Alaska Travel Information and Hotels Guide.

Alaska - Travel Information and Hotels Guide.

No other region in North America possesses the mythical aura of the State of ALASKA. Even the name, a derivation of Alayeska, an Athabascan word meaning "great land of the west", fires the imagination. Few who see this land of gargantuan ice fields, sweeping tundra, glacially excavated valleys, lush rainforests, deep fjords and occasionally smoking volcanoes leave unimpressed. Wildlife may be under threat elsewhere, but here it is abundant, with Kodiak bears standing eleven feet tall, moose stopping traffic in downtown Anchorage, wolves prowling through national parks, bald eagles circling over the trees, and rivers solid with fifty plus-pound salmon.

The sheer size of Alaska is hard to comprehend: more than twice the size of Texas, it contains Americas northernmost, westernmost and, because the Aleutian Islands stretch across the 180th meridian, its easternmost point. If superimposed onto the Lower 48, it would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and its coastline is longer than the rest of the US combined. All but three of the nations twenty highest peaks are found within its boundaries and one glacier alone is twice the size of Wales England.

A mere 650,000 people live in the huge state of Alaska, over forty percent of them in Anchorage, of whom only one fifth were born here: as a rule of thumb, the more winters you have endured, the more Alaskan you are. Often referred to as the " Last Frontier ," Alaska in many ways mirrors the American West of the nineteenth century: an endless, undeveloped space in which to stake one's claim and set up a life without interference. Or at least that's how Alaskans would like it to be. Throughout this century tens of thousands have been lured by the promise of wealth, first by gold and then by fishing, logging and, most recently, oil. However, Alaskas 85,000 Native peoples , who don't have the option of returning to the Lower 48 if things don't work out, have been greatly marginalized, though Native corporations set up as a result of pre-oil boom land deals have increasing economic clout.

Traveling around Alaska still demands a spirit of adventure, and to make the most of the state you need to have an enthusiasm for striking out on your own and roughing it a bit. Binoculars are an absolute must, as is bug spray; the mosquito is referred to as the "Alaska state bird" and it takes industrial-strength repellent to keep it away. On top of that there's the climate , though Alaska is far from the popular misconception of being one big icebox. While winter temperatures of -40°F are commonplace in Fairbanks, the most touristed areas - the southeast and the Kenai Peninsula - enjoy a maritime climate (45-65°F in summer) similar to that of the Pacific Northwest, meaning much more rain (in some towns 180-plus inches per year) than snow. Remarkably, the summer temperature in the Interior often reaches 80°F.

The State of Alaska is far more expensive than most other states: apart from two dozen hostels there's little budget accommodation, and eating and drinking will set you back at least twenty percent more than in the Lower 48 (perhaps fifty percent in more remote regions). Still, experiencing Alaska on a low budget is possible, though it requires planning and off-peak travel. From June to August room prices are crazy; May and September, when tariffs are relaxed and the weather only slightly chillier, are just as good times to go, and in April or October you will have the place to yourself, albeit with a smaller range of places to stay and eat. Ground transportation, despite the long distances, is reasonable, with backpacker shuttles ferrying budget travelers between major centers. Winter , when hotels drop their prices by as much as half, is becoming an increasingly popular time to visit, particularly for the dazzling aurora borealis.
Anchorage Alaska
Wedged between the two arms of Cook Inlet and the imposing Chugach Mountains, ANCHORAGE ALASKA is home to over forty percent of the population of Alaska, and serves as the transportation center for the whole state. This sprawling city on the edge of one of the world's great wildernesses often gets a bad press from those who live elsewhere in Alaska, derided as being "just half an hour from Alaska", but it has its attractions, and with its beautiful setting can make a pleasant one- or two-day stopover.

By the time Captain James Cook came up what is now Cook Inlet in 1778, in search of a Northwest Passage to the Atlantic, Russian fur trappers had already started to settle the area, trading copper and iron for fish and furs with the Native Americans. Though Cook was sure that the inlet was not the Passage, he sent boats out in a southeasterly direction to investigate. When they were forced to turn back by the severe tides, Cook named this gloriously scenic stretch Turnagain Arm .

Anchorage Alaska itself began life in 1915 as a tent city for construction workers on the Alaska Railroad. During the 1930s, hopefuls fleeing the Depression came pouring in from the Lower 48, and World War II - and the construction of the Alaska Highway - further boosted the city's size and importance. The opening of the airport established Anchorage - equidistant between New York and Tokyo, as the Crossroads of the World, and statehood in 1959 brought in yet more optimistic adventurers

Anchorage Alaska - The City

Travelers eager to rush off into the real Alaska tend to overlook cosmopolitan Anchorage Alaska, a mix of old and new, urban blight and rural parks, but there is plenty to see, and it is worth spending some time there experiencing big city Alaska. Anchorage is laid out on a grid: numbered avenues run east to west, lettered streets north to south.

Your first stop should be the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, 121 W Seventh Ave (summer Sun-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat 9am-6pm; rest of year Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 1-5pm; $6.50), an excellent overview of the state of Alaska and its history told through intricate dioramas, alongside beautiful examples of carved ivory and basket ware. The art gallery is notable for the works by Alaska's best known painter, Sydney Laurence, particularly his monumental oil painting of Mount McKinley.

The rest of the downtown sites are more modest: the Imaginarium , 737 W Fifth Ave (daily: June to early Sept 10am-6pm; early Sept to May Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun noon-5pm; $5), has hands-on displays telling you all about glaciers, the Northern Lights, polar bears and the private life of the dopey-looking moose; the period-furnished 1915 Oscar Anderson House Museum , 420 M St (June to mid-Sept Tues-Sat 11am-4pm ; $3), illustrates early Anchorage life; and the Alaska Experience Center, Sixth Ave and G street (summer daily 9am-9pm; $10), presents forty minutes of Alaskas best scenery, shot from choppers and beamed onto a 180° wraparound screen, and the admission price includes a film of the devastating 1964 Good Friday earthquake that leveled much of downtown - 9.2 on the Richter scale and North America's strongest-ever quake.

Six miles to the east on the outskirts of town lies the new Alaska Native Heritage Center , Muldoon Road exit from the Glenn Hwy. (May-Sept daily 9am-9pm; $20). It is expensive and still finding its feet, but provides an excellent introduction to the state's five main ethnic groups. Each is represented by a typical house where Native guides interpret their culture. Throughout the day, cultural groups perform in the main auditorium where there is also an instructive introductory film. The 4th Ave Trolley runs here hourly from downtown for $6.00

On long summer days it is better to stay outside, perhaps strolling (or biking) along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail that offers restorative views of Turnagain Arm, or exploring the mountains and lakes of the 495,000 acre Chugach State Park, just fifteen minutes drive east from Anchorage Alaska. Challenging trails traversing the park include an often treacherous scramble to the summit of the 4500 ft Flat top Mountain, a spectacular vantage point from which to view Anchorage and the Cook Inlet.

Alaska
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