Gustavus, Gateway to Glacier Bay

The public ferry from Juneau to Gustavus was rumored to be brought back in service but wasn’t available during my visit so the plane out of Skagway was my only option. The clouds kept us low so we couldn’t pop up over the snowy mountains but instead I was treated to aerial views of a large whale frolicking in the Lynn Canal as we made our lower elevation trip down the coast.

Arriving at the Gustavus airport the owner of a local B&B as well as Bud of Bud’s Rental Car service met me. In a flash I was behind the wheel and following the B&B owner back to my cottage. Settled in and pleasantly on my own, I spent the rest of the day exploring the sights of Gustavus by car. Though small in population the distances and network of roads require some form of transportation and I was happy to have one of Bud’s cars to use.

The visitor complex for Glacier Bay was extensive and lightly populated with visitors and college-age workers. Still early in the season, there were plenty of opportunities to hike empty trails and take out kayaks whenever you wanted. A couple of bears provided local excitement. The juvenile but large Cinnamon male was getting aggressive and would feint a charge when the rangers attempted to “shoo” him away from trails and cabins. The mother black with two cubs preferred to be left alone but always became the center of excitement when spotted. This actually led to an interesting encounter during one of my early morning walks. I was shuffling along the southern waterside trail which is set just inside the tree line above the shore. I saw the mother and one of the cubs not far from the trail on the waterside close to the beach. I made sure she could hear me and kept a steady shuffling pace and I think I was speaking or singing or something so she could kept close track of my movements. This excellent behavior was foiled by the second cub which became alarmed at the growing crowd of tourist clicking away with cameras and slowly crowding the bears from the water’s edge. When the cub gave its loud alarm cry the mother just assumed I was at fault and charged me. For some reason I can’t explain, I just kept up the same disinterested shuffling gait and whatever inane chattering I had been doing. This total lack of response was apparently the perfect thing to do and she immediately turned from me to find the real source of her cub’s alarm. Later I think I noticed my pulse was somewhat elevated. A remarkable memory, the lesson I took away from this is that the tourist once again were probably the most dangerous element in this encounter. At least they are predictable.

Aside from the hiking and paddling among the many small islands I had a chance to delve into the natural history and dynamic forces of nature that are at work in Glacier Bay both above and especially below the surface of the sea. While doing some research at the local library (excellent facility) I accessed the excellent write-up on the famous plane wreck that had occurred here. Originally Gustavus was a secret WWII military installation with a relatively large airport. A plane went down during a snow-squall. The story gave this a human element and I set out to find the plane wreck. Of the many sites of wilderness plane wrecks that I have seen over the years this was by far the most remarkable. So many elements of the story were still visible and much of the plane, though firmly gripped by the forest now, was still intact.

During my several days here, I observed the harvesting of spruce buds. I knew of their value to earlier cultures (they are very high in vitamin C) so I naturally thought they were being gathered for some sort of organic product. I was partially right. They were being collected for use in the Alaskan Breweries Winter-Ale, a seasonal product. When I flew out the next day for Juneau, the back of the small plane was filled with bags of these same spruce buds.