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!
One Comment 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!!!
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