NORRIS ADVENTURE: SEAPLANE, PADDLE & GLACIER HIKE
Immerse yourself in Alaska’s landscapes in this exciting active adventure of around five hours. A light aircraft will fly you to a glacier, where you’ll hike and paddle across the terrain before trekking across part of Norris Glacier on foot.
Excursion details
Get set to explore the great Alaskan outdoors in this approximately five-hour excursion to Norris Glacier. The action begins with a transfer drive of about 25 minutes to the gear warehouse. Upon arrival, you’ll have around 40 minutes for equipment fitting, orientation and a transfer to your floatplane – a light aircraft modified with external pontoons, or floats, instead of wheels, allowing it to take off and land on water.
Then sit back and enjoy a scenic flight of roughly 25 minutes to Norris Glacier, located near the mouth of Taku Inlet and surrounded by the Juneau Icefield. You’ll land on a secluded lake framed by glaciers, marking the start of your approximately two-hour hiking and packrafting journey, with plenty to fit in during that time.
A packraft is a lightweight, inflatable raft compact enough to fit into a rucksack. After hiking across ice-sculpted terrain, you’ll receive a short safety briefing and instruction from your guide before setting off in a one-person packraft, gliding past icebergs towards the dramatic Norris Glacier.
For the next stage, your guide will help pull you and your raft directly onto the glacier, where you’ll exchange your paddle for microspike crampons and a trekking pole. These will help you explore the glacier’s surface on foot, navigating crevasses, meltwater pools and blue ice formations.
Once your glacier trek is complete, climb back into your packraft for the return paddle to the floatplane. A roughly 25-minute flight transports you back to Juneau, where you’ll have around 40 minutes to return your gear before the approximately 25-minute drive back to the port.
Important information: Guests will be entering a wilderness environment without restroom facilities. Guests will be required to hike 500 yards over uneven, cobbled terrain to/from “Packraft Cove”, paddle up to 1 mile using a kayak paddle to propel a one or two-person packraft, and trek up to 2 miles on the surface of the glacier over uneven, slick terrain. This tour is not available for pregnant women. Guests should consider their physical fitness prior to booking this tour. This tour includes professional guides, all paddling equipment and glacier trekking gear, rain gear (hooded jacket, pants, and rubber boots) and a dry bag, snacks and water bottle. It is recommended that guests wear warm, layered clothing. The amount of time on the glacier is dependent on groups’pace, time spent packrafting, and weather conditions. The minimum age to participate is 10 years old.
