Alaska.com: Alaska's Travel Website

Chugach backcountry network takes stride forward

A decades-long dream of backcountry hikers to construct a network of destinations in remote sections of the Kenai Peninsula accessible mainly by the Alaska Railroad took a step forward this month.

Outdoor Life names Kodiak 4th best for sportsmen

What's better, bagging a giant king salmon or a kokanee, the landlocked red salmon that rarely exceeds 14 inches? A Kodiak brown bear more than 1,000 pounds or a chukar, a small game bird in the pheasant family? Outdoor Life magazine, apparently, prefers modest species gathered in pleasant weather.

'Express' ferry service between Washington and Southcentral begins in June

June 4 is the departure date from Bellingham, Wash., for the first-ever Alaska Marine Highway ferry run to Southcentral Alaska that won't require a change in vessels in Southeast. The M/V Kennicott will stop in Ketchikan, Juneau and Yakutat before crossing the Gulf of Alaska to Whittier, reports The Turnagain Times. The biweekly trip will take 4-1/2 days and cost $547 for walk-on passengers or $1,481 with a pickup or car aboard. Marine Highway officials told the Times that the car deck is almost fully booked for summer.

Popular Anchorage salmon derby will take a year off

The Slam'n Salm'n Derby, a June event that typically attracts more than 1,000 anglers to the banks of Ship Creek near downtown Anchorage, has been called off for this year so its soup-kitchen sponsor can focus on opening a new facility.

Airlines do better, but more passengers complain

Airlines did a lot right last year. They were better at arriving on time and not overbooking planes so people got bumped less often from flights. Their rate for losing or damaging bags was the lowest in 20 years.

Carving out Anchorage's New Year's Eve celebration

Ice carvers chisel away at a fountain, a children's ice play area that includes a maze, and a giant mastodon in Anchorage's Town Square in preparation for the Fire & Ice New Year's Eve Celebration. Activities will include a skating party, performers including fire jugglers, music by Evelyn "Champagne" King at 7:30 p.m. and a fireworks show at 8 p.m.

Recent weather makes for ideal skating

Following a December warm-up, wind and sub-zero evening temperatures blitzed much of Southcentral, leaving thick slabs of ice atop most fresh water. Westchester Lagoon, for instance, has 24 inches, according to the city's weekly trail and ice status report.

Outdoor enthusiasts make the most of Alaska

Outdoor accomplishments are difficult to measure. Nobody keeps score. Climbers and paddlers don't employ publicists or statisticians. Comparing a harrowing climb against a successful hunt or a big fish landed doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Given all that, the 2010 feats featured here don't pretend to be comprehensive.

Swenson will run Iditarod

The winningest musher in the history of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will point 16 dogs toward Nome once again next year.

Winter storm expected to bring Anchorage wind, little snow

Forecasters at the National Weather Service were warning Thursday of a storm moving out of the Bering Sea and expected to deliver high winds but little or no snow to Anchorage.

Alaska weather warnings and advisories

JOHN SCHANDELMEIER

Nelchina herd big enough for human horde

Just as they have for centuries, Nelchina caribou have started to move. It was an easy, warm autumn for the caribou, prompting them to linger in their summer foraging grounds along the Denali Highway. Breeding season ended before the older cows restlessly tossed their heads and pointed the herds eastward.

Photos: Reader-submitted hunting gallery

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JetBlue announces service to Anchorage in summer 2011

One of the nation's major discount airlines announced Wednesday it will begin seasonal nonstop flights to Anchorage next year.

Inlet beluga count up but it's not a rebound yet, scientists say

A survey of Alaska's Cook Inlet this summer found more beluga whales than last year, but government scientists say when the long view is taken numbers for the endangered animals continue to slide downward.

MARKET FRESH

Several markets wind down for the season

When Monday morning arrives, many workers slog back into the office bemoaning the start of another workweek. Consider how Valley farmer Mark Rempel's week started: "Monday morning we woke up to 21 degrees. We still had potatoes to harvest; and they do not like that kind of cold.

Peninsula bear mauling victim describes attack to family

Doctors spent hours stitching the torn scalp of a Nikiski fisherman who was mauled and dragged by a brown bear Tuesday night near the Swanson River, the man told his family.