Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20190621035327/@comment-29709319-20190628042332

National Themes For June 28: National Logistics Day, National Paul Bunyan Day, National Insurance Awareness Day, and 🇺🇸National Alaska Day.

🍁National Logistics Day™ is in appreciation for the importance that the logistics industry plays in both our national and global economies! The logistics industry first started to take form when Marco Polo traveled to China on the Silk Road and kept a detailed written record paving the way for future traders and merchants to use between Europe and China. In 1896, the first “horseless carriage” semi-truck was invented, improving how goods would move across our country. The first air cargo flight took place in 1910 between Dayton and Columbus, increasing the speed with which goods could be delivered in the U.S. In 1956, the first container ship sailed from the port of New Jersey to Texas, forever changing how goods would move around the world. And that’s how early logistics started, demonstrating how logistics connects the world and always has. Today, logistics expenses in the U.S. account for nearly 8% of everything we make and sell. That includes packaging, warehousing, shipping, and more. The third-party logistics industry, those who help businesses efficiently manage logistics across their supply chains represents an $800 billion industry on its own.

🍁National Paul Bunyan Day! Described as a giant and a lumberjack of unusual skill, Paul Bunyan is one of the most famous North American folklore heroes. In the tales, Paul Bunyan was almost always accompanied by his companion, Babe the Blue Ox. First appearing in print in 1906, in a story published by Northern Michigan journalist James MacGillivray, Bunyan’s character originated in folktales circulated among lumberjacks in the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. One account states that the tales began during the Papineau Rebellion of 1837. In 1914, the stories were reworked by William Laughead, for a logging company’s advertising campaign, and found a new widespread popularity. It was the 1922 edition of Laughead’s tales that inspired many others and soon the character was widely known across all of the United States and Canada. The Paul Bunyan legend tells that it took five storks to carry him as a newborn and as he was a little older and clapped and laughed, it broke windows. The legend continues that he sawed off the legs of his parents’ bed, in the middle of the night, when he was only seven months old and that the Grand Canyon was formed as he and Babe the Blue Ox walked through dragging his axe behind him. The myth of the Great Lakes being formed by Bunyan needing to create a watering hole for Babe to drink from is another popular one told by many. Many cities in the north-central section of the United States, claim the title as the official home of Paul Bunyan.

🍁National Insurance Awareness Day was created as a day to review your insurance coverage. Insurance offers security, covering loved ones and recovering losses in the event of damage, illness or death. It offers protection but over time the value of our homes and the items in may appreciate. What was once worth $100,000.00 a decade ago may be worth much more today. Be sure your policies keep up with the values.

🇺🇸National Alaska Day! Alaska is a U.S. state. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States. Alaska's capital is Juneau, its largest city is Anchorage. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. The name "Alaska" was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the Alaska Peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut-language idiom, which figuratively refers to the mainland. Literally, it means object to which the action of the sea is directed. State of Alaska: Nickname: The Last Frontier, Motto: North to the Future, State song: Alaska's Flag. Living insignia; Bird: 🕊Willow Ptarmigan, Dog Breed: 🐕Alaskan Malamute, Fish: 🐟King salmon, Flower: 🌸Forget-me-not, Insect: Four-spot skimmer dragonfly, Mammal: (Land) Moose, (Marine) 🐋Bowhead whale, Tree: 🌲Sitka Spruce. Inanimate insignia; Fossil: Woolly Mammoth, Gemstone: Jade, Mineral: Gold, Other; State Sport: Dog mushing. Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental North America. It is larger than the combined area of the next three largest states: Texas, California, and Montana. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the North Pacific. It is the most perfect volcanic cone on Earth. Glacier ice covers about 28,957 square miles (75,000 km2) of Alaska. The Bering Glacier is the largest glacier in North America, covering 2,008 square miles (5,200 km2). Climate: There is a saying in Alaska, "the four seasons in Alaska are Winter, June, July and August." On average, Anchorage receives 16 in (41 cm) of precipitation a year, with around 75 in (190 cm) of snow, although there are areas in the south central which receive far more snow. It is a subarctic climate due to its brief, cool summers. The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s°F (the low-to-mid 30s°C), while in the winter, the temperature can fall below -60°F (-51°C). Precipitation is sparse in the Interior, often less than 10 in (25 cm) a year, but what precipitation falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter. The climate in the extreme north of Alaska is Arctic (Köppen: ET) with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers. Even in July, the average low temperature in Utqiagvik is 34°F (1°C). Precipitation is light in this part of Alaska, with many places averaging less than 10 in (25 cm) per year, mostly as snow which stays on the ground almost the entire year. The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska are both in the Interior. The highest is 100°F (38°C) in Fort Yukon (which is just 8 mi or 13 km inside the arctic circle) on June 27, 1915, making Alaska tied with Hawaii as the state with the lowest high temperature in the United States. The lowest official Alaska temperature is -80°F (-62°C) in Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971, one degree above the lowest temperature recorded in continental North America. The Tlingit people developed a society with a matrilineal kinship system of property inheritance and descent in what is today Southeast Alaska, along with parts of British Columbia and the Yukon. Also in Southeast were the Haida, now well known for their unique arts. The Tsimshian people came to Alaska from British Columbia in 1887, when President Grover Cleveland, and later the U.S. Congress, granted them permission to settle on Annette Island and found the town of Metlakatla. The Aleutian Islands are still home to the Aleut people's seafaring society, although they were the first Native Alaskans to be exploited by Russians. Western and Southwestern Alaska are home to the Yup'ik, while their cousins the Alutiiq-Sugpiaq lived in what is now Southcentral Alaska. The Gwich'in people of the northern Interior region are Athabaskan and primarily known today for their dependence on the caribou within the much-contested Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The North Slope and Little Diomede Island are occupied by the widespread Inupiat people. The first European vessel to reach Alaska is generally held to be the St. Gabriel under the authority of the surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and assistant navigator I. Fyodorov on August 21, 1732, during an expedition of Siberian cossak A. F. Shestakov and Belarusian explorer Dmitry Pavlutsky (1729–1735). Another European contact with Alaska occurred in 1741, when Vitus Bering led an expedition for the Russian Navy aboard the St. Peter. After his crew returned to Russia with sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world, small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia toward the Aleutian Islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784. In 1789 a Spanish settlement and fort were built in Nootka Sound. Sitka, renamed New Archangel from 1804 to 1867, on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in what is now Southeast Alaska, became the capital of Russian America. It remained the capital after the colony was transferred to the United States. