Glacier Point Wilderness Safari In Skagway, Alaska

This Skagway, Alaska tour is by Skagway Shore Tours     (855) 983-0023

We traveled in June, 2018 on the Disney Wonder, and one of our ports of call was Skagway.

There were 10 people in our group, and we did the 7:00 am Glacier Point Wilderness Safari.

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Covered Speedboat To Glacier Point

First, after the van picks the group up at the port, the next stop is the pier to board a covered speedboat.

This is about a 20-30 minute boat ride.

After the boat lands at Glacier Point, there are large metal ramps to help guests walk off the boat onto land.

4 Wheel Bus Ride

Next, all the guests get into a school bus which drives through the forrest to the next destination, the equipment camp. Here, you put on waterproof boots, Life Jackets, and store your shoes and anything you want to stay dry.  There is also plenty of bug spray and plenty of flies, and some sunscreen.

We happened to have a perfectly sunny day, with no wind or rain at all.  They are prepared with rain jackets, pants and other waterproof gear, but we didn’t need much.

The Canoe Ride

You each have a paddle, and you need to paddle to get the canoe going, but, most of the ride is motorized.

Our family of 10 got our very own canoe!  That was very nice, especially for pictures and just over all privacy and togetherness.

In general, I looked for excursions and tours that would allow our family to be alone or almost alone.

This was BY FAR my FAVORITE part of ALL the Alaskan Cruise Shore Excursions I’ve done (11 in all)

What an incredible opportunity, to be canoeing on melted glacier water to see Davidson glacier with hardly any one else.  It was incredibly quiet and incredibly peaceful…just the canoe ride, BEFORE we even got to Davidson Glacier.

The glacier water looks like the sparkly oil/water mixture in a volcano lamp, if you remember those?  When I would dip my paddle in the water, the sparkles would spin together like thick smoke.

Our guide mentioned that the water is so thick with glacier silt, that fish would drown in the water because they can’t get the silt through their lungs to get any oxygen.

The Canoe Landing

This part is the most challenging as the water/silt mixture is like very thick clay and sucks your boots down and is quite hard to walk in.

Once I was out of the canoe and getting ready to support my parents, I was sure my Mom was going to be upset again.  But, to my surprise, she did just fine, and didn’t get any water in her boots.

This is also because our guide, Chase, maneuvered our canoe parallel to a silt island with great skill.  This gave us only a short area of water to walk through plus, the water was not very deep where we “docked”.

Other canoes had a harder time.

Our group stayed dry the entire time.

My Dad was a big help, standing right next to my Mom, holding her arm as she approached the glacier.

The Glacier Walk

Once on dry land, the walking is much easier.  The next challenge is getting over the small but quick streams of glacier water that break through in several directions.

It was the guides job to find the path of least possibility of getting wet, which they found at a bend in the silt stream. They made a “guide bridge” to help us all across several steps of “boot sucking silk and deep glacier water”.

This was successful as our entire group of 30 people got through without getting wet!!  Yay to our guides.

The guides were fabulous, well trained and made my family feel very safe and secure.

Davidson Glacier

Seeing Davidson glacier up close and personal was incredible.  The glaciers look so small as you approach them, but this is an optical illusion.  We realized how wrong we were when a “little hole” on the bottom side was proven to be  bigger than our bus.

The glacier also looks safe to approach, until you see a car sized ice block falling into the water.

Glaciers are VERY DANGEROUS!  I had no idea how volatile they are.   They are melting and shifting 24/7.

One of the main indications of danger are the intense sounds of ice cracking. These sounds become more evident as you get closer than 400 yards away.

We were happy to keep our distance and not get any closer.

If you want to “touch the glacier” there are big pieces of ice floating down that you can touch.

That counted for us.

Our canoe ride back, then the bus, then the speed boat seemed to melt into the day.  We were exhausted.

They fed us turkey sandwiches, chips, trail mix, a cookie and some water.  It was delicious because I was starving.

Conclusion: Glacier Point Wilderness Safari

For me, this is the Best of the Alaskan Cruise Shore Excursions.  We have been on 11.

What do I like about it:

• Canoe Ride was Safe yet far enough away to feel remote
• Well trained staff and good gear
• Quiet and serene
• Hardly any people
• A little bit of everything: boat, hike, canoe, glacier, seals
• Get to see an amazing Glacier while it is still here
• Incredible views
• My senior parents were able to join us!  (and feel safe and accomplished by the end)

In conclusion, we highly recommend this excursion tour, and if you can only do ONE Alaskan Excursion during your cruise, you might want to consider this one!

I have many more pictures if you need some more convincing.  Just email me and I’ll send them to you.  You can read more about our family travel here, about our family here.