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the Robert for photo
Service Poem gallery
From gold-rush
“I
t isn’t the gold that I’m wanting,” wrote poet,
stampeders to Robert Service. “It’s the great big broad land
wilderness seekers, way up yonder. It’s the forest where silence
has lease. It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder. It’s
Alaska has long the stillness that fills me with peace.”
been the ‘magnetic From gold-rush stampeders to wilderness seekers,
north’ of the Alaska has long been the ‘magnetic north’ of the
United States United States. Robert Service craved its vast untouched
landscapes, but you could equally wax lyrical over
Alaska’s wildlife, its fascinating First Nations culture or
the sheer thrill of travelling in this wild state.
You can drive there on the Alaska Highway, visiting
national parks like Denali and Kenai Fjords. You can
charter a floatplane to take you beyond the road’s end,
stitch a route between old settler communities on the
Alaska Railroad or join an escorted coach trip.
For many, it’s the Inside Passage that embodies the
lure of Alaska. Cracks in crazy paving. That’s what it
looks like on a nautical chart. Except the slabs of paving
are thousands of forested islands, wedged against
the mainland — and the cracks form a coastal highway
stretching 1,000 miles from Seattle to Skagway.
The Inside Passage is a lifeline to numerous
settlements, including Alaska’s capital, Juneau. It’s also
a gateway to vast tracts of wilderness, from ice fields
to temperate rainforest. Imagine witnessing humpback
whales feeding in Frederick Sound, icebergs calving
from a tidewater glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord or totem
poles rearing from a Tlingit village. The Inside Passage
is awash with natural and cultural spectacles. And yet it
is just one facet of this wild and wonderful state.
Turn the page to start exploring Alaska >>
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