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With national parks named Misty Fjords and Glacier Bay, dramatic scenery seems built in to the Alaskan vocabulary. Stepping off the plane, you'll quickly realize that Alaska's distance from the Lower 48 can't be measured in miles. Anchorage (population 260,000), a bustling city with nonstop air se rvice to Chicago, Seattle, and Salt Lake City, is an ideal place to start your trip. Set between four national parks, use Anchorage as a staging area to rent a car, buy peanut butter, and chat with locals about sweet spots not found in the guidebook. If you're short on time, a trip down the Kenai peninsula offers a capsule experience of Alaska. Hike the Resurrection Pass trail between Hope and Cooper Landing. 38 miles long and equipped with nine Forest Service Cabins, ~ou'll skirt icefields and glaciers under the shadow of Mt Marathon. Continue to the crowded but breathtaking Kenai Fjords National Park and kayak the craggy coastline abutting the Harding Icefield. Home to the continent's highest peak as well as a staggering 6 million acres of Wilderness, Denali National Park offers a satisfaction that comes only from intense natural beauty and quiet. It all starts 240 miles north of Anchorage, off of Highway 3. No need to rent a car-there are buses (Parks Highway Express www.alaskashuttle.com) and even train service (www.akrr.com) to the park. You'll catch a shuttle to the visitor center, grab a backcountry permit (first come, first serve), and set off into the wild. Denali is largely without trails, so a map and compass are crucial. Decide what sort topography you want to experience-taiga, tundra, and gravel bar are the most common-and plan your trip accordingly. The entire park is backcountry, so be prepared for encounters with wolves, bears, sheep, and caribou. With your permit, you'll be issued a bear-proof container to store trash and food. Winter in Alaska brings some of North America's best backcountry skiing and snowboarding. Valdez is Alaska's version of Aspen-though without an Armani store. Its a relatively affluent town surrounded by the snowcapped Chugach mountains with 25 feet of annual snowfall. Instead of buying a lift pass, try renting a helicopter. Heli-skiing is Valdez' main draw. Most tour operators book seven-day packages that include accommodation and food. Each morning, you'll start off with a buffet breakfast followed by a day of untracked, virgin powder on 50-degree chutes. If this sounds a little steep, there are milder runs suitable for intermediate skiers and riders. But this isn't Vail's faux backcountry run. These are mountain peaks accessible only by helicopter or parachute; crevasses are hidden under layers of snow and avalanches happen. If you have at least have two weeks to play around, travel the Inside Passage between Juneau and Prince Rupert. Grab the Alaska Public Ferry (www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs) at Juneau, set up your tent on the ship's deck, and glide past hundreds of uninhabited, untouched islands dotting the narrow waterway. Stop off at 100-person frontier towns accessible only by boat and grab dinner with local fisherman. Chances are that you're the f irst outsider they've seen in a week. Allow yourself 10 days for this trip, but it can be done in as little as three if you skip the tiny towns. It covers 19 million acres and in it live caribou, three species of bears, Dall sheep, musk oxen, wolves, and arctic foxes. Oil companies contend that there are 500 million barrels of oil sitting below the surface. Environmentalists argue that extracting oil from the refuge's coastal plain will despoil the environment and ravage wildlife. It's the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and to do your own factfinding, charter a floatplane from Fort Yukon or Deadhorse. Or, fo r a $3,000, lO-day guided expedition, contact Alaska Discovery (listed below). www.travelalaska.com ALASKA TRAVELER FACTS POPULATION DENSITY: 1 person per square mile POPULATION: 610,000 AREA: 570,375 square miles LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, Aleut and Inuit PEOPLE: Caucasian 69%, Native American 16%, Black 4%, Asian 4% HOW FAR: From NY 3,370 miles; From SF 2,010 miles HOW MUCH: From NY 10.5 hours; United 5324 RT, Delta 5328 RT; From SF 7 hours;Delta, United $300 RT, www.delta.com 800·221 ·1212, www.ual.com 800·241·6522 MAIN ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES: Kayaking, hiking, mountaineering, biking, extreme skiing, dogsledding, fishing OUTFITIERS: www.valdezhelicamps.com. www.valdezheliskiguides.com. www.akdiscovery.com 55