Alaska
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GAA runs several lively, good-value, small-group tours of Alaska; hiking, kayaking, wildlife, ferry cruises and multi-activity holidays.
Discounts Alaskan Adventure | Yukon Explorer | Alaskan Kenai Camp |
Click on top or bottom images to see a few Alaskan towns
Activities | Towns | Alaska Guide | Map | Tours
Bear watching:
Admiralty Island National Monument, charmingly known as Kootznoowoo [Fortress of the Bear] by the Tlingit Indians, is a superb, mountainous wildlife reserve, 96 miles long, and one of the best places in the state to see seals, sea lions, porpoises, humpback whales, deer, eagles and of course bears.
At least 1,500 of these burly critters roam the island - outside of winter - lunching on berries, roots and smaller animals while they wait for the salmon main course to arrive in July and August. This is peak viewing time and Pack Creek is the place to see Brown bears fishing. Many tourists fly in from Juneau for just a couple of days by seaplane.
More active travellers enjoy kayaking/canoeing 32 miles across the island
on the Admiralty Island Canoe Route from Angoon [an indigenous Tlingit village] to Mole Harbor, consisting mainly of lakes and streams but carrying of up to 3 miles may be required.
Admiralty Island, a Pack Creek brown bear family.
Katmai National Park, South-Central Alaska, 300 miles SW of Anchorage, is another great bear-faced place with about 2,000 animals roaming about.
Many feed in the summer at Brooks Falls, where there is a tourist viewing platform and a good campsite, Brooks Camp. Katmai's other main attraction is 14 active volcanoes; possible activities include include hiking, backpacking, camping, back country skiing, fishing, kayaking and boat tours.
Other top bearish spots are Anan Wildlife Observatory [black bears, access via Wrangell], Kodiak Island and Denali National Park.
A brown bear in Katmai National Park.
Whale Watching:
[Prince] Frederick Sound in SE Alaska, is one of the best summertime whale-watching areas in the USA in the summer feeding time; in fact in 1995 near Petersburg a whale jumped into a boat with tourists, just to say hi.
Frederick Sound is also a favoured larder for Killer whales, aka Orcas, who snack on just about everything from seals to smaller whales, as well as plenty of prey such as otters, seals, sea lions and porpoises. However, tourists can see whales in most of Alaska's waters, just not quite the frequency of Frederick Sound.
Humpback whales sounding in Frederick Sound, SE Alaska. In early November whales and otters head for Sitka to participate in the Whale Festival there and you don't even have to get in a boat to see them, the city park is quite sufficient.
© Outdoorsman, Dreamstime.com
Gray wolves are listed as endangered wildlife in the USA's lower 48 states but not in Alaska where they're doing just fine.
One of about 10,000 Gray Wolves in Alaska.
A male reindeer shedding fur and antlers at the end of the winter season, getting ready to don his summer outfit.
The Kenai Peninsula, just south of Anchorage, sees the end of the US paved highway system at hippy Homer, plenty of varied wildlife, numerous glaciers, the famous Kachemak Bay State Park and popular tourist target Seward.
An Alaskan bald eagle off the Kenai Peninsula.
And if you go to Alaska in winter don't be surprised to find a moose in the hoose from time to time!
Alaska Activities, Towns, Travel Guide, Map and Tours
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