DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE

The towering granite spires and snowy summits of Denali National Park and Preserve straddles 160 miles of the Alaska Range and display so much elevation they are often lost in the clouds. Dominating this skyline is North America's highest peak; Mount McKinley standing tall at 20,320 feet and one of the most amazing sights in Alaska.

But it's not just the mountain that makes Denali National Park a special place. The park is also home to 37 species of mammals, ranging from lynx, marmots and Dall sheep, to foxes and snowshoe hares, while 130 different bird species have been spotted here, including the impressive golden eagle. Most visitors, however, want to see four animals in particular: moose, caribou, wolf and everybody's favorite: the brown, or grizzly, bear. Here at Denali, unlike most wilderness areas in the country, you don't have to be a backpacker to see this wildlife - people who never sleep in a tent have excellent once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to get a close look at these magnificent creatures roaming free in their natural habitat.

Not surprisingly then, visitors come here in droves; the park is a popular place, attracting 432,000 visitors annually. Over the years the National Park Service (NPS) has developed unique visitor-management strategies, including closing its only road to most vehicles. As a result Denali National Park is still the great wilderness it was 20 years ago. The entrance has changed, but the park itself hasn't, and a brown bear meandering on a tundra ridge still provides the same quiet thrill as it did when the park first opened in 1917.

Although generations of Athabascans had wandered through what is now the park, the first permanent settlement was established in 1905, when a gold miners' rush gave birth to the town of Kantishna. A year later, naturalist and noted hunter Charles Sheldon was stunned by the beauty of the land and horrified at the reckless abandon of the miners and big-game hunters. Sheldon returned in 1907 and traveled the area with guide Harry Karstens in an effort to set up boundaries for a proposed national park. Sheldon was successful as the area was established as Mount McKinley National Park in 1917 with Karstens serving as the park's first superintendent. As a result of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the park was enlarged to more than 6 million acres and renamed Denali National Park and Preserve. Denali now comprises an area slightly larger than the state of Massachusetts and is generally ranked as one of Alaska's top attractions.

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Juneau - Explore the area's many attractions on a guided tour or custom charter

There's an awful lot to do in Juneau. Chances are, you'll have trouble figuring out exactly where to start.

The obvious, must-do activity is checking out the glaciers. Mendenhall Glacier is our most popular attraction, and when you see this thing you'll know why. At its widest point, the glacier is about a half mile wide, with ice 300 to 1,800 feet deep. The fact that something that big can still move is pretty magnificent. 

But the Mendenhall is literally just the tip of the iceberg; it's part of the much larger Juneau Icefield, an area of myriad glaciers including Taku, Eagle, and Herbert. You can explore these mighty 'bergs on any one of our locally operated tours, including aerial tours - very cool.

Get here at the right time of year, and you're bound to see whales. Humpbacks and orcas (think Shamu) congregate in the calm waters and put on quite a show. Hop on a boat and go whale watching for a classic Juneau adventure. Seriously, it's something you won't want to miss.

You don't have to be an "outdoorsy" type to enjoy our  outdoor adventures, and you'll truly miss out on the beauty of Juneau if you pass on these activities. Try hiking, rafting, kayaking and even ziplining. And even if you've never cast a reel in your life, you ought to try the fishingaround here - it's prevalent and incredible - if only to have a story about the one that got away.

Or, get the best of all worlds just the way you want it with a custom cruise charter. You'll get hooked up with knowledgeable locals who will show you the best of Juneau. Hiking, whale watching, fishing, spectacular photography, or any combination of these and more. Whatever you want, Juneau tour operators are accommodating and happy to deliver.

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Kodiak Island

The Kodiak Island Archipelago is a large group of islands about 30 miles from the Alaska Peninsula and 158 miles across the Gulf of Alaska from Homer, Alaska.  The archipelago is about 177 miles long and encompasses nearly 5,000 square miles, roughly the size of the state of Connecticut.

