Why Alaska is one of our Favorite Adventures
Alaska, the name alone conjures up visions of epic adventures in the far North.
I'm not sure if there's another state with as many nicknames: Alaska The Great Land, The Last Frontier, Land of the Midnight Sun, Seward's Foley and many more. And that is just the name, the superlatives associated with Alaska would make Webster proud -- Beautiful, Magnificent, Dramatic, Vast, Huge, Exciting, Amazing, Breath Taking, to name just a few.
The funny thing is, these were all pulled directly from our guest evaluations from our Alaska Family Vacation and our Kenai Fjords Adventure along the Kenai Peninsula. From Anchorage to Seward and back, by train, bike, boat, kayak and trail we explore this great state.
Alaska represents everything we look for in an adventure destination and it starts with our inside knowledge. As a 15-year resident of Alaska it was gratifying to share my knowledge and experiences together as we built this adventure over 20 years ago. Those behind-the-scenes insights make our adventures stand out above the rest. One of our first decisions was simply where in Alaska should we visit.
I have spent decades exploring every corner of the state and I found the Kenai Peninsula to be a great representation of all that Alaska has to offer. Without spending endless hours driving you can see a diversity that can't be duplicated.
From the rugged coastlines (did you know Alaska has 50% of the US Coastlines at 6,640 miles.. that's a lot of coast line) to the highest Coastal Mountain Range in North America (including the only Ski Resort "Alyeska" as sea level) to the quaint historic Gold Mining town of Hope, the bustling fishing village at Seward. Something else to consider: when we set out to build a new trip, we look hard at the "Host City" and you won't find any better than Anchorage. Alaska's heart and soul, Anchorage is a 24 hour a day thriving community.
It is well known for it's restaurants (Alaskans and Visitors like to eat), its Museums (Alaskan Heritage Museum in downtown is one of the finest I have ever visited) and it's local color (no better Saturday market exists). I encourage you to plan an extra few days exploring Anchorage either before or after your trip.
If you are looking for more, Anchorage is also home to the largest small plane airport in the world and the largest float plane base. Booking flights either site seeing or for world-class fishing are easy.
We are often asked why we don't visit Denali (aka McKinley and the highest Mountain at 20,320 ft in North America) and the answer is again simple. First it's at least an additional 6 hours up to Denali North from Anchorage (we head South) and as we mentioned, we just wanted to give the best 6 day experience possible.
That said, a trip (consider by train) to Denali is a great add on or even better yet, a reason to come back once you understand the lay of the land. I get asked all the time (pretty much every day) what is my favorite adventure is and to be 100% honest, at the risk of offending a few tourism boards around the world, I have to say that Alaska at the very top of the list.
Whether you join us on our Alaskan Vacations or go it on your own, as they say "Just Do IT" because Alaska won't disappoint.