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Why
Travel to Alaska?
This is the biggest
state in the USA by far and many Americans consider it to be practically a foreign country with so few roads but such enormous and little-explored wilderness areas, abundant
wildlife and spooky northern
lights.
If you like Yosemite and want more big rocks and massed trees with more wild things but less tourists then Alaska offers the bear necessities, but don't ignore winter time, when the pristine whiteness becomes a huge snowy playground with even fewer tourists, lower prices but lots of activities.
This is a place to get to know unspoilt nature, not museums or man-made sights; it's also the only part of the USA within the Arctic Circle but is
under threat from road building for mining and oil extraction so get there
before the bulldozers do.
Downside:
- It's very cold and inhospitable for a lot of the year while the
wilderness areas are massive so if things go wrong you're a long
way from help.
- Alaska is a long drive from the USA; even Seattle to Anchorage is 2,200 miles [3,500kms] - though you could put the motor on a ferry from Belligham to Haines - so a flight and vehicle hire may be required.
Many consider an inclusive tour or cruise to be the best way to visit this monster destination.
When
to Travel to Alaska:
The weather in this part of the world is erratic to say the least but place your bets on the best months: mid-May to June [though there may still be mud or slush on some trails and Denali NP only opens late June] and early September for the best weather, best prices and least trouble booking stuff. July is good and warm but getting 'crowded' while August can be wet and will be busy [by Alaskan standards].
Worst: Oct, Nov, April due to constant freezing rain, mud and slush.
Dec-March is extremely cold but splendidly white as communities drag out their skis, snowshoes, sleds and fire up their dogs, while skies go psychedelic with Northern Lights [aurora borealis].
n.b. many tourist facilities don't open till mid May and some not until June but winter sports are good value.
Getting around guide:
Flying in and renting a car is by far the most popular option; Anchorage is the main entry point.
Ensure you have full insurance, know the special engine heating systems if travelling in winter and have emergency equipment. In summer beware rocks being spun off truck wheels; stop or pull off the road if a big vehicle is coming the other way at speed.
As with USA RV's [motor homes] - owned or rented - are common, giving great freedom to stay/move anywhere, anytime in comfort though you still have to visit an RV park regularly to fill up and unfill. One-way rentals are an easy way to tour but inevitably pricey. Anchorage and Skagway offer RV rentals.
Another possibility is to use the Alaska Marine Highway System, large public ferries that runs Bellingham - Washington - Prince Rupert, BC - various towns of Southeast Alaska.
Internal flights will save a lot of time and private Bush Pilot planes are the most precise but, of course, pricey.
The final solution is taking a tour which will be easy, efficient, economical, ensure you have a room to sleep in at the end of a busy day and see all the best sights at the best time although the downside is that you could be sharing all the awesome grandeur with a bunch of losers. Or with a with a crowd of interesting, like-minded people...
Alaska Festivals and Events Guide:
February, Fur Rendezvous, Anchorage.
March, Iditarod Dog Sled Race, Anchorage to Nome.
March, World Ice Carving Championships, Fairbanks.
mid-March, Bering Sea Ice Golf Classic in Nome, green greens but everything else is distinctly white and slippery.
late March, Pillar Mountain Golf Classic in Kodiak. An even odder game than the Ice Golf, with 1 hole, par 70, 500m [1500ft] up a mountainside. Both games would be dinner party conversation winners.
June 21, Midnight Sun Baseball in Fairbanks, with no lights.
late June, Polar Bear Swim in Nome, so long as the ice has opened up.
There's no place like Nome.
Recreational
Activities
Winter:
Dog Sledding:
otherwise known as mushing, four or six dogpower travel is a fascinating but strenuous. Rent your own pooches but no cuddling. March's Iditarod Anchorage to Nome race is the ultimate test.
Skating, Downhill and Cross Country Skiing, Snow Shoe Shuffling and Snowmobiling: all are widely available and good value.
Summer:
Sea Kayaking: mainly
around the rugged coastline of islands and fjords in the southern
regions.
Whitewater Rafting and Canoeing: the
Nenana River, Kenai River and Matanuska River are where the main
action happens.
Fishing: lodges and incredible salmon fishing at Kenai River; Bristol Bay; Copper River Delta [Cordova]; Kodiak Island. Halibut from Homer [huge fish, huge charter fleet]; Unalaska [difficult to reach].
