Anchorage: Denali, Chugach Mountains, Alaska Railroad, Iditarod, Kenai Fjords, the 1964 Earthquake, and Practical Info
Anchorage (elevation 38 m, population 291,000 city/400,000 metro, approximately 40% of all Alaska's 733,000 people) is the largest city in Alaska and the commercial hub of the largest US state by area (1.7 million square km, larger than Texas, California, and Montana combined). The city sits between the Chugach Mountains (immediately east, reaching 4,016 m) and Cook Inlet (to the west), at 61 degrees North latitude -- the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, and Helsinki, Finland. Anchorage is the gateway to some of the most extraordinary wilderness in the world: Denali National Park (240 km north, 24,500 square km, Denali at 6,190 m the highest North American peak), Kenai Fjords National Park (230 km south, Harding Icefield 700 square km the largest US icefield), and Chugach State Park (500,000 acres within Anchorage city limits, 3rd-largest US state park). The city hosts the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (1,600 km to Nome), was devastated by the M9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 (second-largest earthquake in human history), and is served by Ted Stevens International Airport, one of the top 5 airports in the world by cargo tonnage due to Anchorage sitting at the midpoint of transpacific great circle routes.
Anchorage: Alaska History and Statehood, Seward Highway, Neighborhoods, Glacier Trekking, Economy, and Kenai Salmon Fishing
Anchorage: history (Russian America 1741-1867 Vitus Bering born 1681 Denmark died December 19 1741 Bering Island scurvy, Russian-American Company Sitka 1799, Alaska Purchase March 30 1867 USD 7.2M 2 cents/acre Seward Seward Folly, Klondike Gold Rush August 16 1896 George Carmack Bonanza Creek 100,000 prospectors White Pass Chilkoot Trail Skagway Dyea, Nome 1899 Fairbanks 1902 Prudhoe Bay oil 1968 statehood January 3 1959), Seward Highway (AK-1 235km National Scenic Byway, Turnagain Arm tidal bore beluga whales July-October Dall sheep McHugh Windy Corner, Portage Valley Portage Lake glacier, Mount Marathon Race July 4 945m 5.3km 1915 bar bet men record 41min 27sec 2018, Kenai Peninsula 260km Cook Inlet Gulf Alaska, Kenai NWR 2.1M acres 1941 moose range), neighborhoods (Anchorage 4,900 sqkm largest US city by area larger Rhode Island, JBER 700 sqkm Air Force Army F-22 Raptors 25th Infantry Airborne, Downtown 4th Avenue log cabin visitor center, Ship Creek king salmon visible July-August urban salmon fishing downtown skyline, South Anchorage moose black bear grizzly bear backyards), glacier trekking (Matanuska Glacier Mile 102 Glenn Highway 155km NE 44km long 5.5km wide largest US road-accessible 3-5hr guided USD 80-200, 10,000-year-old Wisconsin glaciation ice, Lake Hood busiest seaplane base world 190 operations/day, Rust's Flying Service 1963 oldest floatplane Anchorage, Denali flightseeing Talkeetna 1-2hr most spectacular aviation tour North America), economy (USD 22B GDP, oil management Prudhoe Bay BP ConocoPhillips ExxonMobil, Port of Anchorage 75% all Alaska goods 5M tonnes, JBER 10,000 military 5,000 civilian, oil decline 2M to 200K barrels/day fiscal crisis no state income or sales tax, UAA 1954 16,000 students), Kenai salmon (world record king 44.2kg May 17 1985 Les Anderson, 30,000+ anglers/year USD 300M peninsula sport fishing economy, Bristol Bay sockeye 35-70M fish largest run on earth USD 300-600M ex-vessel, Pebble Mine USD 500B minerals vs most productive salmon fishery world EPA review, Homer halibut capital Pacific halibut 230kg day charters Small Boat Harbor).
