EDIT:
Wow, y'all have been massively helpful and I thank you.
We will not do West Glacier, even though it seems a goodly chunk of it would be perfectly fine. Instead, we'll hike East Glacier. Aim for Perseverance; or maybe take the tram and hike a bit of Mt. Roberts (but not the whole way - that seems a bit cliff-y and steep up by Gastineau Peak/Juneau). If the clouds are low, the airport dike area looks great.
And definitely going to Eagle Beach & the shrine. Unsure if we will hike East Glacier; it'll depend on how smoothly the car rental pickup goes, and the crowds.
Again, many thanks, and I am gutted that we can't stay longer. (Beginning to feel this way about the whole trip, tbh)
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Hello, we are cruise ship passengers and have rented a car. Ship is in port from 9:30 am to 8 pm, end of July.
We'll do the traditional tourist thing and go to the Mendenhall Visitors Center and walk to Nugget Falls, but after that I'm dithering over what to do.
We are two 60-somethings and our 21YO son. All quite fit, love hiking.
I, however, am terrified of heights (in the sense of cliffs/suspension bridges, etc).
So West Glacier Trail seems like a great hike except for this talk of rappelling down cliffs and cliffs in general. But I've also read reviews where kids have successfully hiked it. So I am unsure if I'm just being overly terrified.
There are other hikes we could do: East Glacier, Perseverance are on my list. And we have a few locations to explore by car that offer different experiences: Shrine of St Therese, Eagle Beach, Echo Cove, Douglas Island & the Treadwell Trail.
Questions:
How perilous is West Glacier, really?
It seems to me we could either hike West Glacier or visit/hike all the other places on my list. Which would you pick?
(Context: we are also going to be in Seward for three days and will be kayaking to a glacier & also hiking Exit Glacier, so this wouldn't be our only glacier experience.)
Thanks for any insights!