hour air tour that combines the unmatched beauty of the Misty Fjords National Monument with several of Alaska's most dramatic glaciers. This trip is fully narrated by your pilot, who will communicate with you over your own personal headset. He'll point out local landmarks and put you as close as you can be to one or more of these massive active glaciers.

DAY 13: Check out of your hotel or B&B and depart from Ketchikan for home.

Prices starting at $4,100.00 per person, based on double occupancy, call for single occupancy rates.