Alaska

What's the present temperature?

Alaskans joke that, if Texans don’t watch out, Alaska will divide itself into two states and then Texas will be the third largest state in the US. It’s true--Alaska is two times the size of Texas, or two and half times if the tide is out. That’s about 600,000 square miles, or 360 million acres.Any way you measure it, Alaska is BIG.

Geographic Regions

Southeast
The islands of the Alexander Archipelago and a strip of mainland along the coast of British Columbia make up most of Southeast Alaska. This is Alaska’s “banana belt,” a land of giant trees and rainforests where the annual average low temperatures seldom drop below freezing. The record low in Juneau is minus 22, compared to minus 34 for Anchorage and minus 61 for Fairbanks. Major cities include Juneau, the state capital, accessible only by air or by water, and Ketchikan, which receives an annual average of 160 inches of “liquid sunshine.” One of SEND’s radio stations, KRSA, is located in Southeast, in the fishing village of Petersburg.

Southwest
The Yukon-Kuskokwim river delta, the Bristol Bay basin, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands form most of Southwest Alaska. The delta, along with adjacent coastal areas and neighboring Nunivak Island, comprise the 19-million-acre Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The town of Bethel, on the Kuskokwim River, is the major settlement in this region, with a population between five and six thousand, and Bristol Bay is a major port for Alaska’s commercial fishing fleet.

Southcentral

Two-thirds of Alaska’s total population lives in the Southcentral region, primarily in the bustling city of Anchorage. Anchorage alone is home to half of the state’s people—260,000 of them as of the year 2000.

In addition to Anchorage, Southcentral cradles the Matanuska Valley, Alaska’s only major agricultural area. Fertile glacial soil, long summer days, and a natural watering system as frozen ground melts, combine to produce such prize-winning vegetables as a 10 lb. carrot, a 42 lb. beet, a bunch of broccoli tipping the scales at 35 lbs., and a 105 lb. cabbage.

Other important features of Southcentral include Prince William Sound, site of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster; Kodiak Island, home of the world’s largest brown bears; and Glennallen, home of SEND Alaska headquarters and radio station KCAM.

The Interior
Alaska’s Interior lies between the arms of the Alaska Range and the Brooks Range. This is bush Alaska, with few roads and only one major city—Fairbanks, the Golden Heart of Alaska. Second in size only to Anchorage, Fairbanks still retains the feel of a frontier town and takes pride in its Gold Rush history.

This region of Alaska experiences the state’s greatest extremes of temperature. The lowest recorded temperature for Alaska (and for the US) was minus 80 degrees F, observed in 1971 at Prospect Creek, north of Fairbanks on the Arctic Circle. Alaska’s highest temperature, 100 degrees F, was recorded at Fort Yukon in 1915. That’s one of the two “coolest state-wide high records,” as reported by the USA Today Weather Almanac. The other? Pahala, Hawaii, in 1931.

The Far North
The coastal areas from Unalakleet north, and the great coastal plain that stretches north from the Brooks Range, make up Alaska’s Far North. This is the traditional territory of the Inupiat people, and the location of the oil-rich North Slope. Ancestors of today’s Inupiat used to collect chunks of oil-soaked tundra and use it as fuel (Insight Guides: Alaska, p. 60).

Here in the Far North, East almost meets West. The International Date Line runs between Big Diomede Island, a Russian possession, and Alaska’s Little Diomede. Only two and a half miles separate the two.

(For much of this information we are indebted to Insight Guides: Alaska, APA Publications (HK) Ltd., 1988. Janie Freeburg, Diana Ackland, and Roy Bailet, Eds.)

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You Can't Get There from Here

In all of Alaska’s millions of acres, there are only a handful of scattered road systems. The Alaska portion of the Alaska Highway (also called the Alaska-Canada Highway and the Alcan) runs from the Yukon border to the town of Tok (population about 1400). From there the Alaska Highway continues to Delta Junction and Fairbanks, while the Tok Cutoff connects the Alaska Highway to the Glenn and the Richardson Highways. The Richardson runs between Fairbanks and Valdez, and the Glenn connects Glennallen with Anchorage.

From Anchorage the Seward Highway leads to, you guessed it, Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula. The Sterling Highway connects with the Seward and leads to Homer, which is absolutely the end of the road.

The Parks Highway starts north of Anchorage in the town of Wasilla (population about 5000). It leads to Denali National Park and on to Fairbanks. The Dalton Highway, once known as the North Slope Haul Road, runs from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.

