Gustavus
Gustavus, in Alaska Southeast, is a small community in the middle of a rainforest, part of Tongass National Forest, from where many tours and excursions are available.
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GENERAL INFORMATION Gustavus is a small community of abut 350 inhabitants, located about 75 kilometers north-west of Juneau. Like the other towns in the south-east, there aren't roads or highways connecting Gustavus to the nearby communities, so it is possible to get here only by sea or by air, with several daily services from Juneau (20 minutes by air and 1 hour and 45 minutes by sea). The community of Gustavus is very interesting: there aren't banks, police stations, hospitals, malls or fast foods. The economy is based o fishing, tourism, and services for the community itself. The place and the people is very charming and friendly, everything is surrounded by a dense forest and pure nature, leaving the roads of the "downtown" it is more easy to encounter bears and mooses, rather than other humans. Up to 200 years ago, the land where Gustavus is built was still buried under a huge sheet of ice, but after a tremendously fast glacier retraction, a new land was exposed, promptly colonized by trees, animals, and humans. As the weight of the ice is no longer compressing the ground below it, the earth is lifting up at a rate of a couple of inches per year. The weather is relatively mild if compared to other places at similar latitudes, with cool summers and colder winters. Long overcast periods with low clouds and rain are common on summertime, but I think that this particular situation contributes a lot to increase the "sense of mystery", making this place more and more fascinating. Try to belive ! |
(Please click on a picture to show an enlarged version)
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I choose to reach Gustavus by air, with a direct flight from Juneau. |
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There are several full-service lodges in Gustavus. I've chosen the Annie Mae Lodge, featured by very good standards, with excellent food and staff. On the right picture, this is what I can see from the window of my room... just trees and nature in every directions. |
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| The roads are normally unpaved... there aren't signs, markers, stoplights and... above of all... there aren't cars ! | |
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| The ground under the woods is uniformely paved with mosses and lichens, creating often a very soft carpet up to 10 inches thick. | |
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Excuse me Mr. Bear... It isn't to avoid you... but... do you know any alternative road to go back to the lodge ? The staff at the lodge told me "the beach is a beautiful place, it is less than five walking minutes from here and, if you are lucky, you may see a bear or a moose". My first thought was "nooo !!! I will never be SO lucky". Instead he appeared suddenly and it is an incredible experience when you know that you are alone here... alone with him... |
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| This is the main dock of Gustavus. Here a daily boat service arrives and departs daily from/to Auke Bay, near Juneau, in addition to whale whatching cruises. The dock is very distant from the land because the land is raising at a rate of a couple of inches per year (because the ice is no longer compressing the ground), so the water is very shallow. |
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| Icy strait is locaded before the entrance to Glacier Bay and here there is one of the most dense population of whales and orca of the the entire Pacific ocean. With a few hour of cruise, seeing these animals is almost guaranteed, togheter with seals, otters, sea lions, bald eagles, mooses and bears walking on the beach. | |
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| Whales ! | |
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The ground is usually totally covered by a dense vegetation and tall trees, even the smallest islands where just a narrow beach separates the forests from the sea. |
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With a smaller boat, I reach an unhabitated place where I'll take a mountain bike tour. The scenery all around is impressive. |
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| A dense forest, where there aren't other humans for dozens of miles. | |
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ALASKA PICTURES |
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Juneau, the Alaska's capital, is the ideal base from where short or longer tours to Alaska Southeast can be organized. GO. |
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Excursions from Gustavus <YOU ARE HERE> Gustavus, in Alaska Southeast, is a small community in the middle of a rainforest, part of Tongass National Forest, from where many tours and excursions are available. |
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Glacier Bay cruise in Alaska south-east Glacier Bay is a deep fjord with many smaller branches, where several glaciers flow from different ice fields, straight into the Pacific Ocean. GO. |
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Barrow, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, is the Alaska and USA last frontier, the northernmost village of the country, several hundreds miles north of the Arctic Circle. GO. |
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Near the Bering Strait and just north of the Arctic Circle, these small communities still live on traditions, in a place far away from the civilization. GO. |
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Nome, the ending point of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race Nome, just south of the Arctic Circle, on the Bering sea, is known for the gold rush during the last century and to be the end point of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. GO. |
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Katmai National Park and the brown bears Katmai National Park has a huge concentration of brown bears (grizzly) and is a paradise because of the beautiful landscape, made of volcanoes, lakes, rivers and endless forests. GO. |
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Anchorage and Portage day tour Anchorage is the Alaska's biggest city and, from here, many tours leave to the natural wonders all around, like glaciers, forests and fjords where whales and orcas can be found. GO. |
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