7 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Alaska
- Alaska heads the nation in the value of its commercial catch, chiefly salmon, crab, shrimp, halibut, herring, and cod. Other industries important to Alaska's economy are oil, petroleum, wood, wood products, furs and tourism.
- Ford's Terror is a very steep and narrow fjord 60 miles southeast of Juneau within the Tracy Arm-Ford's Terror Wilderness. It is named after a naval crew member who, in 1889, rowed a dinghy into the narrow entrance of the fjord at slack tide and suffered six "terrifying" hours trapped in the turbulent currents.
- Steelhead are anadromous (ocean going) rainbow trout, and May through June is when the majority return to Southeast Alaska streams to spawn. A challenge to catch and considered one of the ultimate fighting fish in the world, they can be over 20 pounds and often go impressively aerial when the hook is set.
Steel-head Trout
- Yakutat is located on the beautiful Monti Bay and is the only sheltered deep-water port in the Gulf of Alaska. Yakutat is renown for it's fishing, both commercial and sport. There are miles of untouched sandy beaches. The surf is ideal and asks to be ridden.
- Kodiak Island is the best place for roadside salmon fishing in Alaska, and the remote fishing at lodges or fly in stream banks is legendary. This island is not very populated with people, but the wildlife and fish is something you need to see to believe. You will be surprised at the size of some of the bears that live on the island, but if you really think about it, they could not be any smaller with all the fish that fill the rivers. This is really a great experience for those who need to step back in time and enjoy nature as it has been for thousands of years.
- The largest state in the U.S., Alaska was admitted to the union as the 49th state in 1959. Acquired by the United States in 1867, the territory was dubbed "Seward's Folly" after U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who arranged to purchase the land from Russia. Critics of the purchase believed that the land had nothing to offer, but the discovery of gold in the 1890s created a stampede of prospectors and settlers.
- The northern lights are just about the only thing that could get Alaskans to stand outside without a coat in January. The northern lights flip and wave through the sky in shades of green, purple and red. Alaskans call their neighbors outside for a look, many putting cameras on tripods in the middle of the night. Usually the aurora borealis appears to the north of the viewer, but occasionally it seems to be directly overhead even as far south as Anchorage, which sits just north of 61 degrees north latitude.
Aurora