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska. On March 30, 1867 William H. Seward, the United States Secretary of State, negotiated the Alaska Purchase (also known as Seward's Folly) from the Russians for $7.2 million. It was not until October 18, 1867 that the commissioners arrived in Sitka and the formal transfer was arranged. This event is celebrated as Alaska Day, a legal holiday on the 18th of October. For most of Alaska's first decade under the United States flag, Sitka was the only community inhabited by American settlers. European immigrants from Norway and Sweden settled in southeast Alaska, where they entered the fishing and logging industries. Starting in the 1890s and stretching in some places to the early 1910s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was officially incorporated as an organized territory in 1912. Alaska's capital, which had been in Sitka until 1906, was moved north to Juneau. During World War II, the Aleutian Islands Campaign focused on the three outer Aleutian Islands: Attu, Agattu and Kiska, that were invaded by Japanese troops and occupied between June 1942 and August 1943. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor became a significant base for the United States Army Air Forces and Navy submariners. The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities. Statehood was approved by Congress on July 7, 1958. Alaska was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959. On March 27, 1964, the massive Good Friday earthquake killed 133 people and destroyed several villages and portions of large coastal communities, mainly by the resultant tsunamis and landslides. It was the second-most-powerful earthquake in the recorded history of the world, with a moment magnitude of 9.2. It was over one thousand times more powerful than the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System led to an oil boom. Royalty revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from 1980 onward. That same year, not coincidentally, Alaska repealed its state income tax. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling over 11 million U.S. gallons (42 megaliters) of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed Pebble Mine. Alaska has few road connections compared to the rest of the U.S. The Interstate Highways in Alaska consists of a total of 1082 miles. One unique feature of the Alaska Highway system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, an active Alaska Railroad tunnel recently upgraded to provide a paved roadway link with the isolated community of Whittier on Prince William Sound to the Seward Highway about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Anchorage at Portage. At 2.5 miles (4.0 km), the tunnel was the longest road tunnel in North America until 2007. The tunnel is the longest combination road and rail tunnel in North America. Education: Alaska operates a boarding school, Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, and provides partial funding for other boarding schools, including Nenana Student Living Center in Nenana and The Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena. There are more than a dozen colleges and universities in Alaska. Accredited universities in Alaska include the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and Alaska Pacific University. Alaska is the only state that has no institutions that are part of NCAA Division I. 1️⃣Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is in the Panhandle of the state of Alaska. The park is best known for its massive glaciers, but is also an ideal destination for those seeking wildlife, kayaking, or a chance to get away. Efforts for protection of Glacier Bay were made by John Muir and other conservationists, and in 1925 President Calvin Coolidge signed a proclamation creating Glacier Bay National Monument. At the time the monument contained less than half the area of the present park. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act elevated the monument to national park status and also extended the park boundary northwest to the Alsek River and Dry Bay. Further protection and recognition of Glacier Bay's significance occurred in 1986, when the Glacier Bay-Admiralty Island Biosphere Reserve was established under the United Nations Man and the Biosphere Program. In 1992 Glacier Bay became part of an international World Heritage Site, along with neighboring Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Canada's Kluane National Park. The park has snow-capped mountain ranges rising to over 15,000 feet, coastal beaches with protected coves, deep fjords, tidewater glaciers, coastal and estuarine waters, and freshwater lakes. Steep, sculpted peaks and scoured, rock-strewn valleys show scars of glacial activity and mark the advances and retreats of glaciers dating back over 115,000 years. The sheltered waters of Glacier Bay ebb and flow with the region’s huge tides, which can change as much as 25 feet during a six-hour period. Ocean waves pound the beaches of the wild and remote Gulf of Alaska coast. Between the bay and the coast, snow-clad peaks of the Fairweather Range capture the moisture coming in off the Gulf of Alaska and, in turn, spawn the park’s largest glaciers. At the base of these lofty peaks, deglaciated foothills and outwash plains rapidly turn green as the ice retreats and seeds find their way to the newly revealed land. Each summer humpback whales return to the bay from their wintering grounds near Hawaii. Minke and killer whales along with harbor and Dall's porpoises also find their way to Glacier Bay. Steller sea lions congregate on rocky islands to mate or to rest. You can find harbor seals floating on ice in Johns Hopkins Inlet and among the rocky reefs of the Beardslee Islands. Sea otters are rapidly colonizing Glacier Bay as well as park waters in Icy Strait and Cross Sound. Many land animals also use the marine environment for foraging and travel. moose, brown bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes, marmots, mountain goats, river otters, marten, mink, weasel, lynx, snowshoe hare, beaver, shorebirds, seabirds, and waterfowl. There are no roads to Glacier Bay. To do; Kayaking: Travel by kayak is an incredible way to see the park. Guided kayak trips are available, or kayaks can be rented. While it is possible to start a trip from Bartlett Cove, most travellers use the camper drop-off service to get them closer to the major inlets. Cruise ship: Numerous large cruise ship companies offer cruises to the park. Hiking: There are several trails that begin in the Bartlett Cove area. Rafting: The Alsek River and its major tributary, the Tatshenshini River, are large volume, swift glacial rivers. Beginning in the interior, it is one of a small number of river systems which breach the coast range. 2️⃣Anchorage Museum; Exhibits: ✨Alaskans and Salmon: This multi-media exhibition celebrates salmon culture in Alaska in its many forms, from commercial, subsistence and sport fishing to processing, preserving and eating. Salmon are embedded in the lifeways and economy of Alaska, and the human relationship to this wild resource is complex, personal and deeply felt. Visitors to this exhibition will get a taste of how Alaskans experience, share and savor the presence of salmon in their lives. Alaskans and Salmon is presented in conjunction with The Salmon Project, a non-partisan effort to bring together diverse Alaskans to raise awareness of and sustain Alaska’s wild salmon for its economic, social, cultural and ecological values. Search the museum collection for objects made with or inspired by salmon. Find cookbooks featuring salmon recipes and craft items made from salmon in the Museum Store. ✨The Culture Of Media: Representation From Nanook To Molly. An exhibition on the museum’s fourth floor provides context for the PBS Kids series Molly of Denali, the first nationally distributed children’s TV series in the U.S. featuring an Alaska Native lead character a 10-year-old Molly who lives in the fictional village of Oyah, Alaska. The Culture of Media: Representation from Nanook to Molly presents brief historical overview of how Indigenous people have been represented in media throughout the 20th century, including introducing