“A Little Bit of Everything”

History…Flightseeing…Fresh BBQ Salmon…Black Bears…Glaciers…River Landings…Education…Culture…Hiking…Beer…Wine…Another Beer…

When describing the experience of the Taku Lodge Excursion, one can get overwhelmed with where to begin.  Our goal is to provide you with a glimpse of the tour through our eyes, based on our personal experience.  And we must say, we have experienced the Taku Lodge Excursion more than any other.  There are some darn good reasons for this!

The first great thing about this tour is the location of departure, downtown Juneau on the Gastineau Channel. We love to arrive early, have a beer (this is a common theme with us) at the Flight Deck Restaurant, a great little outdoor restaurant on the water that serves a great selection of Alaskan beers. The owner, Mike, will take good care of you. The views of the channel and the mountains of Douglas Island are the best in town! From here you can also watch the floatplanes (the very ones you are about to board) land and take off, excellent entertainment!

As you check in, Holly, Samantha & the wonderful crew of Wings Airways will greet you with enthusiasm, and divide you into groups, then it is time to board your floatplane! As you walk down the ramp to the planes, your excitement and anticipation builds for the adventure that is to come.

An important feature of the tour is that everyone on the plane has a window seat. This is crucial for taking photos!  You also don’t have to worry about which side of the plane to sit on, you will keep the same seat for the flight out and the flight back, and will see all there is to see.

The 30 minute flight to the Taku Lodge is absolutely breathtaking! Everyone has headphones to listen to the educational narration provided for you. Learn about the history of Juneau, the geological forces that shaped our area, local industry and recreation, and of course the glaciers that you will fly over.  The star of the flight is the Taku Glacier, the largest glacier in the Juneau Icefield. As you fly right over the top of it, look down into the stunning bright blue crevasses and moulins, the scope and size of this glacier will blow you away.  You will also get great views of the Norris, Hole-in-the-Wall, East & West Twin Glaciers.

Landing on the swift Taku River is a blast! The Taku River is a crucial salmon spawning habitat, and a very popular recreational area for locals as well. Up river there are moose, wolves, wolverines, black bears and brown bears.

As you de-board the plane, the historic Taku Lodge comes into view. We always head right for the lodge, go inside and grab a beer or glass of wine, and put our coats/bags at the table by the big window that looks out over the grill. If the bears clean off the grill while you are eating, you have a front row seat!  Then head back outside and sit in the Adirondack Chairs in the front yard, with a view of the Hole-in-the-Wall Glacier.  You have some time to explore the property on your own, so take your time and enjoy the beauty and serenity of this historic place.

As the Grill Chef is grilling the salmon, keep an eye out for the local black bears that can’t resist the aromas of the salmon being cooked.  They can pop out of nowhere so keep your eyes peeled! Take the trail through the woods to a small waterfall, pick fresh blueberries and salmonberries, and tour some of the old buildings on property.  The gift shop is also worth checking out.

Once they ring the dinner bell, head inside and enjoy the best salmon meal in Juneau. It is simple, homemade and fabulous! And the salmon is always perfectly grilled. It is all you can eat, the staff will bring more salmon out to your table after the first round.  If you don’t like salmon, there is a chicken option, but come on, you have to eat this perfect piece of fish! They are also famous for their ginger snap cookies, which are super ginger-y!

While you eat, the entertaining host will regale you with stories of the amazing history of the Lodge, you will learn all about Mary Joyce, who was a total bad-ass.  She was a dog trainer, a pilot, owned the lodge, and opened the Lucky Lady Bar, which is still open in downtown Juneau!

You will have about 30 minutes or so after dinner to relax or explore, then you will board your plane back to Juneau.  The scenic flight back to Juneau caps off an amazing 3 hours.

~Keli & Kris~

When we ask our clients and hotel guests, “what Alaskan adventure is on your bucket list?”, the number one answer is “HIKING ON A GLACIER!” -or- “SEEING THE ICE CAVES!” (usually said with the exclamation point emphasis).  There are over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, so a casual observer might think that this activity would be readily available in all areas.  The truth, however, is that most of these glaciers are inaccessible, and the glaciers that are accessible are becoming less so as they melt and retreat.

This melting is what creates the incredible and otherworldly ice caves, but it also makes them a fleeting phenomenon.  In Juneau, you have as good a chance to see them as anywhere in Alaska by hiking to the Mendenhall Glacier.  When planning a glacier hike, we always recommend booking with guiding professionals, as the ice is ever-changing and unpredictable. The guides know which paths to take to stay safe, as well as where all of the best glacial features are.  The guiding companies will also provide all of the necessary equipment needed to keep you safe.  We always book with Above and Beyond Alaska in Juneau, a wonderful hiking and guiding company.

MENDENHALL GLACIER  – WEST GLACIER TRAIL HIKE

The famous Mendenhall Glacier is a quick 10 minute drive out of downtown Juneau, making it one of the most accessible glaciers in the world.  It’s melting ice feeds Mendenhall Lake, a beautiful iceberg-studded lake with waterfalls, bird watching, salmon spawning streams and black bears.

There are three ways to get to the glacier, and get ON the glacier for some glacier trekking.  1. Helicopter Landing 2. Canoe/Kayak Paddle across Mendenhall Lake and 3. Hike along the West Glacier Trail.

Let’s talk about the hike!

