Taku Lodge, Juneau, Alaska

Taku Lodge was originally built by Dr. Harry C. DeVighne in 1923. He opened it up as one of Alaskas first hunting and fishing Lodges available for overnight guests. The lodge was used as a base camp as they conducted their excursions all around the valleys and streams of the Taku River.

In the fall of 1930, Mrs. Erie L. Smith visited Taku Lodge while touring Southeast Alaska on her yacht, the “Stella Maris”.  Mrs. Smith bought Twin Glacier Camp as a second home for both summer and winter use. Her son, Hack, stayed on at Taku Lodge year-round as a caretaker. In the summer Hack kept a crew of men busy constructing new buildings and maintaining the camp. Also helping out with year round caretaking was Mary Joyce. Mary was originally hired on as a private nurse for Ms. Smith and Hack, but quickly fell in love with the lodge and stayed on to help out with the year round maintinance and upkeep of Taku Lodge.

Mary and Hack had began raising sled dogs during their years at the lodge, putting them to work in the winter hauling firewood and using them for travel on the frozen Taku River. It did not take long for word to spread about these Taku River huskies. What started as a hobby for Hack and Mary quickly became a business as they began to sell well trained sled dogs all around the state of Alaska and Western Canada.

The story goes on and on....a lot of history here. And you can feel it when visiting the lodge. 
You can take an excursion where you take a floatplane and fly over several glacier after which you land next to the lodge with a beautiful panoramic view on Taku Glacier.

Taking off in a floatplane is supercool. You have a great overview over Juneau and once you past the town, you'll fly over several glaciers 

The staff working at the lodge is super friendly, warm and welcoming. They are very informative, and they serve a fantastic lunch, including grilled salmon. Since they grill th
e salmon outdoors, changes are big that you see some bears cleaning the grill afterwards. I did....

I also some several bears in the trees, way up there and they scared the heck out of me when I walked around and looked up, straight into the face of a bear.

If you ever have the change, it is not a cheap tour, but worth every penny. 

 The Dutch horse

some of the crew challenged me as they claimed I wouldn't be able to run a marathon on wooden shoes, or as they say in Dutch: klompen....

so, challenge accepted, here we go

 

The 60km / 37.5-mile run around Aruba - 

Overview from Relive

Around Aruba - a 37-mile (60km) run around the island

 

January 27, 2020

Running around Aruba; an approximate 37-mile / 60 km run covering the entire island. I've made a map to calculate the distance and to see where I need water and where I can get water. The entire Northeast side is inhabited; there are no gas stations or shops to get water. Two places where I can get water and those better be open for business otherwise I have a problem

The wind direction is typical for Aruba; It doesn't make much different which direction i start in as you will have headwinds one way or the other. Here is an overview of the wind direction which is so typical for Aruba.

Since I can't get supplies en-route, I have a full backpack with supplies: electrolytes, water, dates, raisins, bananas, energy gels, extra shirts, socks and a phone....

Here is the route and the elevation profile for the run

Update:

What a day in Aruba. It started of pretty OK, temperature wise but as soon as I hit 20 miles (32 KM), temp went up to a grueling 38C or 100F. Almost undoable; This part is protected from the wind (as soon as you enter Arikok National Park from the South side) and in combination with a long climb to the visitor center, this part is the hardest part of the course.

Once you are at the Natural Bridge (or the remains there of) you run for 15 miles on very rugged terrain with rocks and lots of sand. Of course I couldn't resist to kiss the ground - man I fell - bunch of scratches but it was worth it