- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Above & Beyond Alaska
About This Business:
Our Juneau Whale Watch Alaska tours includes transportation each way from the downtown Juneau cruise dock to Auke Bay, where you disembark for the best… read more »
4 reviews for Above & Beyond Alaska
4 reviews in English
-
Review from Tiffany V.
Montville, NJ
8/20/2010 7 photos
My husband, brother and I went on the glacier trek and climb back in the middle of May and this was by far the highlight of our trip! Gabe was our guide - very knowledgeable and just an overall great guide. There were 6 of us in total on our hike that day.
They provided waterproof pants and jackets if needed as well as backpacks to carry trek and climb gear along with snacks (bagel and cream cheese, granola bars, chocolates, bottle of water) and any personal belongings that you would like to take with you.
The three of us are in our mid-to-late twenties and are fairly active so the hike on the way there wasn't too bad. The first portion of the hike (around 2 miles if I remember correctly) was fairly easy with many switchbacks. The second portion of the hike to the glacier took longer and there was no longer a marked trail - this section required rock scrambling and included steep sections. On the day we went, it was raining in the morning and so it was pretty slippery. Good sturdy hiking shoes / boots are very important.
After arriving at the foot of the glacier, we were oriented on how to use our glacier trek gear. The views walking on top of the glacier was unbelievable. I don't think words can express the sights you see while on top of / under the glacier and so I attached some pictures. We also had the option of trying the ice climbing. Not everyone in our group attempted this but I highly recommend it if you have the option to try it. I was initially a little hesitant since I had no experience ice climbing and it looked a little daunting at first, but our guide was very reassuring and it turned out to be SO much fun!
The hike back was pretty challenging and tiring since we had spent so much time hiking to the glacier and then glacier trekking & climbing (walking in crampons can be tiring if you are not used to them!) and the rocks were pretty slick so there were several slips and falls, especially in the portion of the hike where there was no trail. In spite of how tiring the hike can be, I would HIGHLY recommend the trip if you are physically fit because the sights while on the glacier are unbelievable! -
Review from Dietrich H.
Los Gatos, CA
6/18/2007 5 photos
My wife and I had a kick-ass time hiking up to and trekking on the Mendenhall Glacier with Above & Beyond.
We were in Juneau for just the day on a shore excursion from our cruise (as a side note, cruises are great and all, but if you get bored easily, bring pants with elastic waistbands because you're going to eat a lot because you're very likely going to be bored for your at sea days).
When we first signed up for Holland America, we were pretty excited at all the things we could do in Juneau. There was dog sledding, glacier trekking and ice climbing and all this other stuff. Then we saw they were like $500pp. Umm... screw that. We went out on our own, and by the power of Google, were able to find the same excursions through A&B for significantly less. Screw the cruise and their 50% markup - support your local businesses!
Kevin was our guide, and he had tons of information on the local town, the terrain and the history. As we hiked up to the glacier, he talked to us about local wildlife, plants, and trees, how the terrain and plant life changes as we got closer to the glacier, and about what we could and couldn't eat, and what we should stay away from. Seriously, dude is bright and told us everything we ever wanted to know.
Then, once we got on the glacier, he spent time with us to get our gear right, took us into all the ice caves, described how certain formation develop on the glacier and all that good stuff. He was knowledgable, friendly, and made sure we were all having a good time while being safe. Honestly, it was one of the best day tours I've ever had and I couldn't recommend this company more highly.
The rest of Alaska, as you can all imagine, is unbelievable scenic. You can spend all day just sitting there and soaking in all the splendor. But A&B, and Kevin especially made this the best part of our trip. -
Review from Eye W.
San Francisco, CA
8/8/2009
They're quite serious about their moniker - "Above & Beyond" as our guided trek to Mendenhall Glacier this August 09 was truly that - above and beyond. Our cruise ship guided hike seemed like a Mendenhall glacier trek hors d'oeuvre compared to what we wanted, and after Googling, found A&B highly recommended on another travel site. (Call A&B directly and book as you'll save money BTW).
When ship docked in Juneau, we went to the meeting place with about 9 other intrepid souls and waited. When the van finally showed up with a new driver, who was really nice but should invest in a GPS, we went hunting for a client at another stop - he wasn't there, he was at another hotel. We went hunting again, and I was getting annoyed, as the driver was sacrificing the group for the sake of one. Wisely, the driver aborted the snipe hunt as some of the clients were openly expressing annoyance. This was the only minor ding of the trip as I was worried it was a harbinger of our coming trek.
