Alaska Travel Information
In addition to the following 'snapshot' descriptions you can also read further information on the highlighted areas using the links supplied on the individual tour pages. Once on tour the Visitors' Centres, historical roadside markers, Park Rangers, museums and newspapers will be readily accessible for additional information. Combine these with the knowledge of your trek leader and you'll have plenty of background - maybe more than you'll be able to absorb.
And remember: one of the best sources of information is the 'locals'- so don't be shy or afraid about saying 'Hi'. You'll discover that your accent is a marvellous icebreaker to help you experience the real spirit of Alaska.
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alaska tours
Skyscrapers, pinnacles of glass and steel, flash against the backdrop of nature's pinnacles, the Chugach Mountains. Relentless urban development in the wondrous wilderness of Alaska is not what tourists expect, and anybody living outside of Anchorage will agree with you. Half of Alaska's population lives here, 276,000, and claim there is no other city like it in the world!
Anchorage is the state's business and communication hub, and is likely to be the starting point for most visitors' journeys whether to the islands, the Kenai Peninsula, or inland to Denali and Mt. McKinley. Oil is still the number one business in town and money from the oil boom of the 70's provided financing for the building of all the comforts and attractions of a large US city.
But Alaska is only a short distance away, within 20 minutes one can be amongst glaciers, mountains and whitewater rivers. It was in 1913 that five settlers occupied Ship Creek. The point on Cook Inlet where modern day Anchorage now stands. Two years later, Congress passed the Alaskan Railroad Act naming Ship Creek as the major staging post for workers and supplies. Within a month, a tent city of nearly 2000 had sprung up and within a year the new township of Anchorage had been born complete with water, telephones, power lines, sidewalks, and schools to support the population of approx. 7000.
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alaska holidays
Denali attracts more visitors in its 114 day season than the entire state has residents. The park's shuttle-bus service gives easy viewing of the spectacular scenery as well as the plentiful wildlife. The park is home to 37 species of mammals, the big four being: bear, moose, caribou, & Dall sheep, and 130 different varieties of birds.
Until 1980 the park was known as the Mt. McKinley National Park, then it was renamed and it is protected area tripled to 6 million acres of subarctic wilderness. Few people leave this masterpiece of nature without being amazed at what they saw, nor can they leave with any unused film!
The park's centre piece is North America's highest peak, the majestic 20,320 feet Mt. McKinley. What makes this mountain so awesome is that it rises from an elevation of only 2000 feet, thus one sees 18000 foot - more than 3 miles - of sheer rock, snow, and glaciers soaring into the sky. (Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain only rises 11000 feet from the 18000ft Tibetan Plateau.)
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alaska adventure travel
They may have a McDonalds, but Fairbanks is "Extremely Alaska" as the city's official slogan says. Log cabins are the norm, not some alternative style. Students ski to classes, and softball games are played at midnight in the sunlight! For the people living in Fairbanks life is lived close to the edge, of the Tundra and the surrounding Arctic bush.
In 1901 E.T. Barnette was heading up the Tanana River by ship when it was swept off course into the fast flowing waters of the Chena River. After a dispute with the ship's captain he, his family, and his trade goods were unceremoniously dumped ashore. Thus Barnette's Trading Post opened for business at what is now the corner of 1st Avenue & Cushman Street.
The first boom time for Fairbanks came with the discovery of gold 12 miles north of the trading post only months after the Barnettes' arrival. Then, once the precious metal was gone so were most of the people. The construction of the railroad, then the Alcan (Alaska/Canadian Hwy), brought brief periods of activity, but not until the discovery of oil, did the same feverish excitement of instant wealth return. Hotel rooms sold out at sky high prices, shops were jammed and so was the traffic. But again the bubble burst and the population dwindled.
The town's uniqueness made many stay despite the lack of work and today they await the next boom, maybe when the proposed gas pipeline is constructed. The large population of military, unemployed and people in flashy cars reminding you of past days of easy money, all help to make what the guide books call "colourful, hard-living pioneers".
Fairbanks, still a supply base for towns north of the Arctic Circle, is not a pretty place, but a great town to shake off the road dust and let your hair down. The residents behave "Extremely Alaskan", working hard, playing hard, and drinking hard! There may not be 93 saloons within 3 blocks anymore, but how Alaskan can you get when the biggest sports in town are the 1000 mile dogsled race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, and their own Eskimo & Indian Olympics!
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alaska national park tours
Created in 1980, the park and the region was thrust into the news when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, producing one of the world's worst oil spills and environmental disasters.
Much of this delicate and pristine coastline was saved from heavy damage by favourable winds, but the park's staff are determined not to let us forget what impact the oil spill had and displays can be seen at the visitor centre. The park encompasses the Harding Ice Field, one of the largest in North America. A survey team earlier this century discovered that eight glaciers which reach the sea are in fact part of the same massive ice system, measuring 35 miles long and 20 miles wide. Access to the area is only possible by air or sea, and only expert mountaineers with guides venture into this inhospitable wilderness of icy, surreal beauty.
However, setting sail from the town of Seward everyone can view the breathtaking beauty of the glaciers, and the silver/blue icebergs which dot the fjord. The thrill of seeing your first whale close up is a sight that you will never forget. Watch these creatures, in silent wonder as their tails rise into the air and disappear beneath the surface of the near freezing water. The sheer abundance of porpoises, seals, whales, and seabirds in such majestic surroundings will keep camera shutters clicking and heads turning as you drink-in the total experience.
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alaska adventure tours
"GOLD! Head for them hills!"
Skagway was the gateway to the Klondike Gold Fields. Once, the ferries from Seattle teemed with intrepid pioneers with "get rich quick dreams" who "stampeded" ashore. Forty thousand hopefuls headed inland on their treacherous journeys by way of "The White Pass". It was so narrow and dangerous, pack animals were said to jump off the edge to end their misery. "The Chilkoot Trail" required men to march 33 miles to reach Lake Lindeman, and en route negotiate a steep hill known as "The Golden Stairs". Here the supplies being transported were made into much smaller lots, and required many arduous journeys up and down the 45 degree slope.
Eventually the White Pass narrow gauge railroad was built. It no longer hauls freight and supplies for the gold camps, but it does haul hikers and tourists to the scenic interior and Whitehorse. Today, scores of visitors step ashore at the northern terminus of the state's "Inside Passage" ferries, to be welcomed to the "Home of the North Wind" as the city is known in the Indian tongue. Cruise ships also dock allowing even more visitors to descend upon Alaska's southern gateway. Once described as "the most outrageously lawless quarter on the globe", today's authentic downtown historical district looks much the same as it did 90 years ago except there is less likelihood of being robbed. Jefferson Randall Smith, alias "Soapy", was the robber baron of the area, and helped to give the town its reputation.
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