Even without a cruise, you won't miss the boat

Author: By Judy F. Kugel, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, March 1, 1998

Page: M1

Section: Travel

America's 49th state is vast. It is equivalent in area to one-fifth of the lower 48. It has more than 3 million lakes, 1,800 islands, and over 100,000 glaciers. And if, as we did, you go in summer, it's always light out.

Alaska has something for everyone, and since you can't see it all in a lifetime, you must pick and choose. Some choose the south where most of the cruise ships sail; fewer go to the far north around Point Barrow. We chose the south-central area, starting in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. For us, our trip was a perfect combination of fishing, hiking, river rafting, and glacier viewing. We traveled by plane, boat, van, bus, and train during our two-week stay.

When we shopped around for trips, our highest priority was staying in Denali National Park. Many groups stay outside the park entrance and visit for a day. We wanted to ensure wildlife viewing and to give Mount McKinley a fair chance to ``come out'' of the clouds. Spending time in the park requires backpacking or staying in one of the four lodges in Katishna, a former mining town at the end of the 90-mile mud road into the park. Backpacking in bear country terrified me, so we chose the lodge option.

Our host was Alaska Wildland Adventures, which runs a variety of tours. Of course, the advantage of a tour group is that they take care of you, but we did nothing on this superb trip that you couldn't do on your own. You can make your own reservations at a fishing camp or one of the four lodges in Denali National Park. You don't need a guide to tell you what to do when a grizzly bear appears. There are books on the subject.

We flew into Anchorage to spend three days on our own. We toured the museum, where we got a real sense of Alaska's peoples. We took a ``historical'' walking tour of the city, although nothing seemed very historical: The oldest buildings were erected in 1915. We rented bikes from a local store that sold ``Far from Fenway Fan Club'' T-shirts, and rode the bikes on the Coastal Trail, a more than 20-mile round-trip bike path along the shore of Cook Inlet. Some Alaskans say, ``The best thing about Anchorage is that it is only 30 minutes away from Alaska,'' and after three days, we were ready for the real Alaska. But Anchorage is where about half the residents of Alaska live, and it's a good jumping-off spot.

On our fourth morning, we returned to the Anchorage airport to take an air taxi South to the Kenai Peninsula. The flight attendant made the takeoff announcement, ran down the aisle serving cookies and juice to 30 people, made the landing announcement, and we were on the ground 25 minutes after departing.

We were met by the Alaska Wilderness folks who vanned us and the four others in our group for the 45-minute trip to the Kenai Riverside Camp, a fishing camp perched next to the turquoise glacier-fed water of the Kenai River. There were about 25 guests and a large staff who led the hiking or fishing or rafting expeditions. We stayed in comfortable wooden cabins for two. The shared bathroom facilities were 50 yards away, but even a trip late at night was easy because it was light outside. A huge deck shared by all and located just above the fast-moving river was a perfect spot for observing birds or just watching the water rush by.

For the next four days, we hiked in the Chugach National Forest, rafted down the Kenai River, fished in the Kenai and Russian rivers, and took a daylong small-boat tour with 16 other passengers to explore the Kenai Fjords in the Bay of Alaska and to observe sea mammals and bird life.

Before our arrival, this had been one of the warmest and brightest summers ever in Alaska. But the rain started once we settled in. Forewarned and armed with waterproof everything, we had no trouble doing all activities as planned. We saw many bald eagles, mergansers, puffins, and other birds. Of our six-person group, two had a close bear encounter. Those two purchased bear bells (sometimes called ``dinner bells'') to wear as they walked in the woods. As a result of their experience, we ever-vigilantly called out, ``Heyyyyy Bear!'' to announce our arrival when we were in the brush in bear country (which was everywhere). On the Bay of Alaska, we saw sea otters and sea lions and, finally, before we turned home, our first whale. We stayed and watched it ``blow'' twice. It was thrilling.

After our five-night stay, we headed north for Denali National Park. To break up the trip, we spent a night in Talkeetna, the village that is said to be the model for TV's ``Northern Exposure.'' It is also the place from which most Mount McKinley climbers are flown to their starting camp. Although we saw no climbers (the season was about over), we had a beer in the Fairview Inn, where they tend to congregate. President Harding stayed at the Fairview when he came to Alaska to drive the golden spike in the Alaska Railroad in 1923.

On the way to the entrance to Denali the next day, we stopped at the home of Jeff King, twice winner of the Iditarod, Alaska's famous dog sled race. He raises and trains his own team; his life, in fact, is devoted to this annual race. We were told he counts the puppies, so, although they were irresistible, we decided not to make off with any under our jackets.

