Glacier Bay National Park

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We left the car and camper behind and traveled to Gustavus as a "foot passenger" aboard an Alaskan Ferry from Juneau for $30 each. We decided to stay at the Glacier Bay Lodge located within Glacier Bay National Park at Barlett Cove (the only lodging within the park). It is a beautiful place surrounded by spruce trees with a massive stone fireplace. Plus we will sleep in a bed and have our own shower!! The views of the water and the Fairweather Range is awesome. Tomorrow we will take a full-day boat tour of the park, which leaves from the Lodge.

It is so exciting to see so many glaciers. We had wonderful weather and the Fairweather Mountain Range was visible.

Some History:
Glacier Bay was first surveyed in 1794 by a team from the H.M.S. Discovery, captained by George Vancouver. By 1879, however, naturalist John Muir discovered that the ice had retreated more than 30 miles forming an actual bay. By 1916, the Grand Pacific Glacier – the main glacier credited with carving the bay – had melted back 60 miles to the head of what is now Tarr Inlet.

Pioneer ecologist William S. Cooper of the University of Minnesota conducted studies of plant succession beginning in 1916, and was instrumental in the move to have the area protected.

Efforts for protecting Glacier Bay were made by John Muir and other conservationists, and in 1925 President Calvin Coolidge signed a proclamation creating Glacier Bay National Monument. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act elevated the monument to national park status.

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