WILLOW CREEK - HATCHER PASS ROAD
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Welcome to Alaska - "Take Time To Taste The Blueberries" along the way. Blueberry tasting off the bush growing in the wild only happens during late August.
You are visiting, or want to visit, Alaska because it is wild, you want to see Mount McKinley (the tallest mountain in North America), glaciers, moose, bears, whales, birds, fish, experience the midnight sun and/or Gold Rush history.
Being surrounded by all the beauty, feeling as though you are the only person on the planet, is awesome. One of the most vivid and stunning memories you will have is picking fresh blueberries off little plants no more than an inch tall alongside a road or trail. Thats the way it is everywhere in Alaska. Don't just look at the moose; notice the early morning dew still wetting its back. Don't just see the glacier; look at the little plants and critters setting up shop where the river of ice used to be. Don't simply gasp at a roaring waterfall; feel the mist on your skin. Smell the woods in which your hiking; not just view them. Savor every bite of raindeer sausage, samon, halibit or even Alaskan vegies that you eat.
Alaska’s human history – from the prehistoric arrival of the earliest Siberian hunters to today’s Arctic Slope oil exploration – is a unified simple but grand theme: people’s efforts to maintain a living from the region’s vast natural resources despite its extreme conditions.
God endowed Alaska - The Great Land with wealth, scenery, and a scope surpassed by few regions on the earth. Alaska is a virtual subcontinent more than twice the size of the state of Texas. It contains 16 percent of the United States' land area. Alaska’s population has always been tiny. At the time of the U.S. purchase in 1867, Alaska had about 30,000 people, more than 29,000 of them Native American. By 1993, despite statehood and the oil boom, Alaska’s population had grown to only an estimated 607,000. Today, Alaska’s population remains approximately the same as in 1993.
Over the past 250 years, Alaska has seen a series of boom-and-bust "rushes" to exploit the land: rushes for fur, gold, copper, salmon, oil, and other natural resources. Some people came and stayed, simply because Alaska is like nowhere else - wild, extreme, and amazing. Still, the aim often has been to take the rewards of the land and sea, then enjoy them somewhere else. Many Alaskans see a recurring theme of neglect by federal authorities and exploitation by "outside interests." While the notion is easily exaggerated, the fact remains that today, decades after becoming a state, much of Alaska's economic fate remains under control of the Lower 48 states. Much of the Alaskan fishing fleet, for example, is based not in Alaska, but in the State of Washington.
Development of a modern tourism industry in the early 1970’s has brought millions of visitors to Alaska’s once-remote frontier in a “tourist rush.” The more daring travelers come by car or motor home via the Alaska-Canada Highway (ALCAN), built during World War II (WWII) for the war effort. However, most come by air or sea. A state owned ferry system, the “Alaska Marine Highway”, has linked southeast Alaska to British Columbia and the state of Washington since the early 1960’s. Each year thousands of ferry travelers experience the stunning sea and landscapes of the Inside Passage via the Alaska Marine Highway. Since the 1970’s, the cruise ship industry has met that same growing tourist demand with cruises to Glacier Bay National Park. By the beginning of the 21st century, the cruise ship industry had expanded its service to many Ports-Of-Call in Alaska. Currently the most highly visited port of call for cruise ships is the City of Seward.
Both residents and visitors are drawn to Alaska by the region’s wild beauty and storied past. Alaska’s history has not always been happy for its traditional Native cultures, wildlife, and lands. There have been times when, and it is no exaggeration to say, Alaska’s history has dealt downright catastrophic events. However, we cannot ignore the past as it allows us the chance to learn for the future.
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Igloos, contrary to popular belief, don't house most Alaskans.The most well-known type of igloo is a snow block house; however, most indigenous dwellings were sod.
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