Seattle Gay News
by Andrew Collins SGN Contributing Writer
LL IN S
Mt. McKinley
Ice cave at Juneau’s Menden
hall Glacier
On your way to the peninsula, consider tacking on a night or two in tiny Girdwood, just 40 miles from Anchorage, spending the night at the elegant Alyeska Resort (www. see ALASKA page 14
BEN HATTENBACH
VISIT THE KENAI PENINSULA With relatively easy access to An-
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DRINK ALASKAN CRAFT BEER What Alaska lacks in Gay nightlife, it more than makes up for in quirky, offbeat bars with diverse, generally Gay-friendly clientele. Some of the best of these hangouts are craft-beer pubs, of which Anchorage has the greatest number. A few blocks apart in the city’s downtown, Glacier BrewHouse and Humpy’s both serve first-rate beer and great food, and in midtown, the Bear Tooth Theatrepub and Grill, and nearby Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria, both popular with the LGBT community, likewise serve outstanding food and beer. In Juneau, the venerable Alaskan Brewing Co. is one of the foremost craft-beer makers in the entire country, and although there’s no brewpub on site, you can stop by for a tour and tastings. The company’s beer
EXPLORE DENALI NATIONAL PARK Visitors to Alaska’s iconic wilderness park are sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of this six-million-acre wilderness crowned by North America’s highest peak, Mt. McKinley (20,320 feet). The park is ideally explored over the course of a few days, but even with only one full day it’s possible to cover a remarkable amount of ground. There’s one road into the park, and beyond the first 15 miles only official buses are permitted. Options for touring the park by bus include guided tours and more flexible and less expensive “hop-on/hop-off” shuttles. A practical one-day strategy is taking a shuttle bus to the stunning and relatively new Eielson Visitor Center, which is 66 miles into the park and accesses two short but very scenic hikes with Denali peak views. The trip to the center takes at least four hours each way, but the ride itself is part of the fun – guides frequently comment on the scenery and stop to allow passengers to snap photos of wildlife, which can include caribou, Dall sheep, golden eagles, moose, wolves, and grizzly bears.
chorage, a slew of engaging towns and attractions, and rugged, spectacular scenery that takes in everything from massive glaciers to icy fjords to dense forests, this peninsula – about half the size of South Carolina – is ideal for road-tripping. The top towns for visitors are the artsy and progressive fishing town of Homer (the farthest from Anchorage, at 220 miles); scenic Seward, the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park; and secluded Whittier, situated at the end of Passage Canal, which links to Prince William Sound. You can also forgo driving and take the Alaska Scenic Railroad from Anchorage to Seward or Whittier, enjoying some close-up glacier views along the way. AND REW COLL INS
I spent 15 days touring Alaska (www.travelalaska.com) with a friend earlier this summer, my second extended trip to the country’s largest state in the past three years. My previous trip included a memorable Holland America Line (www. hollandamerica.com) cruise through the Inside Passage, followed by a four-day land trip north through Anchorage and Talkeetna. On this most recent adventure, I overnighted in eight different towns, from Juneau and Skagway in the southeast to Fairbanks in the east-central interior. Even having jumped around the state a bit, I’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of getting to know this state, which is nearly four times the size of California. But I have come up with a good list of must-see activities or places I strongly recommend experiencing. Here, in no particular order, are eight Alaska essentials.
is widely available at bars all over Alaska. Also in the southeast, the funky and friendly Skagway Brewing Co. is a great place to sip Spruce Tip Blonde (a locally distinctive beer flavored with hand-picked Sitka spruce tips) and munch on tasty bar food. Fairbanks is home to another terrific brewpub, the Silver Gulch, which is as highly regarded for its malty Pick Axe Porter as for such delicious fare as beer-braised pork ribs and IPA fish-and-chips.
Issue 38, Volume 40, September 21, 2012