Alaskana in Lights: Where True Alaska is Better and Wackier Than Fantasy Much like Alaska offering something for every traveler, the producers of Alaska reality TV programs strive to offer the same wide variety for every viewer. The early Alaska reality television show rush spawned one of the world’s more forgettable reality dating shows, 2002’s Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska. This... Read More
Alaska Reality TV: Survival of the Fittest in Alaskan Wilderness Alaska is a welcoming place of wonder and warm memories for visitors and residents alike. But Alaska can also be dangerous, and even deadly, for those who live in, or decide to test themselves against, its harsh natural environment. That lore and lure of life or death off the grid has... Read More
Many people work hard so they can take their dream trip to Alaska. Alaskans totally understand – they also work hard to finance their "Last Frontier" fun. Job descriptions in Alaska might look the same as anywhere else, but Alaska's workplaces are often unlike any others. In Alaska, even a corporate suit or someone in retail occasionally has to work late... Read More
It’s a classic Alaska storyline and far north fantasy – the Gold Rush and visions of gleaming nuggets. In the 1800s and early 1900s, tens of thousands of gold prospectors, opportunists and dreamers traveled north to Alaska. For most, this journey proved a dead-end road for dreams that went bust. But those rare few who struck the motherlode became insanely... Read More
Reality TV Thrives in the Last Frontier Alaska is a unique destination, where life is as real as it gets. Real fascinating and real unique, real cool and real cold, real mysterious and real extreme, real welcoming and even real dangerous. No wonder literally dozens of reality TV programs are, or have been, based in Alaska and around its often more-interesting-than-fiction... Read More
Kodiak Island juts out of the Gulf of Alaska with a rugged beauty all its own. Snow-capped mountains, dense old growth forests, rocky cliffs, wildflower-laced meadows, and sandy beaches are the foundation for this stunning landscape. The southwestern areas on Kodiak Island together with Uganik Island, the Red Peaks part of Afognak Island and Ban Island are part of the... Read More
Boost Your "Appetite for Alaska": Discover the "Great State's" Must-Eat Taste Sensations Every journey around "the Last Frontier" is filled with Alaska flavor – figuratively and literally! When in Alaska, the special sights, sounds and smells will overwhelm your senses in a dramatic way. And then there are the savory tastes you’ll only find only up north. You aren’t likely to... Read More
When people dream of visiting Alaska, thoughts often drift to the unique and untamed wilds of the state. Eagles, moose, salmon and even a rare bear or beluga whale sighting. The grandeur of massive, snowcapped peaks. Denali towering on the distant horizon. Lush green forests. Tranquil blue waterways. For Alaska travelers, imagination becomes reality as those amazing aspects of Alaska’s environment... Read More
McCarthy, Kennicott & Wrangell-St. Elias: A Motherlode of Magnificent Mountains and Alaska Mining History Located at the end of one of Alaska’s roughest rural roads, and set deep in the Interior and mountainous wilds of America’s largest national park, the 13.2 million acre Wrangell-St. Elias National Park has two tiny towns with one big history: Kennicott and McCarthy. This is where... Read More
From the depths of the sea comes a meal fit for a king, queen, prince, princess and anyone who likes to treat themselves: Alaska King Crab. Sure, these big beasts look intimidating and you’ll have to often work for it, shell-cracking to get to the thick meat hidden within its legs. But all of that effort is instantly forgotten when... Read More
Alaskans are not really known for their sense of fashion. In fact, blogs and magazines scoff at the state’s style. Travel + Leisure Magazine as well as online news site Fashionista have named Anchorage America’s “worst dressed city.” What are Alaskans to do? Wear five-inch heels while navigating six-inch-wide puddles? Break out their best during breakup? Dress to the nines in... Read More
For avid anglers and first-time fishermen, Alaska is where most fishing fantasies come true. Fishermen travel to Alaska from around the world with dreams of hooking a spectrum of salmon, heavy and hearty halibut, beautiful biting trout and graceful grayling. Fly-fishing for salmon on Big River Lakes from Redoubt Bay Lodge. If there’s a will, there’s an Alaska waterway filled with fish:... Read More
Alaska is in the midst of a beer boom with a surge in breweries and craft and micro brew production. Alaskans have always loved their saloons and suds. But for the longest time, brewing here in Alaska was relegated to homemade laboratories in beer lovers’ basements or garages. Brewing was a niche business at best and dominated by the famous... Read More
When I was 23, I went to Alaska by myself into the glaciers of the coast range and climbed a mountain by myself. It was incredibly reckless, incredibly stupid. But I was lucky. And I survived, and I came back to tell my story.
Alaska is what happens when Willy Wonka and the witch from Hansel and Gretel elope, buy a place together upstate, renounce their sweet teeth, and turn into health fanatics.