Anchorage: Kincaid Park, Inside Passage, Climate Change in Alaska, Arts Scene, Winter Northern Lights, and Day Hiking
Anchorage: Kincaid Park (1,500 acres 56km trails mountain biking Nordic ski 1994 Arctic Winter Games biathlon, Coastal Trail 17km paved most used trail Alaska moose at close range all seasons, Earthquake Park Turnagain Heights 1964 liquefaction interpretive, Chester Creek Trail 11km connector, Flattop Mountain 15km downtown 5.4km most-climbed Alaska Cook Inlet Denali views), Inside Passage (Alaska cruise 1.3M passengers 3rd-most-visited cruise destination world after Caribbean Mediterranean, Alaska Marine Highway 35 communities Bellingham to Unalaska 1,600km most scenic public ferry North America, Juneau only US capital no road connection Mendenhall Glacier 13km downtown retreating 30-40m/year most-visited US glacier, Sitka Alaska Purchase ceremony October 18 1867 Russian flag lowered American raised Sitka NHP 1804 Battle of Sitka Tlingit vs Russians), climate change (Alaska warming 2x contiguous US 3x global average Arctic amplification, permafrost 80% Alaska 300+ billion tonnes carbon thawing Newtok Shishmaref relocating villages methane release, Columbia Glacier 25km retreat since 1980 most rapid Alaska, Muir Glacier 48km since John Muir 1890, salmon die-offs 2019 Kuskokwim 20,000-50,000 dead above 21C lethal, spruce bark beetle 4M acres killed since 1990s), arts (Anchorage Symphony 1946 Atwood Concert Hall 2,100 seats Symphony in Park, Alaska Center Performing Arts 1988 4,200 seats three venues, Out North Contemporary 1985 alternative LGBTQ+ platform, Bear Tooth Theatrepub 1230 West 27th 450 seats most popular entertainment venue craft beer independent film converted warehouse), winter (December 21 5hr 28min daylight more than Fairbanks 3hr 42min, aurora September-March 3-4 nights/week Kp3 visible Kp5 spectacular, dog mushing tours Palmer Willow 75-100km north 1-3 hours, Iditarod ceremonial start March first Saturday 50,000+ spectators 4th Avenue, Alyeska Resort Girdwood 60km 1,615m largest vertical single gondola North America 76 runs 635cm annual snowfall), hiking (Chugach State Park immediately adjacent 500,000 acres, Eagle River Nature Center 32750 Eagle River Rd Crow Pass Trail 26km 1,400m crossing to Girdwood, Crow Pass Crossing race July 900m elevation gain waist-deep river, Hatcher Pass 120km north Independence Mine 1937-1951 National Historic Landmark wildflowers September blueberries, Bird-to-Gird Trail 15km paved Turnagain Arm most dramatic fjord paved trail from Anchorage).
