5 June 2007
June 5, 2007 - Day 10 in Alaska - Taku Glacier
Posted by Darrell under: Alaska; My Journal .
Our pictures from day 10 in Alaska at Taku Glacier Lodge.
Caleb and I decided to take a float plane out to the Taku Glacier Lodge. We went to their office and town and were told that there was an opening for us to go out at about 1:00. We met back at the docks and boarded the float plane at 1:00. This was our first experience flying in a float plane and it was pretty neat.
Float planes seem more stable while taking off and landing than most wheeled aircraft I’ve been on. During our journey out to Taku Lodge, we passed several glaciers. The Lodge sits across the river from Taku Glacier. The glacier appears to be just a few hundred yards away, but in actuality is over 2 miles away and is 1800+ feet tall!
Ten people live and work at the lodge for 8 to 9 months out of the year. It is beutiful setting and surrounded by wild life, including mountain goats, bears, moose, seals, and even wolverines - although Caleb and I did not see any of these during our visit.
Part of the tour of Taku Glacier Lodge is a Salmon bake. Our meal consisted of King Salmon, baked beans, slaw, apple salad, and cookies. The food was exceptionally good. After the meal Caleb and I roamed through the nearby forest looking for wildlife. We didn’t find any, but we did find an awesome waterfall and took several pictures.
We then boarded a different float plane and began the journey back to Junea. The Taku trip cost $410 ($225 me, $185 Caleb) plus tip (for the servers at the Lodge) and was well worth it. Caleb and I were the only people at the lodge that were not part of a cruise ship tour. In Juneau, everything revolves around the cruise ships!
My wife and daughter are on their own little vacation. They went to the beach and to visit some friends. We got to speak to both of them today, which was nice. I told my wife about the opportunity Keegan presented for a special 2008 Fall hunt and she was all for it. What a woman!
Caleb and I are planning on going to grab a bite of dinner later and then calling it an early night. Tomorrow, we are either going to fish locally or hire a charter and fly to Skagway for some exploring - depending on the weather.
The weather was pretty nice again today. It rained a little, but nothing like we were mentally prepared for before coming to Alaska. We love this place!
3 Comments so far...
Frank1-series Says:
6 August 2008 at 4:20 pm.
Very, very, very bad experience!!!
Tour takes 3 hours. Approximately 1hour in floatplane and 2 hours in the lodge. Flight is ok. Scenery is beautiful. Once at the lodge, the cheap tourist pleasing starts off. You are being told undoubtedly made up stories about the lodge and are invited to visit the gift shop. The ‘famous’ salmon bake was also a deception. The food was simply not good. Also, if you wanted a beer, you had to pay extra.
The very worst part of the whole trip was how they treated the two black bears that they kept at the property. If you are wondering how they keep wild animals; well by using sticks and dogs!! Needless to say anymore… It was just brutal.
Make sure to avoid Taku Glacier Lodge, do a regular glacier flight instead!!!
Kyle Says:
5 September 2008 at 5:25 pm.
The stories aren’t made up. The food is your own call, I happened to like it.
As for the bears, please explain to me how they ‘keep’ wild animals. The bears come because of the scent of salmon cooking, and the reason they have the sticks and dogs are to keep people safe. Bears need to know that people are dangerous to them. If they thought humans were cute and cuddly, they’d very quickly consider them food sources.
Don’t come to Alaska again if you’re simply going to disregard everything you’re told. Wait, no. Come back. Feed the bears.
Darrell Says:
8 September 2008 at 10:35 am.
My son and I enjoyed our visit to Taku Glacier Lodge and I would return with my family in tow. However, this does not mean that everyone will enjoy it.
One of the great things about freedom is that we can all have our own opinion on what is enjoyable and what is not.
The only way we can find out, though, is to experience it for ourselves. I learned a long time ago that you can’t simply take someone else’s word on it. So, bottom line, my recommendation is to experience as much as you can and decide for yourself if it is enjoyable and ‘worth it’ or not.
In this case, the worse that can happen is that you take in some breathtaking scenery in ALASKA!
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