While the vast majority of Kodiak’s population resides in the city and nearby areas, there are villages in the Kodiak Archipelago that are windows to the past and models of modern subsistence lifestyle. Many of these villages offer services to visitors including lodging, fishing charters, and wildlife viewing. The villages are not accessible by car. Port Lions can be reached by ferry and Ouzinkie is within boating distance, but most people reach these outposts by air charter. Regardless of the mechanism of travel, these villages promise a glimpse into Alaska that is seldom seen by most tourists.

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GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, one of the finest wilderness areas in the world, straddles the Arctic Divide in the Brooks Range, America's northernmost chain of mountains. Second only to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in size, Gates of the Arctic covers 13,238 square miles, sprawls 800 miles from east to west and is entirely north of the Arctic Circle. It extends from the southern foothills of the Brooks Range, across the range's ragged peaks and down onto the North Slope. Most of the park is a maze of glaciated valleys and gaunt, rugged mountains covered with boreal forest or treeless slopes of Arctic tundra north of the divide. It is a habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, moose, caribou and wolverines. Fishing is considered superb for grayling and Arctic char in the clear streams and for lake trout in the larger, deeper lakes.

Within this preserve are six Wild and Scenic Rivers, miles of valleys and tundra slopes to hike and, of course, the Gates themselves. Mt Boreal and Frigid Crags are the gates that flank the north fork of the Koyukuk River. In 1929 Robert Marshall found an unobstructed path northward to the Arctic coast of Alaska through these landmark mountains. Marshall's name for the two mountains has remained ever since.

With the exception of the Dalton Highway, the park is far from any roads and is home to only one village, Anaktuvuk Pass. Eight more Native villages dot the perimeter but all have less than 400 permanent residents. In the simplest terms, Gates of the Arctic is a vast wilderness the size as Switzerland that contains no National Park Service facilities, visitor centers or campgrounds. The only trails are those made by the Western Arctic caribou herd, the largest in Alaska at 490,000, the only people passing through are the truly adventurous visitors or subsistence hunters.

The remoteness of the park attracts mostly experienced backcountry travelers for float trips, backpacking treks or base camps set up to enjoy day hiking and fishing. Many visitors join guided trips that a handful of outfitters offer in summer for rafting and hiking or in the winter for dog mushing and cross-country skiing. Either as an independent traveler or as part of guided expedition, a visit to Gates of the Arctic requires careful planning and advance reservations.

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ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Vast, beautiful and remote, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has often been called America's last great wilderness. The 19.6 million-acre refuge is located in Alaska's upper-right-hand corner, straddling the eastern Brooks Range from the treeless Arctic Coast to the taiga of the Porcupine River Valley. The majestic Brooks Range, with peaks and glaciers to 9,000 feet, dominates the refuge. These rugged mountains extend east to west in a band 75 miles wide, rising abruptly from a flat, tundra-covered plain. Numerous braided rivers and streams cut through this treeless expanse. South of the continental divide, rivers wind serpentine courses through broad, spruce-covered valleys dotted with lakes and sloughs.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to some of the most diverse and spectacular wildlife in the circumpolar north. The refuge's rich pageant of wildlife includes 36 fish species, 36 land mammals, nine marine mammals, and more than 160 migratory and resident bird species that come from four continents to breed, rest or feed from April to July. The refuge is also the most important polar bear denning area in the country and a critical calving area for the Porcupine caribou herd, the second largest at 130,000 animals. Dall sheep roam the mountains, moose and musk oxen graze the plains, and grizzly and black bear forage for food along streams, the rivers support grayling and char.

The climate in the refuge is almost as diverse as the wildlife. Snow usually blankets the ground from September through May, but freezing temperatures can occur any month, especially north of the mountains. Summers last from June through August. Strong winds, cool temperatures, clouds and fog are typical near the coast. Blue skies, variable winds and moderate temperatures are more common inland. Areas south of the mountains have more rainfall, greater temperature extremes and lighter winds.

