Why? Why Go Back?

I think I might be a travel junkie.  When I am not on a trip, I am often researching future itineraries. Repeat visits are seldom considered.  This is because there is still so much left to see, but not neeearly as much time or money...  

Alaska is my exception.  Alaska is worthy of repeating.  And before my second trip has even take place, trip #3 is already being plotted. 

• Alaska #1 was in June 2013 - no bugs, perfect weather and nearly 24 hours of daylight.  I covered Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Seward and Kenai Fjords. 
• This trip (Alaska #2) will be the last week of September 2014 - just after tourist season ends and before the snow.  The lodges will have closed up, and Denali National Park will be closed - except for the first 30 miles in.  With only 5 days, I plan to cover more of Anchorage and Seward. 
• Trip #3 is expected to include the northern lights (aka aurora borealis) and sights north of Fairbanks - hopefully into the Arctic Circle and maybe all the way to Prudhoe Bay - orrrrr... the opposite direction: southeast. - Damn, this is starting to sound like there will be a trip #4!  

I remind myself: Alaska is GINORMOUS.  It can not be seen - or comprehended in a week.

Source: http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/ak/general/information.htm

Cool stuff many people don't know about Alaska.
[Consolidated from: http://alaskaconservation.org/experience-alaska/did-you-know/]

• our largest state.  Alaska is over twice the size of lil ole Texas...!
• has 3 million lakes
• has over 33,000 miles of coastline 
• has 17 of the 20 highest mountains in North America. Denali is the highest at 20,320 feet

Denali - from my trip last summer/June 2013

• Caribou outnumber people - by nearly 2 to 1
• There are more bald eagles in Alaska than in all other states combined
• Gray wolves inhabit 85% of Alaska
• All three species of North American bears flourish there:  Polar, Black and Grizzly
• Thompson Pass (near Valdez) received 974 inches of snow one year
• State capital: Juneau (population of about 31,262) is the only state capital in the US with no road access. It can only be reached by air or sea

Transportation:

[Source: http://www.ak99s.org/flyalaska.html]

• Alaska has six times as many pilots per capita than the rest of the U.S
• There are fewer than 12,000 miles of paved roads
• Aviation is not only the state pastime; it is the state's major form of transportation

Glaciers:
Only 616 have been officially named.  Estimates put the total around 100,000!

Geology/Earthquakes

Alaska is one of the most geologically active places on Earth, and has over:

• 700 earthquakes annually and
• 80% of North America's volcanos. 

[Source: Jeff Corwin's 'Into Alaska' (2007 TV Series, Episode 4 'To The Ends of the Earth')] 

Why go back?  

[Closing words from 1997 IMAX film, "Alaska, Spirit of the Wild"] 

     It's a land of countless streams

          and mountain peaks still unnamed.

     A place shaped by ice and solitude.

     In Alaska, we are witness to the triumph of life itself.

     Here we can rediscover vitality

         vanishing from our lives

     Reawaken the spirit of the wild

          remembered not in our minds

          but in the blood and the heart.

     Whether or not we will ever reach Alaska,

          we all want to know

          that such a place still exists.

Click here for link to Day 1