But after that things flowed. Off we went to the takeoff point. There we met our two sibling mountain goat-like guides, who as I soon learned were very capable and knowledgeable about the flora, fauna and glaciers. We were handed gear - packs, ice axes, crampons, water, harness and a small bag of snacks . After gear instructions we set off. It starts off slowly, but soon you're deep in a temperate rainforest of astonishing beauty that soon turns to rocky terrain and then to a moonscape just before the glacier. After traversing some very rough terrain, climbing a steep rocky cliff, we stood before the glacier. Crampons go on at the edge of the glacier and wielding our ice axes, we hiked around the glacier, marveling at the jaw dropping majesty of the glacier. Our guides directed us to pure glacier water, which you can drink unfiltered and shepherded us around deep crevasses.
The highlight was entering an ice cave. It's mind blowing - it's like crawling into a diamond. Startlingly blue and the air inside was charged with oxygen - oxygen thousands of years old. A cathedral of ice, I was almost in tears at the otherworldly beauty. From there we headed back through some very dense rainforest and very rocky almost non-existent switchback trails. It's deep bush, straight out of a movie. Our interesting and well-traveled guides kept us entertained and made sure everyone was okay. I was feeling the 8 mile fast paced hike, but could have turned around and repeated the trip just to be on that glacier again.
IMPORTANT. Bring boots, sturdy grippy waterproof hiking boots with ankle support as you traverse some very rocky terrain. You will ascend and descend steep rocky grades and cross streams and be wearing crampons. You can do it in tennis shoes, but I suspect you won't be comfortable. It helps to be somewhat in shape so you can enjoy the trip, because if you aren't you'll be hating life before you even reach the glacier. Trust me, you'll be tested. But you'll make it, because you always want to see what beauty spot lies around the next bend, and Above & Beyond will show you the best. I highly recommend them. And that missing client? He took a taxi out to meet us at the starting point. He exclaimed later that if he had missed the trip, he couldn't know what he had missed so he wouldn't feel too bad, but after doing the trip, he realized missing the trip would have been a huge mistake and he was so glad he made the effort. -
Review from Kathleen H.
Truckee, CA
7/27/2009
My husband and I did a 5-day, 4-night trip with these guys from Juneau to Admiralty Island. We had been kayaking once before in Alaska and had seen glaciers so we wanted to do something different. This trip was a spectacular opportunity to see bears, eagles, seals and lots of other wildlife in a gorgeous setting close to Juneau.
The owners of the company are extremely friendly, knowledgeable and attentive to their customers. Our guide was a Juneau-native who was confident, professional and a pleasant guy to be around for 5 days. The food was plentiful, varied and very tasty. We also ended up using their equipment, which was clean and of good quality.
The main purpose of our trip was to kayak to Pack Creek, a brown bear viewing area co-managed by Alaska Fish and Game and the USFS. To start our trip we were dropped off via boat from Juneau at the Oliver Inlet (45 minute or so journey) and kayaked to the portage ramp that took us to Seymour Canal. We spent the next 4 days kayaking in the beautiful waters of this protected canal.
Soon after we started our trip in the canal I was excited as I saw a bald eagle. I looked closer with my binoculars and saw 4 more! Over the course of the trip we saw eagles doing everything from sitting on nests to scooping up fish and fighting mid-air.
As we kayaked in the canal we saw harbor seals, a few deer, more eagles, a pine marten and lots of dungeness crab and sea stars. We soaked up all of this wildlife viewing with a beautiful dense, lush forest and plentiful cascading waterfalls as the background.
To visit Pack Creek you need a permit. On the day we were scheduled to visit Pack Creek we only saw two bears from very far away and were a bit disappointed. But, since we were camping on the island nearby, we were able to buy a permit for the next day as well and return to try again. On our second day we ended up seeing 4 bears, including a mother and cub and a young male bear VERY close up. For me, this was really the highlight. If we had come by airplane on that first day like everyone else, we would not have been able to return so easily.
I highly recommend this trip and this outfitter. For my husband and I, it was just perfect. As we were not familiar with concerns about tides/currents and/or brown bears, we were a bit concerned about venturing out on our own. This allowed us to do the trip we wanted but feel relaxed and comfortable.