audiences to Athabascan cultures and the production process behind Molly. ✨Arctic Portals: Experience the Arctic and Arctic research through immersive experiences. Step into mobile units that explore the sights and sounds of our place, featuring sound ecology and scientific data. Interact through vibration/touch, sensorial isolation, and sound amplifications. ✨Kegginaqut; Yup'ik Masks: The Yup’ik people have inhabited Sub-Arctic Alaska for thousands of years. To maintain balance with the environment, Yup’ik culture has developed rich traditions of dancing and story-singing. Some of the annual dances held in the qasgi, or ceremonial house, include the wearing of elaborate masks. Yup’ik masks are traditionally the creation of the village angalkuq, or shaman, who creates masks in accordance with dreams or visions. In this exhibition, the work of the angalkuq Ikamrailnguq is featured, a creator of some of the best-known Yup’ik masks in existence. Masks are often destroyed after a ceremony, but with the arrival of traders in the late 19th century, masks became an exchange item for trade goods, which later became part of museum collections. Since collectors often were unaware of the inter-related nature of masks, most masks were separated. The four dance masks in this exhibition represent the Yup’ik windmaker spirit, Tumaneq. Created in the early 1900s, the masks were separated over time, each ending up in a different location: the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC; the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles; and the Menil Collection in Houston. This exhibition reunites these four masks after many years apart, the first time they have been together in Alaska for more than a century. ✨Death In The Ice: The Mystery Of The Franklin Expedition. Explore the enduring mystery behind Sir John Franklin’s tragic expedition. Leaving Britain in 1845 to chart the Northwest Passage through the Arctic, the expedition’s two ships and 129 men never returned. Through historical artifacts and Inuit oral history, this groundbreaking exhibition provides the most comprehensive account to date of Franklin’s final voyage. Frozen. Isolated. Trapped. In 1845, Sir John Franklin led the Royal Navy’s sturdiest two ships into the Arctic to great international acclaim. His mission: to discover a Northwest Passage to Asia. Franklin and his crew were never heard from again. Thirty-seven expeditions were launched from several countries in a decades-long effort to discover the fate of Franklin’s men. Tantalizing clues, including graves, provisions, Inuit tales, and a single handwritten note told a grim story, but the men and ships would never be found. This most enduring of mysteries leapt back into the headlines in 2014 with the discovery of Franklin’s flagship, HMS Erebus, then two years later with the discovery of HMS Terror, each incredibly well preserved at depths of less than one hundred feet in the Arctic Ocean. Dives aboard the wrecks are rapidly changing our understanding of what befell Franklin’s expedition. This exhibition pulls together the strands of this epic history. Included are expedition materials from London along with Inuit culture and knowledge that led to the wrecks’ discoveries from Canada, and artifacts raised from HMS Erebus. ✨What Why How We Eat: This exhibition and accompanying series of public programs look at how Alaskans connect with each other and the land through food. The exhibition presents an expanded view of the vital cultural role food plays in the North, referencing home kitchens, community and tradition, innovation, climate and the future of food in the Arctic. This exhibition is about the real food and real people of Alaska, highlighting multiple cultures and food traditions within Alaska communities. The exhibition provides an interactive space for learning about how food is produced, preserved and shared within Alaska’s diverse communities in both rural and urban areas. Food-oriented public programming and a book of food essays with companion cookbook of Alaskana recipes for dishes commonly made in Alaska’s kitchens are among the ways the What Why How We Eat project connects Alaska food culture with other cultures around the world. The exhibition serves as a place for conversation and exchange, hosting all-ages, classes, lectures, demonstrations, lunches, dinners and tastings and providing opportunities for visitors to taste, feel, and experience the social and physical dimensions of our food culture through the following: 🍃Urban Harvest classes sharing traditional food preparation and preservation skills. 🍃Group meals and food-related films. 🍃Drop-in food preparation and cooking demonstrations. 🍃Bike tours to community gardens. 🍃Community talks and workshops with local chefs, restaurateurs, small business owners, academics, farmers, and subsistence hunters. ✨Alaska Exhibition: Alaska is a land of contrasts and extremes, a complex social and natural landscape that lends itself to myth and cliché. The new Alaska exhibition tells the story of Alaska through multiple voices and perspectives reflecting the ingenuity, technology, ways of knowing and intimate understanding of the landscape that have allowed people to survive and thrive across the North. The exhibition is organized by 13 themes reflecting essential aspects of life in Alaska, both today and throughout the state’s rich history. These themes reveal the identity of Alaska and its people. On view are more than 400 objects from the Anchorage Museum’s collections, including several acquired or on loan especially for this new exhibition. Visitors will experience immersive installations throughout the exhibition with elements of sculpture, video and interactivity, soundscapes, moving images and cinematic narratives with participative moments. The visitor journey follows an intuitive clockwise path that begins and ends at the same point. Visitors move forward in time, exploring themes and absorbing Alaska’s history as it relates to contemporary issues. At the heart of the gallery is a central space featuring the people and stories of Alaska through a growing archive of biographies and images. The space is a gathering place and will host artists and performances, school groups, readings, storytelling and special events. Visitors may also explore a complementary gallery for temporary exhibitions related to Northern narratives, which opened this past May. Together, these elements invite visitors to consider for themselves what Alaska really is: what is real, what is myth, and what lives in the space in between. ✨Art Of The North: The Art of the North galleries in the museum’s new wing present the museum’s art collection from the perspectives of American art and an international North. Paintings, sculpture, photography, video and other media offer varied perceptions of the Northern landscape and wilderness through historical and contemporary depictions of both land and people. These new galleries deliver a compelling narrative for the North. Presented are documentary works from expedition artists, along with Romantic landscapes by 19th and 20th century painters, and works by contemporary artists for whom landscape is a place in transition, at risk and altered by man. The indigenous perspective is a critical part of the North. Museums have long segregated indigenous artwork from other traditional, modern and contemporary works. With this installation, the two will be combined into one narrative of the North. The Rasmuson Wing expands the amount of space dedicated to the museum’s collection from 3,000 to 25,000-square-feet. Combined, these spaces will put on view approximately 200 works from the permanent collection. 