It is a forested trail that winds along the west side of Mendenhall Lake for a while, and then it becomes tricky.  The path becomes less clear, and you start to climb up and down bare rock that has been scraped by the retreating glacier.  It can be a little treacherous if it is raining and the rocks are slippery!  Really good hiking boots are a must!  As long as you keep your eyes on the Lake and the Glacier, you shouldn’t get lost. It is considered a moderate to difficult hike, and it is beautiful!

This is where you will be glad that you are with a guide, and Above and Beyond Alaska is the best guiding company in Juneau. They carry your crampons and poles that you will need for hiking on the glacier, so that you are unencumbered for the hike.  Once you reach the glacier, about a 2 hour hike, they will give you a quick lunch, then gear you up for your bucket list glacier hike!

The Mendenhall Glacier is famous for its Ice Caves, which form when melting water from “up glacier” winds its way down through the glacier and toward Mendenhall Lake.  The water literally carves out the “caves” over periods of time. But, you need to be a little lucky to be able to enter the Mendenhall Ice Caves. They come and they go, so hopefully you can hit the timing just right.  Aside from the ice caves, the glacial features caused by the melting water are incredible: deep blue crevasses, moulins (nearly vertical channels), glacial streams and glacial ponds or “lakes”.    And yes, the glacier water is the best water you will ever taste!

Your guides do more than show you the way and keep you safe.  They also will educate you!  They will give you more information on the glacier than you could ever remember, which we believe greatly enhances the experience!

Happy Ice Cave Hunting!

~Keli & Kris~

Aaah, whale watching in Alaska…in our minds there is not much that tops it! In fact, we probably go at least 10 times every summer, from our home base of Juneau. There is something very special about being out on the calm waters of the Inside Passage or Kenai Fjords, surrounded by mountains and glaciers. The waters are a beautiful greenish-blue color, teeming with small schooling fish and krill (small shrimp-like crustaceans) that provide the Humpback Whales a never-ending buffet. Day and night they feed, 23 hours per day (they have to sleep sometime, called logging), fattening up for the long return journey back south to either Hawaii or Mexico. They can consume up to 2 tons (!) of food per day, to make up for the fat they lost on the journey here.

The big question, however, is WHERE in Alaska should you go whale watching? Luckily, you have a couple of great options to choose from. We have ranked our top whale watching destinations in the Great Land to help you decide. As with all of the tours that we sell, we share this information based on personal experience, so here we go!

JUNEAU WHALE WATCHING

Juneau is all about the Humpbacks! You will find plenty of Orcas in Juneau as well, but There are over 5,000 humpback whales that visit Southeast Alaska, with a significant percentage of those whales in the Juneau area. In fact, there are so many humpbacks in Juneau waters, that all of the whale watching tour providers guarantee a whale sighting or you get your money back! Many times, the first whale sighting happens within the first 10 minutes on the boat. The most incredible feeding behavior also takes place in Juneau:

BUBBLE NET FEEDING  All summer, especially in July and August, the humpbacks join together to give us one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular shows. Whales are normally solitary feeders, but they coordinate when huge balls of schooling fish are spotted. First, each whale blows bubbles that traps the fish in a large “net”. The fish are confused and tend to gather together. Then the lead whale will sound a feeding call, and all the whales will shoot up with mouths open. As they approach the surface, you can see the fish flopping on the surface of the water, as they are trying to escape. Then you see it, up to a dozen whales with mouths wide open, surging up out of the water! It is an incredible experience, and only performed in a few places on the globe, one of them Juneau.

WHALE WATCHING IN SEWARD / KENAI FJORDS / RESURRECTION BAY

Whale watching out of Seward is all about variety. There are definitely humpback whales in plenty, that make the trip from Hawaii and Mexico for the summer. But there are also tons of Orcas and Gray Whales that visit Kenai Fjords. Minke Whales and Fin Whales also have been spotted, but they are more rare.

Orcas are in the area year-round, but the peak is May through July.  There are two main types of Orca pods, Resident & Transient.  The resident pods usually stay in the same area, and eat fish, mainly salmon. The transient pods are always on the move, circling the globe for food. They feed on marine mammals such as Steller Sea Lions, Harbor Seals and Dall’s Porpoise. It is fairly common to witness a transient group stalking their prey in Resurrection Bay.

Gray Whales migrate further than any other mammal on earth. They make the 10,000 mile swim from Baja to the Arctic Waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas every spring. They pass through this area between March and May, on their way up to the Arctic Circle. They are smaller than Humpbacks, but can still reach 50 feet in length and weigh up to 45 tons.

WATCH WHALES IN GLACIER BAY / ICY STRAIT

Icy Strait and Glacier Bay intersect just south of Glacier Bay National Park, to form an area that is one of the richest feeding grounds for Humpback Whales in the world. Glacier Bay National Park is a Humpback Whale sanctuary, with some of the strongest protections found anywhere on our planet.  There is definitely a lot of Bubble Net Feeding happening here, as the waters are rich with small schooling fish such as herring.  You will also find Orcas, Steller Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, Dall’s Porpoise and more on a whale watching excursion in Glacier Bay.

The other part of the equation here is the stunning scenery.  Glacier Bay is ringed with dozens of glaciers that feed the bay.  It is really a breathtaking sight!

Whale Watching in any of these wonderful places is a great experience, we hope you join us out on the water soon!

~Keli & Kris