Wildlife:
Whale
Watching [along with orcas, otters, seals]: Humpback whales and other marine animals constantly frolic around Alaska's coastline but especially June-Sept, and particularly near Sitka's city park [Whale Festival in the fall], Petersburg [Frederick Sound], Gustavus [Icy Strait, Glacier Bay NP [Bartlett Cove], Seward [Kenai Fjords NP] and Valdez/ Whittier/ Cordova [Prince
William Sound].
For Belugas try the Cook Inlet.
Bear Watching: Brown, black and grizzly bears are the main sightseeing targets and there are plenty around, particularly during the July and September salmon running seasons.
There are particularly good viewing points at: Denali NP; Brooks Camp, Katmai NP; Pack Creek [Admiralty Island]; Wrangell [Anan Wildlife Observatory]; Kodiak Island [difficult to reach].
Native Culture:
- Ketchikan totem poles in Tlingit homeland at the Heritage Center, the Totem Bight Park and Saxman Native Village Totem Park.
- Sitka, excellent Tlingit totem poles and native art.
- Anchorage's Alaska Native Heritage Center, a museum celebrating native culture with exhibits as well as live shows, dance, music and meetings.
- Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, another lively native display and meeting place.
Safety Guide:
Women - Generally Alaska's pretty cool but large towns and cities have a bad reputation for rape, probably due to the disproportionate number of wild males on the prowl, so women should take care walking alone in the evenings, even if it's a late-sunset summer day.
Bears and Moose - Not normally a danger but take the usual precautions. Keep food in sealed containers away from camp sites, make plenty of noise when hiking in dense vegetation in order not to surprise them, never go near young animals or try to edge past a bear or moose, both are capable of sudden and damaging attacks if they feel threatened.
If you come across a bear unexpectedly make a lot of noise, wave your arms and slowly back away. Do not run.
If the bear attacks, fall and play dead, curl up, face down with your hands protecting your neck. It should go away. If, very unusually, it does not, you'll be in for a fight.
Bear pepper repellent sprays are on sale in Alaskan Outdoor Stores.
Avalanche - Do not go into back country snow without a guide or experience of avalanche avoidance/survival.
Getting Lost - Ensure that you go hiking with experienced navigators, carry emergency kit [space blanket etc], inform someone of where you're going and when you expect to be back, possibly with a written itinerary. Mobile [cell] phones will probably not work unless they are costly satellite jobs. These are rentable in many Alaska trekking locations.
Mosquitoes - attacks by mozzie squadrons are a pain but currently deliver neither malaria nor other diseases. Many hikers wear heavy clothing and even netting hoods in buzzy places/seasons. And don't forget the DEET heavy repellent, 25 - 50% for skin, up to 100% for clothing..
Water - avoid drinking untreated river or lake water which may be home to the Giardia bug courtesy of ducks. Either boil, filter or add iodine [yuk] to drinking water.
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USA
Tours
More
tour operators offering tours to the USA can be found in our listings
here: USA
Tours
Alaska Highlights:
- White Pass and Yukon Route railway, a spectacular vintage tourist train ride.
- fantastic high and low views from the Seward Highway and Alaska Railroad as they struggle across the Chugach Mountains.
- boating near the awesome Grand Pacific Glacier.
- the swirling magic of Northern Lights colours [mainly winter and in the interior].
- watching bears fishing and humpback whales leaping [see left].
- seeing genuine native Ketchikan totem poles in the Tlingit homeland.
Best Winter Sports:
- Anchorage is easy to fly into and has a lively winter culture program as well as good access to lake skating, dog sledding, downhill skiing and cross-country skiing.
- Girdwood's Alyeska Resort, Alaska's best ski resort, in a gorgeous setting.
- Chena Hot Springs [90 mins from Fairbanks] for winter activities, hot springs and Northern Lights.
- Sitka for culture, whales in early winter and the white stuff.
Where
to Go:
Bearing in mind the staggering size of Alaska, do NOT try to do it all in two weeks, particularly since each main travel zone - Southeast and Southcentral - offers the same basic attractions of huge mountains, spectacular views, glaciers, wildlife, attractive little towns and well-organised trails.
Getting to these two travel-friendly areas is relatively straightforward outside winter.
Adventures further afield are more complicated, time consuming and expensive.
Southeast***
Thousands of islands and a thin stretch of
mainland running along the western edge of Canada make up a route
known as the Inside Passage. This is the nearest part of Alaska
to Washington State.
