Why Go?Big, beautiful and wildly bountiful. Far away, rurally isolated and very expensive. Alaska is a traveler’s dilemma.

There are few places in the world with such grandeur and breathtaking beauty. Mt McKinley, the highest peak in North America, is a stunning sight when you catch its alpen-glow in Wonder Lake. Forty bald eagles perched on a single tree is something seen in Haines, not Iowa.

Alaska is also a remote and costly destination for any-body tripping through the rest of the country, a place where accommodations are expensive and transportation options meager. But, from the Northwest, a slice of Alaska can be an affordable side trip, whether it’s a few days cruising Southeast Alaska on the state ferry or a 2½-hour flight to Anchorage for the weekend. Once there you’ll marvel at the grandeur of the land and begin plotting your ultimate ad-venture, a summer in Alaska. This chapter focuses on South-east Alaska and Anchorage.

Alaska

When to Go

Jun Enjoy sum-mer solstice festi-vals and 20-hour days. Stay up and play outdoors.

Jul Salmon runs, with millions of spawning fish choking streams, hit their peak.

Late Sep The mystical northern lights begin to ap-pear in the night skies.

F DNOSAJJMAMJ

Anchorage°C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm

0

10/250

4/100

6/150

8/200

2/50

-20/-4

-10/14

0/32

20/68

30/86

40/104

50/122

10/50

Best Places to Eat¨¨ Snow City Café (p1097)

¨¨ Ludvig’s Bistro (p1089)

¨¨ Tracy’s King Crab Shack (p1091)

¨¨ Coastal Cold Storage (p1088)

¨¨ Sack’s Café (p1098)

Best Places to Stay¨¨ Copper Whale Inn (p1097)

¨¨ Black Bear Inn (p1086)

¨¨ Juneau International Hostel (p1091)

¨¨ Beach Roadhouse (p1093)

¨¨ Alaskan Sojourn Hostel (p1094)

Ketchikan ................ 1086Wrangell ................... 1087Petersburg ............... 1088Sitka......................... 1088Juneau ..................... 1090Haines ...................... 1092Skagway .................. 1094Anchorage ............... 1095

©Lonely¨Planet¨Publications¨Pty¨Ltd

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