But the thrill of the day was the 90-mile, six-hour, shuttle-bus ride to Back Country Lodge in Denali. Each of the four lodges in Katishna contracts for its own buses, and the drivers absolutely love the park and its wildlife. Our drivers in and out of the park grabbed their cameras as quickly as we did. The driver on the ride in had made the trip over 300 times, and he still appeared as enthusiastic as his passengers when he saw grizzly bears. We stopped many times for bear, beavers, caribou, a bald eagle, a marmot, and I'm not sure what else. Every turn brought another beautiful vista of the Alaska Range, despite the rain and fog.

The Denali Backcountry Lodge is not inexpensive. But when you remember that everything is brought in over that long mud road, that it produces its own energy, and that there is a guide for each of three hikes each day, it seems almost a bargain. And if you don't want to take any of the scheduled hikes or you are on a different timetable, another guide will take you, even if you are only two people. The lodge accommodates 60 people, and most find it difficult to leave.

On the first day, after an early breakfast in the main building, we packed a lunch from a generous buffet of offerings, and vanned to Quigley Ridge for our ``moderate hike.'' After about an hour of a very steep and brushy incline, the hike offered one beautiful vista after another, including a touch of blue sky, something we hadn't seen in several days. We were well prepared by our guide for bear encounters, but the closest we came was a marmot. What I loved were the exquisite mountain flowers.

In the late afternoon, we took advantage of being in an old mining area by going gold panning. It wasn't for me (no patience), but my husband was one of two who actually found gold -- approximately 10 cents worth.

The weather had cleared after dinner, and there was word that ``the mountain'' was out. We knew that in July, McKinley is often only visible for one or two days. So there was much excitement at 10 p.m. when a group of us piled into the lodge's van for the five-mile trip to Wonder Lake to observe the mountain. It was still light, of course, but the sky was a slightly different color than in midday, and the mountain was breathtaking. When we rounded the bend that brought it into view, a shout rang out from everyone. This majestic mountain towers about 8,000 feet above the rest of the Alaska Range. Its beauty brought tears to my eyes. Most folks were taking picture after picture, but I was content to just stare. Neither the caribou on the other side of the road nor the busy beaver in the lake commanded much of our attention. Truly a peak experience.

The next morning, greeted by cool weather and a bright blue sky, we decided to take the challenging Camp Ridge hike. And strenuous it was. The first hour's uphill was too much for some of the hikers, but most of us were rewarded for our efforts by incredible views of McKinley. It stayed with us for the entire morning before it retreated back into its own cloudy weather. We watched it slowly disappear as we ate our picnic lunch. Later, we made our way back down slowly, with a great deal of satisfaction and well-earned exhaustion.

We considered Denali Backcountry Lodge spectacular. The guides are excellent, knowledgeable, and patient. Everyone respects nature and its gifts and dangers. Sitting on the screened-in porch of the main building, watching and listening to Moose Creek just a few yards away with snow-covered Mount Mather on the horizon, transports one into a state of tranquillity.

The shuttle out leaves at 6:30 a.m., so the early morning animal viewing is superb (and also that is the only way to make the 12:30 train to Anchorage). Once more, McKinley graced us with its presence, reflected first in Wonder Lake and then in Reflection Lake. The mountain was so compelling that we almost missed a great moose breakfasting in a pond on the other side of the road. There was nonstop clicking of shutters and the constant whir of rewinding film. It was a completely different experience to bus out in the sun compared with the rainy trip into the park. That morning we saw eight grizzlies; the last two were closer to us than any we had seen. The cub stood on his hind legs for us. We remained silent, as instructed, and just watched the show.

The train to Anchorage on the Alaska Railroad was an experience in itself. Guides entertain with musical performances (ours played ``Amazing Grace'' on her harmonica) and fashion shows of Alaska sweatshirts and railroad souvenirs. The conductor in the observation car told tales of the railroad, pointed out his own cabin in the woods as we went by, explained how the train delivered newspapers by flinging them into the woods for the cabin inhabitants, and generally entertained us nonstop. We could see the salmon in the rivers below as we passed high over them on several bridges. We had a reasonably priced (and good) dinner in the dining car and were in Anchorage much too soon -- at about 8 p.m. Our hearts weren't really in it as we walked around downtown until 11 enjoying our last light night -- we missed the beauty of the wilderness.

So what have we taken from our vacation in Alaska? A new appreciation for the beauty of nature, for Alaska's history and its peoples, for the ``last frontier,'' for the hardiness and laid-backness of the people. We have also brought back a whole new vocabulary: combat fishing (side-by-side rows of fishermen) lining the riverside; su (female bear); scat (leavings of the same); fishhead (fishing guide); calving (huge pieces of glacier cracking and crashing into the ocean); flag stop (what the Alaska Railroad and no other railroad does, namely stopping on demand along the way to pick up people who live in the woods).

It is easy to understand why Alaska is increasingly a favorite destination, not only for those from the Lower 48 but also from all over the world. Gold and oil may have started the rush, but wilderness and beauty keep 'em coming.

For general information, write to Alaska Vacation Information Distribution Center, PO Box 3728, Portland, OR 97201.