While visiting Alaska is a truly unmatched experience, hearing a perspective from one of the state's most highly regarded residents will shed a new light on various aspects of the area that you might have missed. Fortunately for tourists, that person is Mary Shields. The popular Alaskan Tails of the Trail with Mary Shields is an opportunity to share a personal home visit with this celebrated Alaskan musher and author. Her insights focus on her famous sled dogs, but Shields also is a splendid storyteller and her accounts of various events of Alaska's past are quite entertaining.
Nature lovers love communing with nature at every opportunity. One such opportunity is an outdoor excursion on the Pinnell Mountain National Recreation Trail. This trail offers alpine-style backpacking over the course of its 27.3 miles. Along the way, you can enjoy truly stunning views of the mountains and other scenery that includes several summer wildflowers, alpine azaleas, forget me nots, and lots more.
Let your spirit for both adventure and learning take flight when you explore the attractions at the Alaskaland Pioneer Air Museum. Learn about how the area was primarily explored and then developed through the efforts of early pilots with a passion for exploration. Interestingly, they were also exploring the possibilities of flight as they surveyed the area from some of aviation's earliest aircraft. See some of those captivating planes on display, as well as related memorabilia, records, photographs and other pieces that help to tell this fascinating facet of Alaska's history.