The movement to protect the area began in the 1950s out of concerned for the loss of wild places to development and the destructive potential of the atomic bomb that was displayed during World War II. Led by Olaus and Margaret Murie, conservationists launched a seven-year, hard-fought campaign to establish the Nation's first ecosystem-scale conservation area. In 1960, the Eisenhower administration established the 8.9 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Range and in 1980 it was expanded 18 million acres and renamed. Today the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is 19.6 million acres or the size of South Carolina.

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ALEUTIAN WORLD WAR II NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

The park is located on Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Island Chain, 800 miles west of Anchorage

The Aleutian World War II National Historical Park offers visitors an opportunity to hear the story of the native Aleut; their history not only during World War II, but throughout the times of involvement with non-native peoples. You’ll also be able to see the wonderful age-old crafts they still create. The Aleutian Islands also offer plenty of outdoor adventure with world-renown bird watching, sports fishing for salmon or halibut, and gorgeous plants that attract artists as well as botanists, giving you a chance at that beautiful nature photo you’ve always wanted. Check out below for great Aleutian World War II National Historical Park information.

Uniqueness

The Aleutian World War II National Historical Park and Visitor Center focus on telling the story of the “Forgotten War” — the events of the Aleutian Campaign that include the bombing of Dutch Harbor by the Japanese in June 1942, the evacuation and internment of the Aleuts, the Japanese invasion of the islands of Attu and Kiska, the Battle of Attu, the Allied invasion of Kiska, and the bombing of Paramishiru. Through the preservation and protection of World War II historic buildings and structures, the park preserves in memory the commitment and sacrifice of the more than 100,000 American and Canadian troops once stationed on these wind-swept islands off the western coast of Alaska. For the Unangan (Aleut) the park is dedicated to reconciling the injustices of the Aleutian Campaign and the suffering and loss of those forced to leave their villages and life’s treasures behind to spend years in Southeast Alaska — only to return home to find their villages in ruins or gone.

The Aleutian World War II National Historic Area encompasses the historic footprint of the U.S. Army base Fort Schwatka. Located on Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Island Chain of Alaska, the fort was one of four coastal defense posts built to protect Dutch Harbor (the back door to the United States) during World War II. In 1996 Congress designated this National Historic Area to interpret, educate, and inspire present and future generations about the history of the Aleut or Unangan people and the Aleutian Islands in the defense of the United States in World War II.

The park and its facilities on Amaknak Island in Unalaska, Alaska, are owned and managed by the Ounalashka Corporation, the village corporation for Unalaska. The National Park Service provides technical assistance to the corporation and their staffs to plan, develop, and preserve the resources on site. Through this cooperative partnership, the Unangan are the keepers of their history and invite the public to learn more about its past and present.

June through August, wildflowers cover the lush spongy subarctic tundra. Wild iris, orchids, violets, and alpine azalea are but a few of the island’s species that attract botanists and artists. These provide plenty of material for that outdoor picture or nature photo. In the fall, bushes are heavy with salmon berries and blueberries and the streams are full of salmon.

Bird watching in the Aleutians is world renown. Unalaska is one of the only places in the world to see the whiskered auklet. Puffins, cormorants, ancient murrelets and birds in breeding plumage, especially the snow bunting, can be seen in Unalaska. Sport fishing is very popular and charter boats regularly land record halibut. The Aleutian Islands are among the world’s richest fishing grounds.

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NOATAK NATIONAL PRESERVE

Far above the Arctic Circle and almost completely enclosed by the Baird and De Long mountains of the Brooks Range, the Noatak National Preserve extends more than 6.6 million acres protecting the largest untouched mountain-ringed river basin in America. Located 16 miles northeast of Kotzebue, the preserve along with the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve contains almost the entire watershed of the Noatak River. In this transition zone, the northern coniferous forest thins out and gradually gives way to the tundra that stretches northward to the Beaufort Sea. The bulk of this land, 5.8 million acres, is designated wilderness.

