“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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Whether whale watching, bear watching, or dining on fish and chips with a window table, a visit to Juneau is almost guaranteed to include plenty of bald eagle sightings. Scanning the Sitka Spruce trees along the miles of coastline and river bank reveals the polk-a-dots of white heads contrasted against dark green boughs. During salmon […]
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The thought of whale-watching in Southeast Alaska evokes in some people visions of shiny black orcas — killer whales — the largest of the dolphin family that hunt the world’s oceans for seals, sea lions, or salmon. Who doesn’t recognize their stout, starkly-patterned black and white bodies?And who isn’t chilled by the sleek, black foreboding […]
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