Alaska.  The Last Frontier and a fabled kingdom which is unfathomably HUGE at almost 425  million acres.  It can be a wet, very wild and somewhat lonesome a place and they say the winds can howl for weeks on end but it is one of the most stunningly beautiful places on earth.

Isolated and extreme, with glaciers that can be larger than some States in America, Alaska is beauty and wilderness beyond measure.  I think what I am going to find frustratingly difficult for these posts about Alaska, is that I may not be able to find words deserving enough to describe this part of the world.  Perhaps, it is just too big for words…….

Alaska is a haven for hikers and walkers as wilderness trails and tracks abound.  There are pristine lakes, glaciers, abundant wildlife, snow-capped mountains, curious and unconventional townships dotted throughout the landscape and the summer days stretch right on in to midnight.

 This photo was taken at 10:58 pm.   Most folk in Alaska have very wisely invested in heavy-backed drapes…….

And ladies, if you are single and on the lookout for a man then Alaska is the place to be.  Men significantly outnumber the women so the odds of you finding someone is very, very good.  But just remember that isolation can sometimes encourage small eccentricities in some so although your odds are good, the goods could be a tad odd.  But from where I stand, originality and a truth beholding to oneself is something to be prized.

Some of our days were spent under a sky heavy with cloud and peppered with rain which gave off a serene, almost black and white appearance to the landscape.  Other days, the sky was the prettiest of wren blues you could ever imagine.  One major bonus of these big Alaskan skies is that star gazing here is better than anywhere else in the world……..

Although we were in Alaska during their warmer months, they say the best time to visit is between May and September, it was cold and there was snow about although I do acknowledge it does get much, much colder!    I am an absolute frog when it comes to the cold.  I have been known to wear flannelette pj’s in summer so it was a highly unexpected turn that I fell in love with Alaska.  I was cold , yet I was filled with such warmth and comfort.

Enjoying a Reindeer gyro…….oh deer!

I had a mission while in Alaska and it involved three things.  One: see a moose.  Two:  stay warm.  Three:  see a moose!

I had so dearly wanted to see a moose in the wild and how blessed were we in that we saw several.  I find moose to be the most endearing looking of creatures.  To my eye they appear gentle, unassuming, compliant and completely harmless.  Just like Bullwinkle in the cartoons 🙂  And just like the cartoons, the moose also have the most humorous and lovable expression.  Somehow though, I really don’t think they are the brightest of all creatures but when you look that adorable face, it doesn’t matter a dot.

These beguiling and gangly legged beasts roam about so serenely as if they don’t have a care in the world.   They browse on green shoots and tips of plants and trees and you can actually see where they have been as the grass is stomped flat and the bark upon the trees is scraped and marked by the larger moose with their magnificent velvety antlers.

I for one, could not possibly ever imagine anyone wanting to hunt these lanky beasts as I don’t believe it would be much of a contest, let alone a fair one.  To me, it would be like hunting your neighbours sweet and docile pet milking cow named Clarabelle.

We were in a bar in Anchorage and I was chatting with a local Alaskan gent who I was sitting next to.  Over a glass of very good red wine the conversation turned to moose whereby he exclaimed  ‘Moose!  Why moose are one of the most aggressive and dangerous animals around these parts.  They are the worst animal to ever encounter in the wild’.  

Now I did note he forgot to mention polar, grizzly, brown and black bear as being dangerous but what would I know about danger as I am a lover and crusader of the shark and in particular The Great White, not to mention my fascination for free diving!

What a peach, just look at that face……….

Photo courtesy ‘Natural Habitat Adventures Alaska’

Is this not one of the most joyful thing you have ever seen……..

Photo courtesy ‘Visit Anchorage Alaska Visitors Bureau’

We stayed in Anchorage, a very neatly set out and rather quaint little city surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and the waters of the Cook Inlet.  This is a transient area but somehow, it doesn’t really feel that way.  No doubt though, Anchorage will be around forever even surviving through those constant seismic tremors of the underground quakes.   And those tremors are very real as frighteningly, Alaska can register an average of 1,000 earthquakes a month.

Anchorage is a great base from which to explore Alaska as you have access to rail, very good roads and air and sea connections.  It may appear a relatively small city, given the size of Alaska, but it has all your essentials, the locals are very friendly and all you need to see and do is as close as a train or small plane trip away.

Something quite fascinating about Anchorage is that right in the heart of town you can salmon fishing at Ship Creek…….and almost all of the locals do.   We stood and watched, spellbound by the urban angling trend where runs of Chinook and Coho salmon are caught.  And some of those fish were huge!  There really are big and plentiful fish in those waters.

Now as much as I have loved to eat salmon I really don’t think I could eat it every day and not tire of its oily taste but I could and would go salmon fishing in Ship Creek every day.

This gives a whole new meaning to the words ‘stuck in the mud’.  I guess sometimes, you just have to sit it out and wait for a helping hand to come along……..

And speaking of mud!  You will be well advised by signage and by the locals to stay off the mudflats.  Especially those of Cook Inlet.  These expanses of mud are formed from glacial silt and although appearing a place to walk and explore, they definitely are not.  These grey muddy flats have been likened to quicksand in that you will get stuck and stuck fast.  The mud acts as a suction and if alone, you will have very little chance to free yourself and you will be drowned by the incoming tide.  Having said that however, the mudflats are quite beautiful especially at low tide as patterns emerge in the mud and these flats are also a sanctuary for birdlife.  And all of this can be viewed from the safety of terrafirma.

There are an awful lot of clichés about Alaska and very happily, I can report they are all true.  Well, with the exception of Russia.  I didn’t see the country of Russia when visiting Wasilla.   You do however, have those big wild bearded mountain men in their buckskin, the ruggedly cantankerous gold prospectors and the extreme survivalist loners very happily eking out a self sufficient existence away from the confines of civilization and conformity.  There are those odd and very quirky little townships full of dark charm and characters, the crazy thrill seeking fishermen on the hunt for the Kings of the crab world and those ‘sourdough’ locals who have been in Alaska forever and who intend to keep on living that way.

Alaska really is majestic and it is unpredictable and it is beauty at its incredible best.  It is a place that will render you breathless every single day such is the impact this land can have.  I think too, if given long enough the essence of this place would seep so deeply into your soul that you could not stand to be anywhere else and to live here would leave you forever happy.

Even those with the most jaded of hearts could fall in love with Alaska where time and distance becomes irrelevant simply because you are somewhere that is just so big……..xx

Part II coming soon.