The 396-mile-long Noatak River is contained within this broad and gently sloping valley, which stretches more than 150 miles east to west. The river, from its source in Gates of the Arctic National Park to its confluence with the Kelly River in Noatak National Preserve, is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

The Noatak River passes through six regions on its way to the sea: headwaters at the base of Igikpal Mountain; the great Noatak Basin with its rounded mountains and plentiful wildlife; the 65-mile-long Grand Canyon of the Noatak and the much steeper, 7-mile Noatak Canyon; plains dotted with spruce, balsam and poplar; the rolling Igichuk Hills; and finally the flat coastal delta.

The terrain along much of the Noatak River is vast and open, providing ample opportunities for viewing the preserve's wildlife. The Western Arctic caribou herd, numbering approximately 490,000 migrates through the broad expanse of the preserve. Other large mammals include brown bears, moose, wolves, lynx and Dall sheep. The Noatak River offers excellent fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Opportunities for wilderness backpacking and photography are plentiful.

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Aurora Borealis

The Aurora, also known as the Northern Lights, has mystified people down through the ages, scientists, poets, and lay persons alike. Written records of so-called "great auroral displays" date back more than two thousand years.


Sometimes the Aurora over Alaska and other auroral zones is barely visible or appears colorless and unmoving. But at other times the auroras can be incredibly bright, multihued and fast moving. Tall green curtains of lights, red tipped at their bottoms, stretch from horizon to horizon. They ripple and sway, fold and unfold, then suddenly disappear, only to reform in a new shape minutes later.


For those who live in Alaska, the Aurora is a part of northern life. Fall, winter and spring is the special season for viewing the great lights for residents and off-season visitors. Some Alaskans have "Aurora Alerts;" when a display begins, the first person to spot them begins a phone tree to get the word out.

The "pulsating Aurora" is one form of Northern Light common during the post-midnight hours. It blinks on and off every few seconds as though controlled by some mysterious unseen hand in the sky flicking a switch.

The great auroral displays are spectacular global events during which the Aurora spreads down from the polar regions to cover as much as two thirds of the earth's skies with bright, fast-moving masses of light, often deep red in color.

The rare "great auroral displays" follow one or two days of violent solar flares in the vicinity of major sunspots. These solar flares cast out vast streams of electrically charged particles which stream down into the earth's atmosphere. These particles, mostly electrons and protons, are steered away from the tropical regions by the earth's magnetic field.

Striking the gases of the earth's high atmosphere, the charged particles glow. It is exactly the same thing that happens in a television tube: complex streams of electrons within the TV strike the phosphor coated face of the tube, and cause it to glow, creating the colored moving patterns we see from our living room couches. Outside, at night, we can look up at that great star-studded television tube in the sky; if the Aurora is out and no clouds are about, the colored patterns will be there too.

Even though "great auroral displays" appear infrequently, spectacular displays of Aurora are common in Alaska and other auroral zone locations. This is because the sun is always sending out a stream of electrons and protons. They make up the solar wind which blows constantly toward the earth and other planets.

