Chilkoot Experience & Bear Quest

Chilkoot Experience & Bear Quest Photo #1 of 2 Photo copyright ShoreTrips.com.

Overview

A taste of Alaska's rugged natural beauty, wildlife and amazing ecosystems!

Your Alaskan Chilkoot adventure begins when you are met and escorted to the Chilkat Express catamaran at Skagway's small boat harbor.

This tour includes:
• Round trip ferry transfer to/from Haines
• Bus tour along Lynn Fjord and Lutak Inlet to Chilkoot Lake
• Spectacular scenery and wildlife sightings
• Light snack
• All taxes, permit fees, and entrance fees
• Optional 2-hour pontoon boat excursion (not included in tour price)

The Chilkat Express high-speed catamaran is owned and operated by Klukwan Natives, who will welcome you aboard.

And off you'll travel through a scenic landscape of sheer rock cliffs, abundant waterfalls, glaciers, inlets, terminal moraines, and snow-capped mountain ranges that rise straight up out of the depths of Lynn Fjord during this 30-minute voyage to a private docking facility in Haines. Wildlife sightings along the way often include fur seals, eagles, and rafts of surf scoters, with sporadic appearances by whales and occasionally mountain goats and bears.

In Haines, you'll find yourself face to face with a charming unspoiled "picture postcard" setting--the small community of Haines and the magnificent Chilkat Mountain Range, which forms the northern escarpment of Glacier Bay National Park.

You'll be further engulfed by the beauty of this special place as your bus takes you approximately 8 miles along the glacier-blue waters of Lynn Fjord and Lutak Inlet. Here, you're likely to spot eagles and sea birds and, during the salmon runs, fur seals that follow the salmon en route to the lake.

At the terminal moraine at the end of Lutak Inlet, the pavement turns onto a one-mile-long boulder-strewn river and old-growth forest drive to the lake. This landscape has been compared to that of Lake Louise, Banff, Canada and is one of seven historic Tlingit Village sites in the Haines area named Chil-Koot or "Large Basket of Fish." The Chilkoot Drainage is home to about 30 brown bears.

Beginning in mid-July, this lake and shallow river flow out to Lutak Inlet and become a feeding ground for generations of brown bears that eat the many thousands of sockeye, pink, and coho salmon returning to the Chilkoot to spawn. This is a favorite site for sows to teach their cubs the fine art of fishing and for visitors and locals to witness the interaction between wildlife and the food chain.

Our driver/guide takes great pride in presenting the magic of the Chilkoot region to our guests.

Optional add-on for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 30 passengers: 2-hour Pontoon Boat Excursion on Chilkoot Lake. 15-passenger boats are camera friendly for photographers who use large lenses.

• We recommend that you dress in layers, wear good walking shoes, and bring a raincoat, umbrella, or hat.
• There will be spotting scopes on the bus for you to use.
• A light snack, water, and lemonade will be provided.
• Restrooms are available throughout this excursion.

• This tour operates from mid-July through September only.
• There is a minimum of 2 passengers needed to operate this tour.
• This tour requires walking on uneven ground and is not suitable for passengers with limited mobility.

Days offered: 7 days a week

Departures:

• , duration: 5.5 hours The departure time will be determined by ShoreTrips. Times vary due to ferry schedule.