3️⃣Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Zoo; Directions: Follow AK Route 1 (The Seward Highway) South for about 47 miles from Anchorage, past Girdwood. Their located just before the Portage Glacier road turnoff on your right at Mile 79 of the Seward Highway! The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) is surrounded by the Chugach Mountain Range and Turnagain Arm Inlet. There is over 200 acres of animal enclosures. You can take their scenic 1.5-mile loop tour by foot or by car, while learning about the resident wildlife. AWCC's mission is to preserve Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, research, education and quality animal care. The center, which opened to the public in 1993, also educates visitors about Alaska's wildlife. Coyotes peer out from behind the brush while a bald eagle swoops in on the salmon remains left by a grizzly bear. Wood Bison plod through 65 acres of tidal flat terrain, as part of a program that will one day restore the species to the Alaskan wilderness. Animals that cannot be released into the wild are given a permanent home at the center. Come be a part of these exciting programs and watch these animals display their natural, “wild”, behavior. Set on the shores of Turnagain Arm, surrounded by mountains and hanging glaciers, the center is the perfect setting to learn about Alaskan wildlife. The animals are located in different areas grouped around several road loops. Perhaps the best way to view the facility is to first drive around to get your bearings, then park by the gift shop and walk. Each habitat area has a sign explaining the history and habits of the particular animals. It is a Wildlife sanctuary for orphaned or injured wildlife, as well as home or temporary home to captive born and translocated wildlife such as wood bison. It is a wildlife sanctuary that provides comfortable, permanent homes for orphaned and injured animals. 4️⃣The Sheldon Jackson Museum is a Native American museum located on the former campus of Sheldon Jackson College. Many of the artifacts were originally collected by Rev. Sheldon Jackson in his travels through rural Alaska. Sheldon Jackson Museum was founded in 1887, becoming the first museum in the state of Alaska. When it outgrew its temporary quarters, a new specially dedicated concrete structure was constructed between 1895 and 1897 and, upon completion, became the first concrete structure built in Alaska. The museum, collection, and grounds are currently owned and administered by the State of Alaska. Organized within the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums, the Sheldon Jackson Museum was purchased by the State in the mid-1980s during the administration of Governor Bill Sheffield. Collection: Many of the artifacts housed in the museum (over 5,000) were originally collected by Rev. Sheldon Jackson in his travels through rural Alaska. The museum's collection almost exclusively focus on Alaskan Native groups such as the Aleuts, Athabascans, Eskimos, and Tlingit/Tsimshian. An affiliated advocacy group, Friends of the Sheldon Jackson Museum, operate an on-site museum gift shop that exclusively carries items crafted by Alaska Native artists. The organization also sponsors several museum programs, including the Alaska Native Artist Demonstrators Program during the summer months. 5️⃣Kenai Fjords National Park is an American national park established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The park covers an area of 669,984 acres (1,046.9 sq mi; 2,711.3 km2) on the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, near the town of Seward. The park contains the Harding Icefield, one of the largest ice fields in the United States. The park is named for the numerous fjords carved by glaciers moving down the mountains from the ice field. The field is the source of at least 38 glaciers, the largest of which is Bear Glacier. The fjords are glacial valleys that have been submerged below sea level by a combination of rising sea levels and land subsidence. The park lies just to the west of Seward, a cruise ship port. Exit Glacier is a popular destination at the end of the park's only road. The remainder of the park is accessible by boat, airplane, and hiking. There are no roads in the park. Most visitors take a tour by boat. There are numerous tour operators on the Seward waterfront. Tours are generally 4-6 hours and include a stop at a tidewater glacier, sea lion haul outs, seabirds rookeries, and lunch. Tours will vary their routes to maximize the visitors wildlife and glacier viewing opportunities. Tours may be cancelled or limited to a short trip inside Resurrection Bay if there is inclement weather at sea. There are also water taxis which can transport visitors to specific areas such as public-use cabins. Whichever method of access you use, be prepared for cold winds, even if it is warm in Seward. The icefield and it's glaciers can generate very strong, very cold winds at any time. Organized marine tours are the safest way to enjoy the park. Kenai Fjords National Monument was initially designated by President Jimmy Carter on December 1, 1978, using the Antiquities Act, pending final legislation to resolve the allotment of public lands in Alaska. Establishment as a national park followed the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. The park protects the icefield, a narrow fringe of forested land between the mountains and the sea, and the deeply indented coastline. The park is inhabited by a variety of terrestrial and marine mammals, including brown and black bears, moose, sea otters, harbor seals, humpback and killer whales. 6️⃣The Alaska SeaLife Center! Alaska’s premier public aquarium and Alaska's only permanent marine mammal rehabilitation facility, is located on the shores of Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska. The Center is a private, non-profit corporation and was granted accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. It is dedicated to understanding and maintaining the integrity of the marine ecosystem of Alaska through research, rehabilitation, conservation, and public education. It is the only facility in the world specifically dedicated to studying the northern marine environment and the only one designed at the outset to combine research with public education and visitor components. The Alaska SeaLife Center generates and shares scientific knowledge to promote understanding and stewardship of Alaska's marine ecosystems. The Alaska SeaLife Center is one of the only non-profit organizations in the world that has both a public aquarium and fully supported research facility in the same building. The SeaLife Center is affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and collaborates with numerous state, federal and international agencies and universities. The SeaLife Center studies the marine ecosystems of Alaska and the species who call it home. The Alaska SeaLife Center provides care for sick and injured marine animals, yielding important information about wildlife populations. Through this program, the center rescues, treats, and releases stranded animals. It is the policy of the Alaska SeaLife Center to make every reasonable effort to rehabilitate and release as many rescued animals as possible. The main objective of the Rehabilitation Program is to return healthy rehabilitated animals back to their natural habitat. In cases where the animals cannot be released, they are kept at the Alaska SeaLife Center or transferred to another facility. The Alaska SeaLife Center is the only permanent stranding facility for marine mammals in Alaska. Operating as a designated marine mammal "stranding center" within a marine research facility allows veterinarians and staff to learn a great deal about these animals during the rehabilitation process. The Rescue and Rehabilitation Program is authorized by NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) and USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) to respond to marine mammal and bird strandings from the entire gulf coast of Alaska. The program includes a veterinary staff, interns, and volunteers trained to respond and care for marine mammals and birds. Exhibits: The Center's public exhibits include a touch tank where visitors can touch small marine invertebrates such as sea stars and sea urchins in a shallow pool, an aviary for the center's numerous seabirds with a two-story diving pool, as well as harbor seals, Steller's sea lions, and Giant Pacific octopuses. There are also exhibits of Alaska's most important food fish such as salmon, halibut, king crab, and sablefish. In 2016, the Center opened the Nose 2 Nose exhibit, which enhances the underwater viewing area with a new Octopus Grotto where visitors can learn more about resident octopuses. The exhibit also offers an array of interpretive installations and fun activities for the entire family, in addition to seeing eye-to-eye with octopuses, sea lions, seals, and a number of fish and bird species. 