With so much territory and so few roads, it’s no wonder the airplane and the floatplane are so important to Alaskans. The state has six times as many pilots per capita as the rest of the US, and 14 times as many airplanes.

In addition, the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry System connects the towns and villages of Southeast Alaska’s islands and coastal regions.

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Major Geographic Features

Take a Peak
Alaska has five major mountain ranges. Moving up the map from the south, we start with the Aleutian Range in the southwest, stretching north and east along the Alaska Peninsula. In the southeast, the Chugach Range arches east to west, following the curve of the Gulf of Alaska. The neighboring Wrangell Mountains nestle along Alaska’s southeastern border with Canada.

The Alaska Range stretches north from Lake Iliamna to Mt. McKinley, called Denali or “the Great One” by Alaska Natives. From this peak, at 20,320 ft. the tallest in North America, the Alaska Range then curves east to Canada—a total distance of 500 miles. To the far north, the Brooks Range reaches all the way across the state, 600 miles from Canada to the sea, above the Arctic Circle. Some of Alaska’s smaller mountain ranges include the Talkeetna Mountains, the Kenai Mountains, and the Fairweather Range.

Go with the Flow
The rivers were Alaska’s first highways, and they still serve as transportation through areas where no roads go. The whole state is laced with a network of waterways, many of them glacial in origin. The American Whitewater page lists 58 Alaska rivers. The Yukon, stretching all the way from Canada to the Bering Sea, is chief among them. Other Alaska rivers include the Kuskokwim (KUSK-ko-kwim), the Tanana (TAN-nuh-nah), the Copper, and the Chena.

Blow Your Top
There are more than 100 volcanoes in Alaska. Over 40 of them have been active within the past 250 years. Because most active Alaska volcanoes lie in sparsely populated areas, the greatest danger they present to humans is ash fall. Volcanic ash can cause breathing problems, create darkness in the middle of the day, close airports, and cause severe mechanical problems for aircraft engines, sometimes forcing the planes to land. When Mt. Spurr erupted in 1992, ash fall disrupted air traffic as far away as Ohio. Along with Mt. Spurr, which is located 80 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska’s most active volcanoes lie southwest of Anchorage: Mt. Redoubt (100 miles away), Mt. Iliamna (135 miles away), and Mt. St. Augustine (180 miles away). Their last eruptions were in 1990, 1978, and 1986 respectively.

(For much of this information we are indebted to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the Alaska Science Forum, and the University of Alaska Sea Grant Program.)

Chill Out
There are estimated to be 100,000 glaciers in Alaska. Fewer than 1 percent of them have been named. Glaciers and icefields cover 5 percent of Alaska’s surface. Tidewater glaciers are those that reach the sea, and freshwater glaciers terminate in lakes studded with blue-white icebergs. These lakes often feed rivers flowing with pewter-colored glacial runoff.

Twelve tidewater glaciers terminate in Glacier Bay, an area the Tlingits called “Big Ice Mountain Bay.” Twelve tidewater glaciers terminate here. Visitors can arrange boat tours from Juneau. At 1500 square miles, Malaspina Glacier is the largest in the state. Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and Worthington Glacier between Glennallen and Valdez are visible from the road and, in fact, lie within easy hiking distance of the roadside. The Glenn Highway, at Mile 102, offers a spectacular view of the 27-mile-long Matanuska Glacier.

(We express our indebtedness to the Alaska Scenes article “Glaciers in Alaska,” and the Alaska Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide.)

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Alaskan Phenomena

Shake, Rattle and Roll
The Alaska Earthquake, the Big One, the strongest quake ever recorded in North America, occurred on Good Friday 1964. More than 100 people were killed, some as far south as Oregon and California. The towns of Valdez, Cordova, and Portage were obliterated by tidal waves or other effects of the quake. Downtown Anchorage received major damage. Today in Earthquake Park, visitors can still get an idea of how violently the landscape shifted during the 9.2 temblor.

In the fall of 2002, earthquakes of 6.7 and 7.9 rattled Alaska. The quakes were centered away from populated areas, and damage was minimal. But huge cracks appeared in major highways, and in places the oil pipeline shook free of its supports. The pipeline’s automatic shut-off system kicked in, but the pipeline did not rupture and no oil was spilled. The effects of the 7.9 quake reached as far south as Louisiana.

Light Up the Sky
For many people, Alaska and the Northern Lights are inseparable. The aurora borealis is God’s own light show. Usually in shades of white, green, and red, the lights dance mostly in the winter skies—in summer, it seldom gets dark enough for the lights to be visible. The Northern Lights appear most often above 60 degrees north latitude, but they have been seen in such unlikely places as Illinois, Missouri, Utah, and New Mexico.

