ALASKA'S NEWSPAPER

| Updated: 9:35 PM

Alaska Excursions

Today is last chance to drive Denali road this season

Weather permitting, today is your last chance this year to drive the park road into Denali National Park and Preserve.

YUKON JOURNAL

Yukon River journey has unplanned end

Laura Chartier takes in the sights while paddling down the Yukon River near Galena.

In the course of what was to be our last day of paddling on the Yukon, we rounded two bends in the river. The first bend was to the right, and after that the river came back around to the left.

YUKON JOURNAL

River's edge: Modern comforts to a prehistoric boneyard

Ben Histand (right) and fellow kayaker Alex Seiffert paddle by the Boneyard on the Yukon River near Tanana.

Ben's tenet of traveling: any long trip will have, proportional to the inevitable mishaps and tedium, incredible moments of serendipity.

YUKON JOURNAL

Rising river steals sleep

Ben Histand of Anchorage  cooks chunks of king salmon on a lightweight camp stove along the banks of the Yukon River. The fresh fish was was a gift from a Tanana resident who Histand and traveling partner Laura Chartier encountered near their camp.

On the Yukon I've found I sleep well in torrential rain. I can also sleep fine in heavy wind, and 24-hour daylight is no problem. Once, for lack of a better option, we camped right on top of a bear track; I slept like a log. But the other night, it was the river itself that kept me awake.

YUKON JOURNAL

The Flats: rain, whirlpool, a defunct cafe

The Yukon River flows its first 700 miles through one mountain range or another. Around where it passes the town of Circle, though, the mountains run out and for the next 250 miles the river is free to spill itself across the huge basin of the Yukon Flats.

YUKON JOURNAL

Not even a blue tarp can deny Yukon silt

Packing for a two-month camping trip is a bit like planting a garden. You make your plans and choose what to include and what to leave out, but once the seeds are in the ground or the gear in the boats, you're pretty well stuck with what you have. And there's plenty of time to evaluate if you planned well or poorly.

YUKON JOURNAL

Big river rapids go smoothly under bow

We pulled out of Carmacks after a one-day layover with full stomachs and light boats. Excess weight (water reserves, mainly) was disposed of in town, and we tried to batten down everything on the decks as much as possible in anticipation of what was to come.

YUKON JOURNAL

Up close, forest fire is hard to disregard

Already after a few days on the river, the bends and hills and endless spruce woods start to blend together. What we saw downstream of Hootalinqua, though, will probably stay with me for a long time.

YUKON JOURNAL

Revelations are part of remote river journey

Laura Chartier paddles the Yukon River near Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory.

The Teslin River is so empty of people that the driftwood can start to seem companionable.

Shopping list almost as long as Yukon River itself

YUKON JOURNAL

Shopping list almost as long as Yukon River itself

This summer we are traversing Alaska, along with much of the Yukon Territory, by kayak on the Yukon River. The trip promises to be two to three months of stunning sights and adventure; the outfitting, though, seemed endless.

Annual Denali Park road lottery is going online-only this year

Denali National Park road permit winners enjoy the view of Mount McKinley from an overlook near Stony Dome in 2003. Sixteen hundred drivers, 400 a day for four days, will win the opportunity to drive into the park again this year.

The wildly popular Denali Road Lottery will accept applications in June, but there's a new wrinkle this year. All applications must be made online by 11:59 p.m. June 30.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW: ALASKA EXCURSIONS

Coastline at the edge of Anchorage

Frozen ground with no snow means much of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge is accessible to walkers. Explore the shoreline southwest of the city in this Excursion.

September 2009

Flattop Mountain

Flattop in Fall

There's a reason Flattop Mountain is one of the most popular destinations in Chugach State Park. The views are spectacular, especially as the season changes from fall to winter.

August 2009

Alyeska's New Trail

The newly-built North Face Trail climbs Mount Alyeska between the tram terminals.

JUNE 2009

Explore the Winner Creek trail

Explore the Winner Creek Trail, in Girdwood, which takes hikers over boardwalks, gravel and steps on the easy lower portion near the Hotel Alyeska. The upper trail climbs higher in the Chugach Mountains toward Winner Creek Pass before descending to the Twentymile River.

2011/12 Alaska winter

Location: Alyeska, 10/9/11

From low sunlight, plunging temperatures and massive snow fall, Alaska's winter are an extreme mix of beauty and danger. Post a photo of you how you live through it.

RSVP: January - 2012

Location: Sheraton Anchorage, 01/14/12 The Chenega Commercial Holdings, LLC team poses for a group photo at the 2011 Stars of the Industry event at the Sheraton Anchorage.  The Alaska Hotel & Lodging Association hosts this annual event to recognize and celebrate excellence in the hospitality industry.

Submit your photos from community projects and social occasions around town in January, 2012.

Cordova snowstorm

Location: Cordova, AlaskaThis was even before the final part of the storm!

Cordova residents are tunneling out after several snow storms moved through Prince William Sound.

January Valdez snowstorm

Location: Valdez, AK 01/06/2012

Heavy snow pounded Valdez and Cordova on January 6, 2012, after the town received 19.2 inches Thursday from the Prince William Sound blizzard, making for a season total of more than 20 feet. Meanwhile, Nome is having its worst cold spell since 1989.

Alaska-based soldiers headed for Afghanistan

Brigade Deployment Ceremony

Brigade commander Col. Morris Goins addresses his troops and guests at a U.S. Army Alaska deployment ceremony for the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division Tuesday morning November 29, 2011 at Sullivan Arena. The 3,500-soldier brigade will be departing for Afghanistan on a series of flights in November and December.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW

Food Bank of Alaska Thanksgiving Blessing

The Food Bank of Alaska Thanksgiving Blessing project is a community-wide effort to provide turkeys and all the fixings to everyone in need on one day, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, from seven locations and is expected to provide enough food to feed around 7,000 families.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW

Southcentral Power Project

Project manager Dustin Highers discusses the Southcentral Power Project located at the Chugach Electric Association headquarters off International Airport Road in Anchorage.

Touring the Goose Creek Correctional Center

Goose Creek Correctional Center

Corrections commissioner Joe Schmidt describes the new Goose Creek Correctional Center slated to begin accepting prisoners in March of 2012 at Point MacKenzie.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW

Operation Bulldog Bite

Photo courtesy MSgt. Roger Sparks

Master Sgt. Roger Sparks talks about the experience of Operation Bulldog Bite in Afghanistan.



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