7️⃣Fairbanks Ice Museum: Billed as "The Coolest Show in Town," the Ice Museum, in the historic Lacey Street Theater on Second Ave. in Fairbanks, Alaska is home to the Ice Showcase and Freeze Frame. Freeze Frame is a dynamic large screen multi-image presentation that tracks, from start to finish, the process of Ice Art, the International Ice Sculpting Competition held each March in Fairbanks. The Ice Showcase is an 8,000 cubic foot walk-in display case that maintains a constant temperature of 20 degrees. Inside are the results of hours of work on over 40,000 lbs. of world-famous Fairbanks ice. The sculptures can be viewed in a warm comfortable auditorium, through the glass fronted case. 8️⃣The Alaska Botanical Garden is located inside the Far North Bicentennial Park at 4601 Campbell Airstrip Road, Anchorage, Alaska, and covers 110-acre (44.5-ha). It is an independent non-profit organization which opened in 1993, is open year-round, and charges admission to support its mission. The mission of the Garden is to enhance the beauty and value of plant material through education, preservation, recreation and research. The Garden's land consists mainly of spruce and birch forest. It features 8 developed demonstration gardens and a special location for Junior Master Gardeners. 80 acres of the 110 acre site is fenced to protect these gardens from moose. The gardens include: ✨​Lile's Garden: ​This peaceful and serene garden is named in honor of Lile Bernard Rasmuson. Lile's Garden is a true 3+ season garden and houses an American Peony Society Gold Medal Peony collection along with a wide range of Primulas, Tulips, and other groundcover perennials. ✨​Lower Perennial Garden: This garden is intended to demonstrate perennials hardy to Southcentral Alaska such as delphiniums, poppies, peonies, hostas, iris, phlox, rockcress, fall aster, primula, Asiatic lilies, meadow rue, and roses. The displays of peonies and Himalayan blue poppies in this garden are dramatic late June through July. ✨​Herb Garden: Showcases a variety of annual and perennial culinary and medicinal herbs. This garden is maintained by volunteers of the Herb Study Group in partnership with Master Gardeners and the Cooperative Extension Service. ✨Rock Garden: ​The Rock Garden was constructed and is maintained by the Alaska Rock Garden Society. Optimal conditions here allow 350+ species of specialized alpine plants to thrive, including specimens from Alaska, Scandinavia, China, and the Himalayas. One section of this garden contains Tufa rock from a deposit in British Columbia. Another portion showcases planted hand-made tufa troughs. The troughs contain small alpine plants creating tiny gardens of their own. ✨​Anchorage Heritage Garden: This re-creation of an old-style Anchorage garden depicts the lush plantings of vegetables, annuals, and perennials common in Anchorage from 1915 – 1950. Harvested produce is donated to local food banks. ✨Trailside Gandens: Long gardens on each side of the paved trail outside of the Outdoor Classroom area make great comparisons to each other for shade and sun loving plants. The shady side of the trail features Shieldleaf Rodgersia, Leopard’s Bane, Daylilies, and Primrose. The sunny trail side features ornamental grasses, Bee Balm, Asiatic lilies, hardy Azaleas, and colorful Yarrows. ✨Outdoor Classroom: ​This special location is exclusively for children to learn and experience the joy of growing their own food and plants. The entry to the Outdoor Classroom is comprised of large raised beds filled with edible plants. The back entry features a small fruit such as currants and raspberries. ✨​Wildflower Walk: ​Marked by its rustic, wattle-fence edging, this trail hosts many examples of common Alaskan wildflowers and native plants. It is planted and maintained by the Wildflower Garden Club. There's a SUV size boulder that has mosses and lichens in a myriad of colors over it. ✨Entry Beds: The entry beds welcome visitors with successive splashes of color throughout the growing season. These plantings are anchored with hardy perennials that gracefully blend into the the backdrop of native boreal forest. Varieties of plants in the entry are generally moose resistant as this area is outside of the tall fence that protects their display gardens from these herbivores. ✨Entry Plaza & Shade Garden: ​Multiple varieties of Primrose, a flowering crabapple tree, hardy perennials, and container annuals that thrive in shady locations are featured in the welcome area just inside the entry gate. A small sheltered kiosk contains information for gardeners, birders, visitors, and homeowners. ✨Lowenfels-Hoersting Family Nature Trail: ​This two mile trail winds down to Campbell Creek where salmon spawn. Views of the Chugach Range are featured mid-trail. Be mindful of the two sets of stairs on the trail and watch for wildlife along the route. 9️⃣Denali National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres (9,446 sq mi; 24,464 km2) which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre (3,354 sq mi; 8,687 km2) Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. Denali National Park and Preserve is located in the central area of the Alaska Range, a mountain chain extending 600 miles (970 km) across Alaska. Its best-known geologic feature is Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley. Its elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m) makes it the highest mountain in North America. Its vertical relief (distance from base to peak) of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) is the highest of any mountain in the world. The mountain is still gaining about 0.039 in. (1 millimetre) in height each year due to the continued convergence of the North American and Pacific Plates. The mountain is primarily made of granite, a hard rock that does not erode easily; this is why it has retained such a great height rather than being eroded. 🔟Indian Valley Mine: Their located at Mile 104 on the Seward Highway just a short 20 minute drive south of Anchorage, Alaska. Indian Valley Mine & Gifts is family owned and operated. Their open every day 9am to 6pm from May 15 to September 15. The main cabin and the assay building at Indian Valley Mine are some of the oldest structures built on the Turnagain Arm, and are listed as a National Historic Site. The main cabin is now a gift shop and the assay building is now a mini museum. ✨Indian Valley Mine offers visitors the opportunity to learn gold panning, browse through an assay building mini museum and visit our gift shop, or simply sit back in one of their rocking chairs and breath in the panoramic view of the Turnagain Arm. ✨Gold Panning Demonstrations: They will show you how to pan for gold and where else to go for recreational gold panning. ✨Take a Tour: Hear the story of Peter Strong, the old prospector who dug a gold mine and built the log cabin and assay office there in the early 1900s, and many other Alaskan adventure tales. Take a look at some of the tools and other historic artifacts in their mini museum. Interpretive signs explain mining, plant life and local history. Enjoy spectacular views of Turnagain Arm and the bore tide while you relax at their picnic tables and benches. See Beluga whales persue the hooligan in May and the salmon runs in late summer. Watch eagles circle overhead. Or wander around their homestead style garden, to look at summer vegetables and flowers, native plants and songbirds. ✨Gold is much heavier than ordinary sand, nineteen times heavier than an equal amount of water, therefore gold sinks to the bottom of the pan before the dirt settles. They will show you how to separate the sand, rocks and dirt from the gold using the old time gold miner’s technique. With the right swirling motion, gold will stay on the bottom while you wash away the dirt. When you start seeing some color in the bottom of your pan, they will help you put the gold into a vial filled with water and seal it for you to take home. 1️⃣1️⃣Husky Homestead: Enjoy a warm welcome and experience a true Alaskan lifestyle at Husky Homestead—home of Iditarod Champion, Jeff King. Husky Homestead is widely heralded as an authentic look into rural lifestyles based on 43 years of Alaskan adventures: from freight hauling on Denali to crossing the finish line in Nome, Alaska with a champion Iditarod team. Cuddle puppies upon arrival and share an intimate view of the Alaskan Husky as the team explodes from the dog yard and witness their beauty in motion as they run on our treadmill before hitting the trail for a training run. Get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into creating a championship team and carving a life in Alaska's Interior. Hear compelling stories from the trail and see actual racing sleds, arctic survival gear and equipment used to traverse 1100 miles of Alaska's most rugged terrain. 