A Short Guide to Alaska

No other state is as big or as thinly settled as Alaska. Its area exceeds Texas, California and Montana put together, yet only about 730,000 people call it home, and most of the territory has no road at all. If you are sketching out a first trip, the sections below pick out a few anchor destinations, some adventures for when you arrive, good tables to book, and several facts worth having in mind before you go.

Places Worth the Trip

• Denali National Park & Preserve: At 20,310 feet, the mountain called Denali is North America's tallest, and it generates its own weather. Only around a third of visitors ever catch the summit without cloud.
  A single road leads into the park, and the way to ride it is on a park bus. Keep your eyes open for grizzlies, moose, caribou and Dall sheep as you go, and bring binoculars.
• Kenai Fjords National Park: Day cruises set off from Seward and follow the fjords to glaciers that end in the sea, where chunks of ice calve into the water in front of you.
  On the same outing you will often see humpbacks, orcas, sea otters and puffins as well.
• Glacier Bay National Park: UNESCO lists Glacier Bay as a World Heritage Site, and you get there by ship or by a short flight to Gustavus.
  About two hundred years ago the entire bay lay beneath ice. The glaciers have since pulled back roughly sixty-five miles, and the forest behind them is still spreading in.

Things to Do

• Glacier Flights by Helicopter: Out of Juneau, Girdwood and Talkeetna, helicopters cross the icefields, and plenty of tours include a landing on the ice itself.
  A few operators run a dog camp high on the glacier, which lets you walk across the ice and then ride a sled in the middle of summer.
• Dog Sledding Adventure: Mushing holds the title of official state sport, and kennels near Fairbanks and Willow offer tours year-round.
  Snow season means a real sled, while summer swaps in a wheeled cart. Whichever you choose, you get to meet the dogs beforehand, which is half the fun and a chance to ask the handlers your questions.
• Northern Lights Viewing: Aurora viewing season lasts from late August into April, and most people base themselves in Fairbanks.
  Move away from the town lights, dress for long spells of standing around in the cold, and set aside several nights, since clouds decide whether you see anything.

Where to Eat

• Sourdough Mining Company, Anchorage: Generous plates of Alaskan seafood and steak inside a building styled like an old mining camp.
• Orso, Anchorage: A calmer downtown dining room that builds its menu around local ingredients. Many travellers book it for their final evening, so reserve ahead.
• Juneau's King Crab Shack, run by Tracy's: King crab served at picnic tables near the cruise dock. The menu is brief, and it does not need to be longer.
• Saltry, at Halibut Cove: Reached by ferry from Homer, with a deck built out over the cove. Your table time ends when the boat back departs.
• Anchorage's Moose's Tooth (pub and pizzeria): Pizza and beer from the same team. On a Friday evening, expect to wait for a table.
• Double Musky Inn, Girdwood: Cajun cooking in a ski town about an hour south of Anchorage. It has been around for decades, and a line at the door is simply normal.
• Simon & Seafort's (Anchorage): Windows over Cook Inlet, seafood and steaks, and a bar that fills up at sunset.
• Ray's Waterfront (Seward): On the small boat harbor, looking down Resurrection Bay, serving whatever came off the boats that morning.
• The Bake Shop (Girdwood): Sourdough pancakes and soup in bread bowls at the base of the ski lifts. Breakfast before a long day.
Juneau's Hangar on the Wharf: A former seaplane hangar on the waterfront, with the channel visible through the windows and a long list of beers.

Things Worth Knowing

• The sun does not set: Up in Utqiagvik, on the north coast, the sun remains above the horizon from mid-May until early August. That adds up to around eighty days with no sunset.
• Ice everywhere: There are roughly 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, covering about five percent of the state. Only a few hundred of them have names.
• More bears than people in places: Almost all of the brown bears in the United States live here, alongside moose, wolves, bald eagles, orcas, humpbacks and sea otters.