Anchorage
It may not be the capital (that honour belongs to Juneau, further south), but Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city with a population of over 260,000 or 42% of the total population of the state. Alaskans are fond of statistics that demonstrate the size of their state and its assets. The one that they use for Anchorage is that the city covers an area almost as large as the state of Delaware.
4th Street by evening light
A typical American city in the middle of harsh and beautiful Alaska? Yes, right down to the movie theatres, diners and town trolley! Although snow covered mountains are visible from Anchorage, the local climate is surprisingly mild and the areas around to city are agricultural rather than icy wastes. However, as the City is located more than 60 degrees north the summer evenings are long, as shown in this photograph taken at 9:20pm in mid June.
Alaskan mountains from Resolution Park
Anchorage is surrounded by mountains, but as in all things Alaskan the scale is huge. The distance to most of the surrounding mountains means that its location is not as spectacular as Cape Town or Vancouver, but from places where there is a long view it is very memorable.
Around the World In Eighty Days Motor Challenge, G Street
The biggest surprise of our visit in June 2000 was to encounter an old British Rover P4 series taking part in a rally to celebrate the new millenium. In the 1950s and early 1960s these cars seemed to be standard issue for well-heeled British Bank Managers and Accountants. Even though they hail from an era when Rover cars were well built, they are now a very rare sight on British roads.
Captain Cook statue, Resolution Park
We have been to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Alaska and in each of these places Captain James Cook played a significant part in their history. Considering the distance from his home town of Whitby in Yorkshire and the sheer size of the Pacific Ocean, Cook’s achievements are remarkable. His ships ‘Resolution’ and ‘Discovery’ anchored off present day Resolution Park at the beginning of June 1778 while he was on a mission to find the Pacific end of the elusive North West Passage. His search led him to conclude that there was no North West Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Click on Minimap to navigate
To move forwards or backwards through the Alaska trail click the arrows above, or select your next destination on the Minimap.
DLU------
© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
The contents of this page may not be reproduced in full or in part without permission