According to the Alaska Dictionary and Pronunciation Guide, the lights are caused by “solar electrons striking gas particles in Earth’s upper atmosphere….Some people claim to be able to hear the lights crackle on still nights.”

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Yukon/ British Colombia

A Geographical Perspective

Canada , which boasts the world’s second largest land mass ( Russia being the first), is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories. A territory is what an area is called before it becomes a province (much like in the U.S. in its formative years). Though a vast area, Canada’s population is only one-tenth that of the U.S.

The Yukon has a rich history made famous by the Gold Rush of ’98 when literally thousands of gold-seeking dreamers headed north for the elusive find. For all the talk of that era, comparatively very little gold was discovered, but don’t tell that to the myriad of tourists who annually visit the historic sights just hoping that maybe someone might have missed a spot or left some gold behind. The building of the Alaska Highway, necessary for providing access to Alaska during World War II, was the next notable event which further enlarged the Yukon’s population and reputation and has since provided a very comfortable link to the south.

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You Can Get There From Here

Unlike Alaska, which is geographically separated from the rest of the United States, the Yukon Territory is part and parcel of Canada, located directly above the province of British Columbia. The southern border is located at 60 degrees latitude, as are the southern borders of the two other territories, Northwest Territory and Nunuvut. To live ‘north of 60’ is short hand for saying you live in the Far North. The famous Alaska Highway ties the Yukon to the rest of Canada, with the lesser known Cassiar Highway being an alternative route up through British Columbia.

All but one of the sixteen communities in the Yukon are connected by road, Old Crow being the exception. As the capital, Whitehorse inhabits two-thirds of the Territory’s entire population, with every community needing to ‘go to town’ for most of its major shopping and business needs.

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From -50 To +90

As might be expected, winters can be quite cold, but not necessarily with the large amounts of snow that many believe exist (due to the costal mountains ‘washing out’ much of the precipitation). Any severe winter is more than made up for by the all-night light in the summmer, with very comfortable temperatures and very low humidity. While all four seasons are enjoyed, spring and fall are comparatively short and provide the transition into the next season.

For a quick check on the current weather conditions, take a look at Yukon temperatures

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Yukon Culture

Perhaps because of its history, the Yukon has long been known for its mining industry. Gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, asbestos, and coal are some of the products that had the Yukon humming with activity and a strong economy. As mining is common across Canada, it was not difficult for anyone experienced in the trade to find work, and much of the Yukon’s population can be attributed to this valuable work force. Finding a caucasion individual who is not from somewhere else in Canada can be difficult. Transiency has always been a major influence given the ups and downs of the mining industry.

The indigenous people of Canada, who are called First Nations people, preceeded any of this activity and make up a significant portion of most rural community’s population. This people group is divided into fourteen First Nation’s groups, with each identified separately yet all working together for First Nation’s issues.

Government related (federal, territorial and municipal) vocations make up almost forty per cent of the work force in the Yukon, with that percentage even higher in the rural areas, thus making the government the largest employer in the Yukon. With mining waning over the years, tourism has now become the major economic stimulus.

Unlike Alaska, which prides itself on the homesteader lifestyle with ‘independence’ a dominant ethos, the Yukon, as with all of Canada, seeks instead for community, i.e. an interdependent lifestyle.

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Spiritual Climate

The Anglicans and Catholics have a long (100-150 year) history in the Yukon, appearing on the scene before the gold rush and still readily recognizable by even non-church goers. These two pioneering organizations have since been joined by most of the major Canadian-wide denominations.

One word which seems to sum up the current spiritual climate of the Yukon, and most of Canada as well, is ‘tolerance’. An appreciation for the diverse backgrounds of most Canadians shines through many layers of Canadian culture, and the spiritual dimension is no exception. Teaching the truths of Christianity is often received with polite respect, for these truths make up just some of the varied beliefs across this country. But teaching that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven borders on the ‘intolerant’ and is often challenged, not because it’s deemed false but due to the intolerant nature of the claim. The prevailing attitude appears to be ‘what you believe is fine, and if it works for you that’s great, but don’t force it on me’. What is often heard is the deep-seated New Testament principle for one’s beliefs to be verified and supported by one’s works. Living out one’s faith in the day- to-day affairs of life has much greater impact than words alone. The transient nature of the Far North results in many residents bringing their faith with them and then looking for their particular denominational church where they reside.

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