Off the Beaten Path

We’re Ready to Dive into the 2021 Season!

Photo By Katie Janes

We are thrilled to announce Gastineau Guiding’s return to service for an abbreviated 2021 summer season! While the past two years have felt like an obligatory hibernation, we are ready to emerge with more energy and appreciation for each other, the experiences our team provides to visitors, and the industry that allows us to share […]

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Gastineau Guiding COVID 19 UPDATE

Photo by Brandon Nehus

To our friends, employees and guests – past & future,  In just four short months, COVID-19 has brought the Alaska Travel Industry to a grinding halt. For the first time in 28 years of operations, we spent our long summer hours off the trails and waterways of Juneau. We have made the difficult (but safe) […]

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Gastineau Guiding Training Program: Small groups makes for a Big Difference.

Photo By Cam Byrnes

“Gastineau Guidings intensive training program equips each guide with the practical knowledge and techniques needed to interpret and connect each aspect of southeast Alaska’s rich natural history.  With over 100 hours of training our guides are Alaska State Certified Interpreters. The guides we hire have a genuine nature that help spark a sense of wonder […]

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Ask your Naturalist: How are Alaska’s Salmon connected to the Forest?

Photo By Peter Barrett

During the small group experience on one of our whale watching tours, we get a lot of questions. In light of the delayed tourism season here in Juneau we’ve decided to bring the answers to you! We’ve reached out to our guide Keith Pahlke for our segment “Ask your Naturalist.” Keith is a retired Fisheries […]

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Whale watching with our friend, Sasha the Whale.

Photo by Allison Yeager

The culture at Gastineau Guiding has always been shaped around family. A family unit that includes our guides, staff, our management team and most of all, the whales we get to get to see on every whale watching excursion. As is true with most families, the more we’re together, the better we get to know […]

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Alaska is Waiting – and so is Gastineau Guiding

Photo by Scott Ranger

As the snow falls on this spring morning in Alaska, the mood is a bit surreal. For the past 27 seasons, April is when Gastineau Guiding has thrown open its doors to welcome new and returning staff, who come early in the season to partake in one of our industry’s most intense and dedicated training […]

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Guide-Line: Meet Photo Guide Nathan Kelley

Photo By Derek Bedwell

Our guides are what make us extraordinary!  With their inspiring knowledge and passion we’re excited to start our new weekly series “Guidelines” to help visitors learn more about the wonderful individuals that make Gastineau Guiding Juneau’s Premier Guiding Company. “My name is Nathan Kelley I’m a Photo Guide with Gastineau Guiding the past three years, […]

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Alaska’s Long Summer Days Boost Wildflower Blooms

Photo By Aleta Walther

Many visitors travel to Juneau with the hope, and often the expectation, of seeing glaciers, bears, whales and salmon. We often experience these wonders on our Alaska Whales and Rainforest Trails and Photo Safari excursions. However, not expected, but surprisingly savored by our guests, are the enchanting wildflowers that punctuate the endless green landscape of […]

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Juneau Wildlife: Learning from what’s left behind

Photo by Jim Pfitzer

Spring in the shadow of Mendenhall Glacier means a symphony of new sights, sounds and smells on the trails. Migratory birds are arriving, looking for mates and filling the air with song. Lupine, saxifrage, and skunk cabbage that have been dormant for the long, dark winter, are putting on new leaf and flower to regale […]

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Hiking in Bear Country: Smaller Group, Big Difference

Photo by Jim Pfitzer

We stand on a bridge overlooking Steep Creek in the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area on the edge of Tongass National Forest in Juneau, Alaska. Behind us, lost to our view in the dense summer understory, we can hear the crash of Dipper Falls. Beneath and before us, a narrow tongue of fast water flattens into […]

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