The park encompasses more than 6 million acres in a complete sub-arctic ecosystem. It features North America’s highest mountain, 20,320-foot tall Mount McKinley. The aurora is a beautiful, phenomenon, occurring year-round. Only in the fall, winter and early spring, is there enough darkness to allow us to see the northern lights when they occur. The aurora borealis occurs when a coronal mass ejection, a massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields, interacts with elements in the earth’s atmosphere. Coronal mass ejections are often associated with other forms of solar activity, most notably solar flares.

credit: DenaliNPS

The Mendenhall Glacier is a tongue of ice stretching 12 miles from the Juneau Icefield to Mendenhall Lake. At its widest point, the glacier is more than a half mile wide, with ice 300 to 1,800 feet deep. Rising global temperatures have caused the glacier to start melting—it has receded by about two miles since 1958. Water has carved caves into the interior, creating surreal, turquoise-toned worlds whose shapes are ever changing. The caves are spacious cavities in the blue ice.

credit: AER Wilmington DE

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is a U.S. National Park in Alaska. It is the second largest at 13,238 miles, about the same size as Switzerland. The park’s name comes from a nature activist who, while exploring the North Fork of the Koyukuk River, saw two mountains, Frigid Crags & Boreal Mt., flanking the river on each side and christened this portal the “Gates of the Arctic”. What is remarkable is that such a large chunk of land has remained one of the most remote and unspoiled places in the world. No roads lead into the park, and there are no trails or bridges inside. Gates of the Arctic National Park’s summer season is from mid-May to mid-September. The main park ranger station is located in Anaktuvuk Pass. The village hosts visitors from around the world, and offer tours about life in the village.

credit: Jim

Best hiking trips in alaska offers hiking area located along a very scenic gorge on Winner Creek. The Winner Creek Trail in the lush Rainforest of Girdwood is a wonderful hike and a memorable experience for everyone. The Winner Creek Trail is a bit of a suburban wildland hike, but there are plenty of rewards: a beautiful trail, temperate rain forest, and the narrow gorges of Winner and Glacier Creeks.

credit: Alaskan Dude

Fort Greely is a United States Army launch site for anti-ballistic missiles located approximately 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Main purpose is designed to destroy a hostile missile during the mid-course phase of its flight. Other missile defense systems are designed to destroy a hostile missile shortly after launch or at high altitudes during its terminal phase.

credit: The U.S. Army

Typical food that is eaten by polar bear are seals and fish. Photos capture different situations like patiently waiting, hunting on breathing hole, starving, eating seal, walking on pack ice near open water …

Height: Average adult male 8.5 ft. (2.6 m) Average adult female 6.5 ft. (2 m)
Weight: Average adult male 900 lbs. Average adult female 500 lbs
Color: Off-white fur with black nose, eyes and mouth

Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Some ice carvers use colored ice blocks produced by adding dyes into the ice, or the combination of clear and colored ice to accomplish a certain effect. Ice sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events because of their limited lifetime. The lifetime of a sculpture is determined primarily by the temperature of its environment and thus, a sculpture can last from mere minutes to possibly months. There are several ice festivals held around the world, hosting competitions of ice sculpture carving.