Enough of the solar wind particles come into the earth's high atmosphere at the auroral zone to create continuous Aurora, summer, winter, fall and spring.Although much is known about the Aurora, this fascinating phenomenon still withholds some of its mysteries. For example, scientists do not yet understand why the Aurora is so highly structured. For the University of Alaska Fairbanks, this continues to be an important area of study. The most beautiful Aurora is composed of thin sheets that stretch upward a hundred miles or more and extend across the sky from horizon to horizon, like gigantic ribbons set on edge high above and parallel to the earth's surface. These arcs and bands whip and weave across the sky, and bright rays ripple along them at fantastic speed. Some of these intricate multicolored forms have a thickness of only 100 meters, about the length of a football field, yet may be several hundred kilometers tall and well over 1,000 kilometers in length. It boggles the mind to realize—as has been proven by simultaneous observation in the two hemispheres—that these sharply defined auroral forms have an identical or nearly identical mate in the southern hemisphere, out of sight and almost a world away. Joined together by an invisible magnetic bond that arches far above the Equator, each pair of mated auroral dancers move across the cold polar skies in perfect harmony. Each motion or brightness change in one hemisphere is mirrored in the other, on a time scale of less than a fraction of a second. A most curious and highly controversial question involves auroral sound. Although I've never heard one, my wife has and so have several scientists I know. Some reports of hearing noises associated with auroral displays may be erroneous impressions, but I am convinced many others are not. Hundreds of written reports indicate noises are sensed when a particular type of fast-Aurora is nearly overhead. Some people sense whistling and crackling noises, even when they close their eyes. The reports of auroral sound make it certain that the unknown cause of the apparent sound is in the vicinity of the hearer, not in the Aurora itself. Most likely, the reported noises are related to electrical phenomena which accompany certain types of bright Aurora. No matter how many auroras one may have seen, a good high-latitude display, as seen in Alaska, sends tingles up the viewer's spine. Even a moderate display seen at the auroral zone in the 49th state can be far more exciting to watch than one of the rare "great displays." The best of words and photographs fail to capture the magnificence of the high-latitude Aurora, although some of Robert Service's poetry may come close.

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Larsen Bay

Situated in a scenic valley on a narrow fjord 60 miles southwest of the City of Kodiak, Larsen Bay is at the very center of commercial and sport fishing activity on the island’s west side. Beautiful waterfront lodges lure anglers from around the world for some of the best fishing in the archipelago. The abundance of wildlife near Larsen bay attracts visitors interested in viewing the Kodiak brown bear, seals, puffins, sea lions, eagles and fox in their natural habitat. The village has been an Alutiiq village for centuries and drew nationwide attention in 1991 when the Smithsonian Institution returned the remains of 756 Alutiiq people. Reinterred in a mass grave, the burial marked the largest repatriation of Native remains ever conducted by the Smithsonian. Larsen Bay can only be accessed by air or water. 

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Sea Kayaking Kodiak, Alaska - Exploring an Island Paradise

Thousands of miles of awe-inspiring coastline have enticed a small, but growing, number of adventurers to discover the wonders of sea kayaking Southwest Alaska. At the forefront of destinations in this remote region is Kodiak. The island is the second largest island in the United States, yet, owing to it's numerous fjords, no point of land on Kodiak Island is more than 15 miles from the sea. Don't be deceived by Kodiak's listing as the fourth-largest community in Alaska; it is still small enough to get by with it's one traffic light turned off.

Locals have long known of Kodiak's natural bounty; native Koniag hunters used the qayaq or baidarka for thousands of years for hunting, transportation and recreation. Today, the community boasts more than 100 resident paddlers, young and old, and experience levels vary from recreational to expedition-ready. Despite its reputation as a fishing community, on the streets of this town more watercraft are carried on roof racks than trailers. From their lofty perch atop vehicles, Kodiak's kayaks pivot through the city's bustle between evening and weekend paddling outings, making their way to the rocky islets and protected bays unique to the island.

The geophysical relief of Kodiak Island is phenomenal. Rocky coasts at sea level quickly rise to 3,000-foot peaks in the space of a few miles. Ice fields still dominate the interior of the island, and snow is visible on the major peaks though midsummer. At sea level, coasts with easterly exposure consist of jagged rock cliffs and towering spires, while more protected shores may enjoy gentle coastline and broad beaches, either white from volcanic ash or black from volcanic shale. With a long look east toward continental North America some 500 miles away, Kodiak is one of the few places on the west coast where one can watch the sun rise over the Pacific.