1️⃣2️⃣Crow Creek Mine provides a unique opportunity to relive the Historic Gold Rush of Alaska. Established in 1896, Crow Creek Mine, is one of Alaska's most renowned hydraulic gold mining operation. With estimated production rate of 700 ounces per month in the day, this makes Crow Creek Mine one of the largest producing placer gold deposit in the state of Alaska. Overtime greater awareness of water quality issues created stricter federal regulations resulting in the closure of hydraulic mining operations across the country. The hard work and struggles of working in such an isolated location is apparent, well preserved, and maintained at their historic mining camp. The Toohey family took over ownership and management of the property in 1969 from the original mine manager. Since then, the family has worked hard to preserve the rich history and create a truly authentic experience for visitors. Crow Creek Mine offers a unique blend of historical buildings, antiques, rare mining equipment, beautiful gardens, amazing mountain scenery, hiking trails (including the Historic Iditarod Trail), and access to explore and prospect on the mines’ original claims. Their property is still producing Gold to this very day, and offers a great experience for families, as well as those more experienced and serious about Gold Prospecting. 1️⃣3️⃣Mendenhall Ice Caves: The Mendenhall Glacier is a 12-mile-long glacier in the Mendenhall Valley, only 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Alaska. Inside the glacier are the blue ice caves, one way to access these ice caves is if your willing to kayak to the edge of the ice and then climb over the glacier. Sadly, this Juneau glacier is retreating increasingly fast as climate change warms the ocean. The Mendenhall Glacier has receded almost two miles since 1958. The ice caves are in part formations of this glacial melting. The Mendenhall Glacier can be seen from the visitor center on Mendenhall Loop Road. From there you can take trails to the ice caves. A guided tour is recommended to make sure the caves are accessible and secure, as they are known to melt and cave in. Ice cave tours usually run from July to September. The glacier is federally protected as part of the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, a unit of the Tongass National Forest. Proper gear is needed for these caves are slippery and can be dangerous. 1️⃣4️⃣Chena Hot Springs is a hot spring, resort, and unincorporated community in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, 56.5 miles northeast of Fairbanks near the Chena River State Recreation Area. The resort makes use of the first low-temperature binary geothermal power plant built in Alaska, and is working on several alternative energy projects, including production and use of hydrogen and vegetable oil for fuel. The resort is conducting collaborative experiments in greenhouse production of vegetables with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Geothermal Power Plant: Chena Hot Springs Resort uses two 200kW Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) geothermal energy power plants to generate energy, the first in Alaska. The resort moved the diesel generators used in the past to a backup role since July 2006, and it is successful in reducing the cost from 30 cents/kWh to 5 cents/kWh. The resort owners have future plans in increasing the work output of the powerplant from 200 kW to 1MW. An increase to 730 kilowatts was accomplished. Chena Hot Springs was founded over 100 years ago by two gold mining brothers, Robert and Thomas Swan. In 1905, Robert Swan was suffering from rheumatism and needed a place to calm his pain and be comfortable. It took them a little over a month to reach the hot springs after searching for it in the Interior Alaska’s harsh landscape. In 1911, twelve small cabins were built to accommodate visitors. The twelve cabins developed, and they became one of the most famous resorts in the interior of Alaska. Chena Hot Springs became so famous that the United States Department of Agriculture sent chemists to analyze the water. The characteristics of the water are very different from other American hot springs. The average yearly temperature for the area is 23.2°F (-4.9°C) with the highest temperature being in July at 68.7°F (20.4°C) and the lowest temperature being in January at -24.2°F (-31.2°C). Annually the average amount of precipitation is 14.1 in. (357 millimetres). The average snowfall amount in Chena Hot Springs is 63.7 in. (161.8 centimetres) annually. Chena Hot Springs has visibility of the Aurora borealis, especially around the March equinox. Aurora Ice Museum: The purpose of the Ice Museum is to boost the tourism of the resort and showcase the artwork of resident ice artists Steve and Heather Brice. The museum is open throughout the entire year, including the summer, when the temperature can reach up to 90°F(32°C). The present museum is made of a steel framework with hollow walls and consists of a great hall and a lounge. Some of the ice sculptures include a gigantic ice tower and life-size jousting knights. One of the rooms even has a non-functioning ice toilet. Visitors are offered the opportunity to purchase a vodka "appletini" in a hand carved ice glass for an additional fee during the tour. 1️⃣5️⃣The Chugach National Forest is a 6,908,540-acre (27,958 km2) United States National Forest in south central Alaska. Covering portions of Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River Delta, it was formed in 1907 from part of a larger forest reserve. The Chugach includes extensive shorelines, glaciers, forests and rivers, much of which is untouched by roads or trails. It hosts numerous bird, mammal and marine species, including extensive shorebird habitat and a bald eagle population larger than the contiguous 48 states combined. Human industry in the forest includes extensive tourism and some mining and oil and gas operations. There is very little logging done in the Chugach, and less than 2 percent of the forest is considered suitable for commercial logging operations; this is unusual among national forests. It is the second-largest (third-largest if the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is considered as one entity) forest in the U.S. national forest system. Approximately 30 percent of the area of the forest is covered by ice. Portions of the Kenai Peninsula make up approximately 21 percent of the forest, and include the southern portion of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. Parts of Prince William Sound make up about 48 percent of the forest. This includes 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of shoreline, 22 tidewater glaciers, and the Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area. None of the area is designated as national wilderness, although much of it qualifies under federal law. Portions of the Copper River Delta cover approximately 31 percent of the forest, and include the largest contiguous wetlands complex on North America's Pacific coast. Despite its huge size, there are only 90 miles (140 km) of Forest Service roads and over 500 miles (800 km) of designated trails. The Kenai Peninsula section of the forest is home to over 200 colonies of seabirds, as well as between 3,000 and 5,000 bald eagles. The Copper River Delta portion of the forest is the largest contiguous portion of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and is considered one of the most essential shorebird habitats in the world. The Delta provides habitat for over 20 million birds annually, and during the summer, one quarter of the world's trumpeter swans and dusky Canada geese call the Delta home. Mammals that inhabit this forest include coyote, timber wolf, Alaskan moose, caribou, marten, Sitka black-tailed deer, mountain goat, black bears and grizzly bears. Dall sheep are also found; the Chugach is the only national forest where these animals can be seen. Humpback whales, sea lions and otters are found in the Chugach's waters. The waters around the forest also host all five species of Pacific salmon found in North America. There are over 7 million annual visitors to the Chugach National Forest, including kayakers, boaters, hikers, skiers, birders and anglers. 