American Constellation in Alaska: Bartlett Cove

By GERRY BARKER
North Palm Beach Life

Our trip through the Inside Passage brings us to Bartlett Cove on Day 5, considered the gateway to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Once onshore, we view exhibits from the Native American Tlingit people, as well as the skeleton of a humpback whale named Snow at Glacier Bay Lodge.

Nearby is the start of the Forest Trail, a one-mile, self-guided loop through a rainforest of spruce and hemlock. Hiking in Alaska is akin to a spiritual experience -- just you in the quiet surroundings of a primeval forest, feeling at one with Nature at a moment in time.

Back onboard, Executive Chef Way, from Barbados, is doing a cooking demonstration. He is making all of us crab cakes. Amazingly delicious.

​At day's end, we are treated to another gorgeous Alaskan sunset as we slowly head to our next destination, Sitka. This is the Alaska everyone needs to see at least once in a lifetime.

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Bartlett Cove Slideshow
Photos: Gerry Barker

Bartlett Cove Video
Credit: Gerry Barker