Taku Glacier Lodge and the Legacy of Adventurer Mary Joyce
I board a Wings Airways de Havilland Otter floatplane for a front‑seat view of the Juneau Icefield. As we lift off from downtown Juneau, the mist shifts and thins, revealing five glaciers: Norris, Taku, Hole‑In‑The‑Wall, East Twin, and West Twin. From above, they look like an acrylic painting brushed with white and black.
Historic Taku Glacier Lodge
The floatplane glides to a stop in front of Taku Glacier Lodge, perched on a gentle rise above the dock. Outside, Danny tends alderwood fired coho salmon, brushing the fillets with brown sugar, white wine, and lemon juice. He gauges the heat with his bare hands, preferring not to wear gloves.
I walk to the century‑old lodge’s long front porch, where the Hole-in-the-Wall glacier sits directly across Taku Inlet. Before lunch, I follow a short trail to a waterfall, passing a patch of alderwood. Inside, the dining room is set for family‑style eating. A moosehead hangs over a hewn‑stone fireplace, and a massive bearskin stretches across the wall behind a deep brown leather couch. It’s the kind of room where travelers can swap stories.
Alderwood‑Fired Salmon
I start with a piece of coho salmon caught just offshore. Then I add coleslaw with pineapple, cooked apples with raisins, overnight beans, fresh scones, and the ginger cookies I’d heard about back in Juneau. As we eat, the staff shares the history of the lodge and its most famous steward, Mary Joyce.
The Story of Mary Joyce, Alaska’s Trailblazing Adventurer
During lunch, we learn about Mary Joyce, who owned and operated the lodge beginning in 1934. Joyce was the first female radio operator in the Territory of Alaska and later became one of Juneau’s first female pilots. She also spent two years as a flight attendant for Pacific Alaska Airways.
Her connection to the lodge began with the Smith family. In 1928, Mrs. Erie Smith sailed her yacht up the Taku River, accompanied by her son Hack, a wealthy young man wounded in World War I and struggling with morphine and alcohol addiction. Erie hired nurse Joyce to care for Hack. He fired eight nurses before forming a deep bond with Joyce.
The Origins of the Lodge
Hack and Joyce fell in love with the remote lodge, then called Twin Peak Lodge, built in 1923 by a frontier doctor. Erie purchased it, hoping the rugged landscape and Joyce’s steady presence would help her son heal. Joyce and Hack ran the lodge when they weren’t off on adventures, dog mushing. Hack frequently disappeared to Juneau, and Joyce would track him down and sober him up.
The 1000-mile Journey
The two planned a long dogsled expedition to the far reaches of the Taku River and onward to Fairbanks. But Hack died suddenly on a hunting trip in the fall of 1934. Erie, recognizing Joyce as family, gave her ownership of the lodge.
In early 1936, Joyce was invited to participate in the Fairbanks Ice Carnival. Determined to arrive by dogsled, she set out alone on a 1,000-mile route from Juneau to Fairbanks, despite being discouraged from attempting it. She completed the journey on March 26, 1936, a milestone now etched into Alaska’s adventure history.
Visiting Taku Glacier Lodge Today
My visit to Taku Glacier Lodge was the highlight of a four-day trip to Juneau. With glacier views, alderwood-fired salmon, and a century of Alaskan history, the lodge is a great place to take in wild Alaska. The experience can be booked by cruise excursion or independently through Wings Airways’ Taku Lodge & Seaplane Glacier Tour. Here’s a recipe for those wonderful ginger cookies.
Taku Ginger Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. + 2 tsp. powdered ginger (if using fresh ginger, you may want to use less)
1 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
raw sugar
Preparation:
1.Space oven racks evenly.
2. Preheat oven to 350°
3. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy.
4. Beat in egg and molasses.
5. Mix flour, soda, spices, and salt. Add to the above, just until blended.
6. Using a small ice-cream scoop, form walnut-sized dough and dip into raw sugar.
7. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet with sugar side up.
8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes for softer cookies, longer for crispier cookies.
Cookies will crack on top. Excellent served warm. Yum!
This recipe was developed by Michelle Ward, with a great many failures along the way!
Let’s Have a Conversation:
What type of travel excites you most? Have you been to Alaska? What do you think about women adventurers? Do you have a favorite adventure story involving a woman?