1️⃣6️⃣The Alyeska Aerial Tram is a three-to-seven minute scenic ride from The Hotel Alyeska to 2,300 ft in elevation and the top of Mt. Alyeska. From the Tram, you can see for miles in all directions, including views of the Turnagain Arm, up to seven “hanging” glaciers, and endless peaks deep into the Chugach Mountain range. In the summer months, moose and bear sightings are common on their aerial tram rides. At the Mountain Station, there is an observation deck providing even more panoramic views of majestic mountains, hanging glaciers, sparkling streams, towering spruce, and an array of wildlife. The observation deck is a perfect place to enjoy a relaxed lunch at the Bore Tide Deli & Bar or beautiful evening sunset. Telescopes are also available along the deck. In the winter, the tram operates at full speed (26 miles per hour (42 kilometers per hour) to get eager skiers on the slopes. In the summer, the tram is operated at half-speed, allowing ample time (7 minutes) to enjoy the natural beauty of the area and to spot wildlife. The tram operates two cars on a counterweight system, as one car goes up the other car comes down. The Ticket Office hours are (daily) 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. Directions; By Car: From Anchorage, head south out of Anchorage on the Seward Highway. Take a left onto the Alyeska Highway and follow it to the T-intersection at the base of Alyeska Ski Resort, take a left, and follow the road for about a mile until it ends at The Hotel Alyeska. The tram and the tram ticket office can be accessed from within the hotel, or from the outside along the rear left side of the hotel. 1️⃣7️⃣Chugach State Park covers 495,204 acres (2,004 square kilometers) immediately east of the Anchorage Bowl in south-central Alaska. Though primarily in the Municipality of Anchorage, a small portion of the park north of the Eklutna Lake area in the vicinity of Pioneer Peak lies within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. This state park was created to provide recreational opportunities, protect the scenic value of the Chugach Mountains and other geographic features, and ensure the safety of the water supply for Anchorage. The park, managed by Alaska State Parks, is the third-largest state park in the United States, and consists of geographically disparate areas each with different attractions and facilities. Hunting and fishing are permitted in the Chugach under regulations established by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for game management unit 14c. Target practice is not allowed within the park boundaries. ✨Eklutna Lake: The Lakeside Trail travels 12.7 miles (20.4 kilometers) along the shores of Eklutna Lake until it reaches the mile-long Eklutna Glacier Trail that leads to the moraines at the foot of the colossal blue ice of Eklutna Glacier. In the summer, travelers go on foot, by mountain bike, ATV or on horseback, past the lake by way of largely flat trail to the glacier. A traverse with three huts maintained by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska begins at the end of the trail and heads over the tops of the Eklutna, Whiteout, Eagle and Raven glaciers, and ends 31 miles (50 kilometers) away at Crow Pass near Girdwood on the opposite side of the park. In wintertime, trail users are able to travel the same route by snowmobile, snowshoes or cross-country skis as permitted by regulation and weather conditions. As most of the trail is an old roadbed, the trail is a popular winter destination for skijoring and dogsledding. There are two remote campgrounds in the area in addition to a frontcountry campground open during the summer. Two public use cabins are available for rent on the Lakeside Trail. Non-motorized boats, and boats with an electric motor, are allowed on Eklutna Lake. The tallest point in the park, Bashful Peak, towers over the lake at a height of 8,005 feet (2,440 meters). Bush planes are able to land on the far (southern) side of Eklutna Lake at the unpaved Bold Airstrip. North of Eklutna, the southern summit of Pioneer Peak can be reached from Knik River Road via the Pioneer Ridge Trail beginning outside the park boundaries in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. ✨Eagle River: A non-profit organization in association with the park operates the Eagle River Nature Center which exhibits interpretive information on wildlife and geological features. The basin of the Eagle River can be accessed by the nearby Albert Loop Trail which passes through three miles (five kilometers) of mixed forests and leads to a river fed by glaciers hidden in the surrounding mountains. At those times in the fall when the park's ursine residents are using the area for their fishing purposes, the trail is closed so as to lessen bear-human interactions. In addition, the Rodak Nature Trail leads to a beaver and salmon viewing deck. From the trail red salmon, silver salmon can be seen as they spawn, especially in August. Brown bears and grizzly bears often feed on salmon in shallow water between the beaver dams. Black bears also live in the park. Area streams are excellent for birding as well. Visitors can rent yurts and cabins along the Eagle River in order to spend time out exploring the scenery and wildlife in the area. Camping is available at the Eagle River Campground. ✨The Historic Iditarod Trail (or Crow Pass Trail) also passes by the nature center. This popular trail travels 28 miles (45 kilometers) through the park connecting Eagle River and Girdwood as it traverses the Chugach Mountains. It affords incredible views and wildlife viewing opportunities. Hikers often see hoary marmots, Arctic ground squirrels, mountain goats and Dall sheep. ✨Hillside: The Hillside Trail System lies only 20 minutes east of downtown Anchorage. A privately run shuttle - Flattop Mountain Shuttle - provides round-trip transportation between downtown and the Glen Alps Trailhead. A wheelchair-accessible walk of a mere quarter mile (0.4 kilometers) from the trailhead leads to a sitting area and viewing deck that overlooks the city and rewards visitors with views of the Cook Inlet and the Alaska Range 80 miles (129 kilometers) in the distance. The trailhead is likewise the primary access to Flattop Mountain, the most hiked peak in the state. During the winter some trails in the area are prone to avalanches. Hikers are encouraged to inquire about current conditions before beginning travel in the area. The Powerline Pass Trail is a popular location for dogsledding and skijoring. ✨Turnagain Arm: The Seward Highway follows part of the southern edge of the park along Turnagain Arm. This stretch of highway is listed as a National Scenic Byway and is designated as an All-American Road. Along Seward Highway is park headquarters located at the Potter Section House State Historic Site which once served as an important worker camp for the Alaska Railroad. There are several viewpoints along the Seward Highway. One of the most visited is Beluga Point, named for the beluga whales that frequent the area. Another popular viewpoint along the Seward Highway is Windy Corner where Dall sheep are often visible just up the hill. The Bird Creek Campground is located south of Anchorage off the Seward Highway. As with all campgrounds in the park, each camping site boasts a wooded spot for recreation and relaxtion, a fire ring and picnic table, with potable water and latrines nearby. Park volunteers at campgrounds and elsewhere offer assistance and answer visitor questions. Though dirt bikes are prohibited, the Bird Valley Trail System is the only location in the park open to ATVs all year round. Turnagain Arm boasts the second highest tides in North America after the Bay of Fundy. These tides, which can reach 40 feet (12 meters), sometimes come in so quickly that they produce a wave known as a bore tide. Kayakers and surfers have taken to riding the tide as an extreme sport. Hikers should take care not to get stuck in the quicksand-like mudflats that otherwise make up the beaches along Turnagain Arm. The best place to see the Alaskan bore tide is along Seward Highway south of Anchorage, especially at Bird Point (milemarker 96). 