Gastineau Guiding

[constantcruisewithdrawal]

Each of the last two times we have been to Juneau we have taken the big blue bus to Mendenhall and hiked the East Glacier Loop. Love the hike; would highly recommend it. Favorite picture of my wife and I is from this hike (taken on a timer with my camera screwed to the top of my hiking stick stuck in the ground). Anyway, I was intrigued by this company (Gastineau Guiding) and wondered if anyone has used and enjoyed them. Do you remember where you hiked?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jmz43]

I have been looking at their guide's choice adventure hike. Has anyone done this trip? I figure it may be a nice break to get away from the water and onto some solid ground!

[nancycoop1]

Do you have a web site for them? Thanks

[jmz43]

The website is http://www.stepintoalaska.com/home.cfm. Not sure whether the lack of response to these posts means no one used this outfit or that their experiences were not good ones.

[rykersdad]

... I've been checking out hiking too, so will post my comments when done.

Thanxs for web site.

[jmz43]

I did the Guides Choice Adventure Hike with Gastineau Guiding last week with my 10 year old daughter. I have mixed emotions about this excursion. Our guides, Del and Aurora were great. They gave us history about the region, talked about the glaciers, pointed out the flora on the trail and told funny stories. My daughter especially enjoyed having all the different plants pointed out to her.

 

My disappointment was the location of the hike. I was hoping to go off the beaten path and be taken to a place that normally one wouldn't see. Instead our hike was the East Glacier Loop trail at Mendenhall Glacier. The hike is an excellent one but it is also one you can easily do yourself by taking the bus to the Glacier. If I was to do to the excursion myself, in addition to the hike I would have had time to spend at the park's information center and perhaps walk to the base of a waterfall at the glacier.

 

I definitely would recommend Gastineau Guiding if you are interested in a group hike. If you are an avid hiker or like to spend more time exploring then I suggest take the bus out to Mendenhall Glacier - go to the visitor's center, buy a book or guide to the local flora and explore the trails on your own.

 

Jerry

[frames]

ditto jmz43 response...

 

we did it early june this year. guide was funny and informative. however,

we had 13 people in our group. if you were in the back, you typically could not

see & hear what the guide was talking about up front. at times we went a bit

too fast on the trail - instead of stopping and looking what was interesting

to us at the time.

 

with that said, if you fear getting lost or getting back late, go with the guides.

they'll get you there and back - on time.

 

there were four of us... $77 x 4, a bit steep for staying "on the path". as

jmz43, i was hoping we'd do something a little different compared to what

anyone could do for free.