Within a day's paddle from the city, kayakers can visit any of a dozen uninhabited islands. These waters are also home to five species of whale, which come to Kodiak to feed continuously during the long summer days. Whale sightings just offshore are relatively common to local paddlers.
Though Kodiak can be exposed to the ferocity of the North Pacific, during the summer months calm winds and seas prevail, and open-ocean crossings of one to three miles are commonplace. A series of these crossings intermixed with coastal exploration suggest possibilities for roundtrip expeditions from simple overnights to weeks-long trips of several hundred miles.

On windier days, a short drive from the City of Kodiak to Anton Larsen Bay provides paddlers an escape from the easterly seas, and is home to an abundance of seabirds and aquatic wildlife who seem to take a similar interest in the refuge provided there. Sea otters in this bay, once hunted by paddlers in baidarkas, watch curiously from a safe distance. When heavy surf is on the menu, drive to the nearby Pasagshak beaches to find surf kayakers, surfers and harbor seals riding waves alongside one another, and put in to ride some of the island's wildest waves.

Kodiak is proud of its kayaking heritage and newfound status as an adventurer's destination. Several local shops and outfitters provide kayak sales, equipment and guided tours and rentals. Paddlers wave to one another, passing in cars or out in the channel. Whether it's for the recreational or expedition paddler, Kodiak is a world-class sea kayaking destination.

About the Author: Andy Schroeder is a sea kayaking guide, boat captain and adventure writer. He is the owner of Orcas Unlimited, an Alaska-based eco-tourism outfitter.

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Alaska Vacation - Have an Adventure You Will Never Forget

Whenever someone comes across the mere mention of an Alaska vacation, they immediately realize that this is something different from what they are mostly used to. Alaska is a region unlike any other. Various new experiences and challenges await someone who goes vacationing in Alaska. But, before we see what these new things are, let us see why vacationing here is such a novel experience.

Here are the main reasons why a vacation in Alaska can be such a different experience:-

(i) Alaska is still quite wild. The wilderness adds to the adventure that this state can offer. In most places, you won't even find proper roads. If you are looking for a complete nature vacation, this is the best you can get.

(ii) Alaska has something of everything. Whether it is the land, sea or sky, the state has something different to offer. So, this is a perfect foil to people who are looking for adventure vacations, doesn't matter if it is a land adventure vacation, an aquatic adventure vacation or a sky adventure vacation.

(iii) The weather in Alaska is simply beautiful. The cold tingles the toes and is a great refreshing change from most other parts of the world where the temperatures are steadily rising.

(iv) Alaska is still very pure and beautiful. There's no sign of urbanization for miles around in most parts of the land; all you are going to see are the marvels of nature.

(v) The land also boasts of a rich culture. The Eskimos are the most popular people here, but every community is just as vibrant. There are ample relics of past cultures strewn across the land.

So, what are the things you can do during your Alaska vacation? Here is a small list.

(i) The ports such as Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway beckon people from all over the world to come visit the land and partake of its uniqueness. These ports offer a large number of adventure experiences, such as watching the fjords, viewing bears on the shores and even watching whales within the sea.

(ii) The sky is an endless supply of adventure in Alaska. Sky gliding is a commonly pursued activity here, and even for people who aren't as daring as that, there are simpler options such as flightseeing from a helicopter.

(iii) The glaciers are simply breathtaking. The Glacier Bay is something you shouldn't miss out on. There are helicopters to take you there so that you don't miss out any part of this nature's marvel.

(iv) Alaska is also the land of mountains, and trying to scale them becomes a highlight of an Alaska vacation for most people who come here. 17 of the 20 tallest peaks in the US are in Alaska alone. The most popular peak is Mount McGinnis (all of 4,000 feet in height), which is a big hit with skirs. The peak is quite tall and difficult to scale, so people can be first taken to the summit by helicopters.

(v) There are 3 million lakes in Alaska. Most of them are great to check out. Even if you just go around backpacking, you can enjoy these wonderful things nature has given this land.

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