The Alaskan Inside Passage: Anchorage | Buy Heirloom Quality Wood Charts

Many considered Alaska as the Last Frontier, where most of its wonders kept hidden in the outside world. The peaceful and tranquil land houses the most incredible formation of the Alaskan Inside Passage. Travelers used the passage to bypass the open seas which paved the way in creating some of its interesting coastal towns. The region also has a rich history from totem poles to the Gold Rush era, making some of the architectural marvels in the area.  

The Alaskan Inside Passage was once famous for travelers who choose not to fight the harsh and sometimes ruthless open seas. But now, three coastal towns emerge within the Alaskan Inside Passage that is worth a trip to the Last Frontier, the state of Alaska.

Anchorage

Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska and played an important part in the past few decades. It helped mold on what we know as Alaska today. However, Anchorage is not within the Alaskan Inside Passage but serves as a home to 44% of the total Alaskan population. Who would have thought the 2,000 people who lived in Anchorage and with only one bath tent in 1915 would grow this big. Presently, Anchorage has more espresso shops than in any other state in the United States. Anchorage has shorter winter season but experiences long summer days.

In 1778, the English explorer named Captain James Cook first discovered Anchorage and was noted as the first person who described the area. A few decades after, the city of Anchorage was chosen as a site for a railroad construction which creates the industry boom in the area. The actual construction of the Alaska Railroad started in 1915, where workers began to flock the area and building tents near the shoreline of Ship Creek. The city was once a bustling town full of tents. It was just 17 votes away from becoming as ‘Tent City’ when a time came to rename ‘Anchorage’.

Here are some of the interesting facts about Anchorage:

1.    On November 23, 1920, Anchorage was incorporated in the US.

2.    When measuring land area, Anchorage is one of the largest cities in the country. Its land area measures at 1,961 square miles, about the size of the Delaware state.

3.    The flying time in Anchorage is around 9.5 hours about 90% flying time of the industrialized world. The FedEx Company chose the city as their major hub, and 26% of the US international air freight travel through the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The airport ranked as the 5th busiest cargo airport in the world.

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4.    The Cook Inlet surrounds Anchorage which is located on a triangular peninsula in the northernmost part of the Pacific Ocean. Anchorage city received 95% of all freight coming in Alaska.

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5.    ARCO first discovered the oil in Prudhoe Bay on the Alaska North Slope in 1968. The discovery led to the further industrial growth of Anchorage. Other major industries in Anchorage are tourism, petroleum, government, and military.

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6.    Anchorage houses six mountain ranges including Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America that stands 20,320 feet. The other mountains include Kenai, Chugach, Talkeetna, Tordillo, Aleutian and Alaska.

7.    One of the strongest earthquakes in North America hit Anchorage on a Good Friday that happened on March 27, 1964. The quake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale claimed the lives of 115 people and lasted about five minutes.

8.    The city of Anchorage sits as far as west as the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. Located about 61 degrees north in the globe, it lies just farther north than Helsinki, Oslo, Saint Petersburg and Stockholm.

9.    Due to the severe tidal changes and very thin glacial silt, the seacoast of Anchorage consists of dangerous mudflats.

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10.    The city named its public bus system as ‘People Mover’, (very ingenious).

11.    Anchorage boasts of more thriving habitats. It’s a home to 250 black bears and 60 grizzly bears living near the urban areas.

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12.    Don’t get surprised if you see moose crossing the pedestrian lane. Moose are a common sight in the city of Anchorage. The summer population is around 250 and increases in number during the winter months, with a head count of 1,500 moose.

13.    One popular activity in the summer is fishing for the King and Silver Salmon at Ship Creek located just a few meters away from downtown.

14.    Because of the numerous remote places in Anchorage, most of these places are only accessible by plane. The youngest age to fly a plane in these parts is only 14 years old. So you can legally fly a plane at age 14 but you are not allowed to drive a car.

15.    Anchorage is, in fact, an Arctic Rainforest; with 17 inches of rain during the summer months and 132 inches of snow during spring, fall and winter.

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16.    Daytime summer temperature in Anchorage is between 55F to 78F. It can drop as low as 5 to 30F during the winter months. In a year the city gets 75.5 inches of snow.

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17.    Anchorage has a lot of groomed cross-country ski trails that stretches about 105 miles.

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18.    Lake Hood has an average of 190 flights per day, one of the busiest seaplane bases in the world.

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19.    The US chose Anchorage to host for the two previous Winter Olympics but lost to Albertville, France in 1992 and to Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.

20.    On average, Anchorage continues to experience about 300 earthquakes a day. On a brighter side, these small usually unfelt quakes help to relieve the earth’s pressure thus preventing Anchorage from suffering more destructive earthquakes.

