by Kelly Lapp

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

THE DANGEROUS BEAUTY OF THE LAST FRONTIER

Alaska is called the Last Frontier, and it is exactly that essence of the unknown that draws many travelers to this state. Though hundreds of thousands of people now travel there each year, it is still considered the height of adventure to many people. On my first trip to Alaska, I discovered a dangerous beauty that beckoned me to explore at the same time it terrified me enough to stay in my cozy motor coach. That intense contrast is what I took away from Alaska and what urges me to visit again.

The best way to see Alaska depends greatly on what you want to see. Since most of Alaska can be reached only by boat or plane, a cruise is the most convenient and cost-effective way to visit. The major cruise lines travel up the Inside Passage, stopping at favorite ports such as Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Seward, or Skagway, with a ride past a glacier field such as Glacier Bay.

The cruise option is a favorite for many people, but there is one inherent problem with this option: you only get to see part of Alaska (and it is the part that is overrun with thousands of tourists). The villages of the Inside Passage are all very quaint, but how many quaint fishing villages does one person need to see? And better yet, how many souvenir shops does one person need to see? Take Juneau for example: After taking in a floatplane tour of the nearby glacier fields, I took a tour of Alaska's capital city (the capitol building, the Alaska Museum, and a Russian Orthodox church) all without passing another tourist even though there were three major cruise ships in port that day because the tourists never made it past the shops.

However, even if you do beat the tourist syndrome during your visit to the Inside Passage, the fact still remains that you have only seen maybe a fifth of what Alaska has to offer. Fortunately, most of the major cruise lines also offer a land tour add-on. Most tourists take the added option of visiting Denali National Park and Anchorage (which really isn't much of an option since you have to fly out of Anchorage if you want to leave the state by plane). This is a good add-on since it allows you to see some of Alaska's interior, but you still miss the magnitude of the Last Frontier seeing how much of this vast state is still unsettled and natural.

I chose an add-on that took me from Seward to the town of Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. Only one percent of my fellow cruise travelers chose this option, but we saw a side of Alaska that few people get to experience. After taking a dip in the frigid waters of the Arctic, we spent the night at a lodging house for the oil pipeline workers. We left Prudhoe and spent two long days traveling by motor coach through the vastness of the Alaskan wilderness following the oil pipeline (we traveled a day and a half before we even made it to paved roads). Along the way, we spotted caribou, Dall sheep, moose, and many bald eagles. It was an amazing time of adventure and bonding and by the time we caught up with the other tourists at Denali, we had already seen more than we could share.

I know that my trek through Alaska is not everyone's idea of a good time, but I made sure that I saw as much as I could in the time that I was there. I got off the cruise ship at every port, scheduled my excursions so I didn't miss anything, and took myself places that the cruise line didn't offer. I added on the land tour that enabled me to see the most of Alaska by land.

I had the privilege of seeing Alaska at a young age, but since I have no idea if I will ever make it back to the dangerous beauty of the Last Frontier, I wanted to make sure I could walk away with no regrets. I accomplished that goal.

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