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ALASKA - Last minute travel specials to Fairbanks,
Anchorage, and Juneau
Incredible fjords, breath-taking ocean coasts, rushing rivers,
green temperate rain forests, majestic mountain peaks, glorious
glaciers, abundant wildlife and beautiful people. There are
amazing things to see and do in the most northern state.
The great outdoors is Alaska's first draw... and it is tremendous!
More than half the nation’s parklands are found here, located
in every geographic area of the state. Start with Denali National
Park & Preserve. At more than 6 million acres in size, it
features North America's highest mountain... 20,320-foot tall
Mount McKinley! The Alaska Range also includes countless other
spectacular mountains and many large glaciers.
One can pan for gold, dig for jade, and hunt for prehistoric
mammoth, mastadon, and whale ivories... the only legal form
of ivory one can obtain! Take in a native festival and celebration,
savor the midnight summer sun, or gaze in awe at the glory
of the aurora borealis!
There is the best salmon fishing in the world here, with
miles of river for just yourself and your companions, hunting
is a way of life with bear, moose, elk, sheep, bison, deer.
There are hunting lodges all over the state and hundreds of
pilots to get you to them (the family car is sometimes an
airplane).
Alaska has about 640,000 residents occupying 570,374 square
miles, or 365,039,104 acres of land. It is the largest state,
at about 2.3 times the size of Texas and about one-fifth the
size of the Lower 48 states. The name Alaska is derived from
the Aleut word "Alyeska" meaning "great land." Being so close
to Asia has left a cultural tie to Mother Russia... with a
large Russian population, traditions, and festivals.
Alaska even has its own holiday, 'Alaska Day', which is the
anniversary of the formal transfer of the territory and the
raising of the US. flag at Sitka on October 18, 1867.
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