If you are a love Alaska, you would enjoy our framed 3D Nautical Wood Chart Map: Inside Passage Bathymetric map accurately depicts the shoreline and bottom contours of Alaska The Inside Passage. Maybe share this with a friend for a gift idea!

Alaskan Inside Passage Ketchikan | Buy Custom Wood Maps

Ketchikan

The first city to welcome you in the Alaskan Inside Passage is Ketchikan. The area has the highest zip code in the entire United States of America, 99950. It also houses a massive collection of standing totem poles, the world’s largest. The name ‘Ketchikan’ was derived from the Tlingit name ‘Kitschk-hin’ which means creek. Salmon fills the town each summer and attracted the Tlingit Natives to build communities in the area which has lasted for centuries. Ketchikan sits about 90 miles north of Prince Rupert and stretches along the shoreline in the southwest corner of Revillagigedo Island. The area of the city is less than 10 blocks wide and because of the minute space; they've built their airport on a separate island. The city of Ketchikan was founded in 1885 as a cannery area. Salmon was the main industry in the city. Within a span of decades, the $55 million Ketchikan Pulp Mill were built in 1954 at Ward Cove. Now, with the resolution of the passage of the Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990, it stated it would reduce timber harvest in the national forests. During the 1970's strikes began to emerge in the city and the changes in public policy greatly affected the logging industry. This resulted in the closure of Louisiana-Pacific to close down the sawmill facility in 1983. Soon after in 1997, the company closed down the pulp mill facility. Hundreds of workers lost their high-paying jobs because of the closures. Now, the city is home to 8,245 residents, a relatively small number of people compare to other cities in the world. However, Ketchikan ranks as the 5th most populated city in Alaska. The city also labeled their area as the “Salmon Capital of the World”. Despite its land area, about 5.0 square miles, it attracts almost a million visitors each year. Cruise ships frequently stop at Ketchikan to let their passengers tour the area. Here are the top 6 interesting places and fun things to do while in Ketchikan:

1. Totem Heritage Center

The city of Ketchikan oversees the Totem Heritage and it contains the world’s largest collections of Totem poles. Most of these totem poles are from the 19th century and are untouched and unrestored. Authorities recovered the totem poles from the deserted Tlingit settlement areas on Village Island and Tongass Island. Also, some of the poles came from Haida village of Old Kasaan. In 1976, the city founded the Totem Heritage Center to care for and preserve these poles and built a cultural center. The center also displays artifacts and art pieces from Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian villages, they promote the village’s culture to visitors.

2. Totem Bight State Historic Site

Located north of Ketchikan, the Totem Bright State Historical Park has a total land area of 33 acres and considered as a national park in Alaska. The area was a former site of a traditional Native campground called Mud Village and Mud Bright Village. The site also encloses several totem pole collections and a replica of a house for the chieftains. The house contains a wood frame structure and has a low circular like entrance which leads into a square chamber. Ravens often serve as a main facade decor of the wooden houses. A native from Saxman, Charles Brown helped with the carvings on these houses.

3. Tongass National Forest

The Tongass National Forest sits in the southeastern part of Alaska. It is also the largest national forest in the country. The forest spreads across the state with 17 million acres of land and most of it is part of the WWF ecoregion. It is home to thousands of rare and endangered species both flora and fauna. The United States Forest Service supervises the Tongass National Forest, which also includes the islands of Fjords, glaciers and the Alexander Archipelago. The NFS also oversees the Coast Mountain’s peaks, the international border shared with Canada. The massive national park has 9 local ranger district offices which are located in Juneau, Hoonah, Craig, Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg, Yakutat, Thorne Bay and Wrangell.

4. Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary

The Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary is a nature preserve located in Gateway Borough in Ketchikan. The 40-acre of rain forest reserve comprises of spruce, cedar trees, hemlock and hundreds of flowers and different varieties of berries. You can explore the very charming beauty of Alaskan sceneries in this place. You can walk easily on its boardwalk that travels half a mile in Tongass, passing through some of the totem poles, aviary exhibits and the historical sawmill in Alaska.

5. Misty Fjords National Monument

Aside from being a national monument, The Misty Fiords (Fjords) National Monument, of which the US Forest Service has declared it as a wilderness area, now part of the Tongass National Forest. The National monument is situated about 40 miles from east of Ketchikan and along the Inside Passage of the southeastern part of Alaska. It contains a land area of 2,294,343 acres (928,488 ha) including the Tongass National Forest of which the government designated about 151,832 acres (61,444 ha) of wilderness. You can explore the beauty of the Misty Fiords National Monument by boat, by foot, or by air.

6. Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

Back in the days, Alaska was well known as a lumberjack capital and for its historical sawmills. The city now offers shows that feature lumberjack competitions and a little story line for tourists who wants to know more of their rich history. The place is fully equipped with heaters to make the audience more comfortable watching their shows.

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