1️⃣8️⃣Sitka National Historical Park (earlier known as Indian River Park and Totem Park) is a national historical park in Sitka, Alaska. It was redesignated as a national historical park from its previous status as national monument on October 18, 1972. The park in its various forms has sought to commemorate the Tlingit and Russian experiences in Alaska. The history of Alaska's oldest federally designated cultural and historic park dates back to June 21, 1890 when President Benjamin Harrison set aside the site of the Tlingit fort Shis'kí Noow (Tlingit for "Sapling Fort") for public use. The site, located near the mouth of the Indian River, served in 1804 as the location of an armed conflict between the native Tlingit people and Russian fur hunters, known today as the Battle of Sitka. From 1903 to 1905, District Governor John G. Brady set about acquiring Native totem poles from all over Alaska for display at the park; the majority of the poles came from Haida villages located on Prince of Wales Island, while others had been on display at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. A group of influential Sitkans concerned about vandalism and the poor condition of the park in general pressured the federal government to declare the site a national monument. The Sitka National Monument was proclaimed by President William H. Taft under the Antiquities Act on March 23, 1910 to preserve the fort site and totem pole collection and protect them from further harm. With the creation of the National Park Service in 1916, the monument fell under the new agency's care, though no significant appropriation was made until 1921. Many of the poles exhibited today along the park's two miles (3.2 kilometers) of wooded pathways are replicas of the deteriorating originals, now held in protective storage. Interspersed among the giant Sitka spruce trees are a variety of ferns, shrubs and flowers. Salmon can be seen swimming up Indian River during spawning season. The 112-acre (45-hectare) park was placed under the control of the U.S. Army in 1942 and briefly occupied for defensive purposes, during which a series of military construction projects resulted in the removal of massive amounts of gravel from the park's river, shoreline and estuary. Environmental impacts from the gravel removal were to be a major resource issue for decades after. Responsibility for the park was formally returned to the Department of the Interior in 1947. In 1965, a new visitor center (the park's first true visitor facility, which provides space for exhibits and demonstrations of Alaska Native arts and crafts) was opened. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In a groundbreaking arrangement, the Alaska Native Brotherhood assumed control of the demonstration program and established its focus on Southeast Alaska Native cultural arts in 1969. Many of the remarkable Tlingit artifacts in the collection were loaned or donated by local clans under agreements designed to ensure ongoing, traditional use. Russian Bishop's House: Located approximately one–half mile from the Park, the Russian Bishop's House was constructed out of native spruce in 1841-43 by Tlingit workers overseen by Finnish builders. It is one of only four surviving examples of Russian Colonial Style architecture in the Western Hemisphere. A Bishop Innocent (Ivan Evseyevich Popov Veniaminov) of the Russian Orthodox Church, a clergyman, teacher and linguist, occupied the residence until 1853. The Church operated the facility as a school, residence, and place of worship for another century, until the dilapidated condition forced its abandonment in 1969 and sale in 1973 to the Park Service. In 1973, the Park Service embarked on a 16–year restoration project to return the property to its former glory. Modern plumbing, heating, and electrical systems were installed, while at the same time keeping the structure as authentic as possible. The second floor was restored to its 1853 appearance, based on archaeological evidence and early diaries and drawings. Today, numerous exhibits and lavish icons in the Chapel of the Annunciation convey the legacy of Russian America. The Russian Bishop's House is a National Historic Landmark; both it and the main area of the park are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1️⃣9️⃣Lowell Creek Falls is a 30 foot waterfall. From Seward, Alaska head south on AK-9. At the end of AK-9, turn right onto Lowell Point Road. After just a short distance, you should come to the falls alone side the road. 2️⃣0️⃣Anderson Falls, on the north side of Port Valdez, Alaska. 2️⃣1️⃣Bridal Veil Falls is located right off the Richardson Highway about 13 miles outside of Valdez. There is a large pull off along the highway and sign visible from the direction of driving to Valdez. 2️⃣2️⃣Horsetail Falls is fed by snow and ice melt and empties into the Lowe River after flowing under the road. There is a roadside pullout next to the waterfall that provides easy viewing of the falls. Height: 330 ft. Down the road from Bridal Veil Fall. 2️⃣3️⃣Nugget Falls also referred to as the Mendenhall Glacier waterfall. The Nugget's water rushes to tumble down 377 feet (115 m) in two tiers of 99 feet (30 m) and 278 feet (85 m) onto a sandbar in Mendenhall Lake. 2️⃣4️⃣Northland Fall is located in Whittier, Prince William Sound, Kenai Peninsula. It has a height of 500 ft. To see this waterfall, you need to take a cruise in Prince William Sound from Whittier. 2️⃣5️⃣Indian River Falls: Follows Indian River and its East Fork through 75-150 year old second growth and old growth temperate rainforest for approximately 4.5 miles to a 70 foot waterfall. A portion of the trail passes by a muskeg with views of the Sisters. The trail is well maintained most of the way to the falls. The last mile of the trail is less maintained, but still in decent condition. 2️⃣6️⃣Kasnyku Falls can be seen plunging into Waterfall Cove along the east shore of Baranof Island. The falls drain from Kasnyku Lake and drop somewhere between 400 and 450 feet into the ocean cove in the form of a booming horsetail style fall. The only access to this waterfall is via watercraft. 2️⃣7️⃣South Fork Eagle River Falls! Directions: Head north of Anchorage along AK-1 to the exit for the Eagle River Loop. Drive only 0.2 miles to Hiland Dr., and turn right. Drive on Hiland Rd. for a little over 3 miles, and turn left onto River Park Drive. It gets very confusing, as River VIEW Drive then turns into Waterfall Drive suddenly. Head to the end of Waterfall Drive, and turn right onto River PARK Drive. Head to the end of River Park Drive, and take the LEFT fork onto Ken Logan Circle. The parking area is at the very end. From the parking lot, head to the blocked road, cross the bridge, and then turn right at the sign indicating the Falls. Head up the trail. Near the end, it splits again. Head right. (The left is marked as private property). Heading right, you should end up at the waterfall in a very short distance. The trail is an easy to moderate trial. The waterfall has a height of 60 ft.

Wow, Alaska! What a shocking state! I definitely want to add this state to the visiting list. I want to visit Sitka National Historical Park with all the totem poles, Husky Homestead, to hold a husky puppy, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Zoo for the bears, The Sheldon Jackson Museum, The Alaska SeaLife Center for the touch tank, both Fairbanks Ice Museum and Chena Hot Springs for the ice sculptures and I want to pan for gold, I think that would be fun just to see if I would have made a good miner😂.

We got up to 90° with humidity.

Warm hugs, beacause they have their coats on!💕🐶🐶⛅️