Photo by Johnny Johnson/Getty Images
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Alaska Travel: The Bear Essentials
By Edward Readicker-Henderson, May & June 2008
An Alaska native shares his favorite places to see…
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Bears Up close, bears smell like wet dogs. The TV nature-special grizzly sightings are in Katmai, on the Alaska Peninsula, but I prefer the Anan Wildlife Observatory, near the southeast town of Wrangell. Anan Creek is one of the few areas in the world where black and brown (grizzly) bears share the same fishing spot (although the smaller black bears tend to hide when the browns show up). In July and August a dozen or more bears might be chomping on some of the quarter-million spawning salmon. Some tour-group possibilities: Alaska Vistas (866-874-3006) and Breakaway Adventures (888-385-2488).
Really big mountains The first time I camped at Wonder Lake, in Denali
National Park, the horizon looked as if it ended in a wall. But, no, that's just the Alaska Range, capped by Mount McKinley. (Be Alaskan; call it "Denali," or just "the mountain.") The best way to see the continent's highest peak is in a bush plane. Routes go into the Great Gorge, which is like flying through a scene from Lord of the Rings, before looping around the summit. I hesitate to use the word awe, but nothing else fits. Try K2 Aviation (800-764-2291) or Talkeetna Air (800-533-2219).
Whales Around 500 humpback whales come to southeast Alaska each summer to feed, and they have several favorite buffet spots. Icy Strait's Point Adolphus, near the tiny towns of Gustavus and Hoonah, offers the ultimate humpback smorgasbord. Whales dive, lunge, and sometimes breach—the best day I had here, I lost count at around 35 whales. Another great option: Juneau, where the whales can get so close you smell their breath—which smells worse than wet bears. In Juneau, try Orca Enterprises (888-733-6722); in Hoonah, try Icy Strait Point (907-945-3141; the company reserves seats for cruise passengers but takes walk-ups if spots are available).
Glaciers Most people head to Glacier Bay. The name, I guess. And Glacier Bay is gorgeous. But those in the know opt for Tracy Arm, just south of Juneau—for seals on bergs, and the thunder crack of shopping center-size pieces of ice breaking off the glacial face. Even better: About 15 miles away is Ford's Terror, which looks like a setting from a dinosaur movie—all mist and trees and calving glaciers, as if the world were only minutes old. Shallows and tides keep trips to Ford's Terror rare, but given a choice, make it this one. Tour options include Juneau Tour Center (800-820-2628) and Juneau Sportfishing and Sightseeing (907-586-1887).
The absolute middle of nowhere In a state one sixth the size of the rest of the country—and with well under a million residents—the word remote takes on new meaning. For an escape from the escape, I head to the Brooks Range, north of the Arctic Circle. Spend a week paddling the Noatak River, or go hard-core and hike the spired landscape of the Arrigetch Peaks. While you're being eyed by musk oxen, survivors of the last ice age, you're hundreds of miles from the nearest cell phone tower. For tours try Arctic Treks (907-455-6502).
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