Most short vacation travellers will fly into Anchorage then make another short air hop over to one of the Southeast's tourist centres, such as Sitka or Gustavus.
For road warriors, if
coastal Highways 1 and 101 from Mexico to Canada weren't enough
of an ultimate west coast road trip, then take the Alaskan Ferry
from Bellingham, British Columbia to carry on up north.
The ferry links the main islands of the Southeast to the start of
the Alaskan Highway and interconnects with the Southcentral and
Southwest regions during the summer.
Some Southeast Alaska travel possibilities:
Sitka *** on Baranof
Island [flight], a charming, historic town with a
Russian cathedral, castle and other relics left over from Russian
colonial days.
Sitka National Historic Park combines native and Russian history with
Totem Poles and Russian artifacts while whale watching is easy from the city park, especially June and September, or take a wildlife cruise for close-up action.
A glorious day from Sitka on an Alaska Marine Highway System ferry through the fjords gets you to **Juneau, with nearby icefield, the Mendenhall Glacier and some superb hiking trails.
A small [Allen Marine] ferry runs over to the port of ***Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay National Park, another magnificent ride speckled with islands, mountain peaks and humpback whales in the Icy Strait.
From **Gustavus, the main town, there are some terrific walks, or head back to the Cove for boat rides to see glaciers and varied marine life or rent a sea kayak for a really close look.
Revillagigedo
Island** Saxman Totem Park and Totem Bight State Historical Park for the
best in Totem Poles, natural beauty, wildlife and kayaking,
Misty Fjords National Monument.
*Admiralty Island National Monument is a mecca for
land wildlife and marine wildlife.
* Haines makes an excellent
hiking base in the mountains while *Skagway is the closest Southeast Alaska gets
to a metropolis, with museums and buildings harking back to the
19th C when it was a frontier town.
Southcentral**
Kenai Peninsula**
the southern edge of the
Kenai Peninsula
holds the Kenai Fjords National Park with stunning glacial features
for hiking or boat trips. Seward, just south of the Cook Inlet,
is a good route to the park, and has the excellent Alaskan Sealife
Center.
Kodiak Island** west
of the inlet, this is worth a special trip for wildlife enthusiasts
to see the massive Kodiak Brown Bears.
Anchorage* isn't the prettiest city
or most fascinating culturally, but it offers a couple of good native
museums and is a good base for exploration.
Prince William Sound* the first
ferry stops in the region are Valdez, Cordova and Whittier, on the
coast of the Sound. There are several islands, plenty of marine
wildlife and no shortage of mountains.
Pass through the oil pipeline terminus town of Valdez to reach the
mountain wilderness of Wrangel St Elias Park.
Whittier has a train to Anchorage, and Cordova has skiing in splendid
surroundings.
Interior**
This huge plateau running north from the Alaska
Range to just below the Arctic Circle is crossed by a multitude
of rivers and lakes through the endless tundra and forests.
Rafting and canoeing are popular in the rivers especially in the
Yukon and wildlife watching opportunities are good, particularly
for wetland birds.
Denali
National Park*** the main attraction in the region extends
from the Alaskan Range and Mt Mckinley - the highest mountain on
the continent - down to the northern plateau. Great for hiking,
mountainbiking and wildlife watching,
including bears.
Fairbanks* a large city
at the northern end of the Alaskan Highway. Charter journeys to
the Northern region often leave from here.
Far
North
North of the Yukon river valley most of
the region is within the Arctic Circle and pristine wilderness.
Wilderness*** around the Brooks Mountain Range you will find the Cape Krusenstern
National Monument, Noatak National Preserve, Kobuk Valley National
Park and Gates of the Arctic National Park.
There is a gravel road which runs all the way to the coast and meets
the Arctic Ocean at Prudoe Bay, but to explore the Arctic National
Park you will need to fly to Bettle, and for the Bering Strait,
Nome would be your Home.
Money:
Just like the USA credit cards are accepted just about everywhere and ATMs are found in every town.
Costs in Alaska are fairly high but if that's an issue hiking is always a low-cost option.
Internet:
Wifi for laptops is available from many hotels and large cafés but comparatively costly. However, web usage is heavy throughout Alaska and even small communities have some kind of public web access so doing without your own computer may be the way to go.
USA
Travel | SW
USA Photos
Pictures:
Fairbanks, Alaska Aurora by Roman Krochuk
Chilkoot River, Alaska by Dean Bergman |