Anchorage: Alaska Native Heritage, Anchorage Museum, Matanuska Valley, Wildlife, Alaska Highway, and the Aurora Borealis
Anchorage: Alaska Native Heritage Center (1999 11 cultural groups Athabascan Yupik Inupiaq Alutiiq Tlingit and more live demonstrations, Alaska Native 105,000 15% state population 20+ languages Yupik 10,000 speakers, ANCSA December 18 1971 Nixon 44 million acres USD 962.5M largest land claims settlement US history 12 regional 200+ village corporations, Dena ina language of Anchorage area), Anchorage Museum (625 C Street 170,000 sqft USD 69M 2009 David Chipperfield London, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center only Smithsonian outside DC year-round, Sydney Laurence 1865-1940 Brooklyn NY first major Alaska painter hundreds Denali oils, Russian colonial 1741-1867 Gold Rush 1896 Alaska Highway 1942 2,400km 9 months 10,000 soldiers statehood January 3 1959 ANILCA 1980 53 million acres single act largest US conservation), Matanuska-Susitna Valley (75-100km north Palmer 7,000 Wasilla 10,000, New Deal colonization 1935 203 families Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan 40 acres house barn livestock seed 25-year mortgage, Colony Farm Museum 316 East Elmwood Palmer, Alaska giant vegetables 20+ hour photosynthesis cabbages 65kg world record pumpkins 1,000kg, Alaska State Fair late August-Labor Day giant vegetable competition), wildlife (1,500 moose within Anchorage greater area 300-400 vehicle collisions/year, Alaska brown bear 30,000 largest US population, McNeil River 144 bears single day July chum salmon run most dense on earth, Kenai River world-record king salmon 44.2kg May 17 1985 Les Anderson), Alaska Highway (1942 9 months 2,400km 10,500 military 16,000 civilian 24hrs subarctic winter, Dalton Highway 666km gravel Prudhoe Bay Arctic Ocean Trans-Alaska Pipeline parallel Arctic Circle Mile 115 Atigun Pass 1,450m, Seward Highway National Scenic Byway 235km Turnagain Arm, Homer 350km halibut capital Homer Spit 7km), aurora (61 degrees N auroral oval 120-150 nights/year September-March strongest, green oxygen 100-150km red 200km+ blue purple nitrogen, Anchorage Hillside O'Malley Abbott Road best city viewing, midnight sun June 21 19hr 22min daylight civil twilight no true darkness, 18-20C average high June-August residents outdoors 1-2am blackout curtains).
Anchorage: Prince William Sound, Talkeetna, Alaska Food Culture, Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Wrangell-St. Elias, and Sports
Anchorage: Prince William Sound (Anton Anderson Tunnel 4.1km longest combined rail-highway North America to Whittier, Columbia Glacier 51km retreating 600m/year, Exxon Valdez March 24 1989 12:04am Bligh Reef 41.6M liters crude 2,100km coastline coated 250,000 seabirds 2,800 sea otters 300 seals 250 eagles 22 orca, USD 1B restoration fund 35+ years later AT1 orca pod still not recovered), Talkeetna (225km north 900 residents, air taxi to Kahiltna Glacier 2,200m basecamp Talkeetna Air Taxi K2 Aviation small ski planes, Main Street log buildings false fronts Talkeetna Roadhouse 1917 cinnamon rolls sourdough, Nagley General Store 1921, Historical Society Museum 1936 Territorial School, Denali view 150km 30-40% clear days), Alaska food (Copper River king salmon May first chinook USD 50-80/pound retail air freight 24 hours to Seattle Portland SF NY, king crab Bering Sea Paralithodes camtschaticus Deadliest Catch 2005-present, 4-week October-January season 120-180m depth 80x national fatality rate, Anchorage Market Festival May-September Saturdays Sundays 300+ vendors reindeer sausage Alaska berry jams birch syrup), Trans-Alaska Pipeline (1,300km Prudhoe Bay to Valdez completed May 31 1977 USD 8B most expensive private construction history, 1.2m diameter 60C oil 671km buried 675km elevated permafrost, Prudhoe Bay 13 billion barrels cumulative peak 2M barrels/day 1988 now 200K, Permanent Fund 1976 USD 80B 2024 USD 1,312 dividend 2023 every resident, 85% state budget oil), Wrangell-St. Elias (53,300 sqkm largest US park 6x Yellowstone larger Switzerland Netherlands Denmark, 9 of 16 highest US peaks Mt St Elias 5,489m, Kennicott Mines 1903-1938 Guggenheim-Morgan copper USD 200M historical USD 1B current abandoned overnight November 1938 still intact isolation cold, Bagley Icefield 200km largest subpolar North America, Bering Glacier 203km longest North American glacier), sports (Iditarod Trail Invitational 350 and 1,000 miles self-supported foot ski fat bike longest most severe endurance world, Mayor Midnight Sun Marathon June 22 summer solstice most distinctive US urban marathon, Alaska Baseball League Cape Cod League of West hundreds MLB alumni, Alaska Aces ABA basketball).