In Alaska, summer solstice is a stunner

Think of Anchorage, pictured above, as Long Beach, ringed by mountains. OK, a slightly more rustic, but still water-based distant cousin of Long Beach. You know immediately that it’s a little different up here the moment you leave the airport and pass a fleet of bush planes on the edge of a lagoon.

Talk about your endless summers. Daylight lasts 19 hours here now, and Anchorage is poised to celebrate Saturday’s summer solstice with a massive street fest and marathon that has filled nearly every hotel room in town. The Summer Solstice Festival begins Friday with 10 musical groups and a dozen more on Saturday. A marathon and half-marathon are also scheduled Saturday, under almost ideal conditions. Highs Friday and Saturday are expected to be in the upper 60s, under patchy clouds, with only a slight chance of a moose attack.

As locals are quick to remind you, moose are known to wander right into the center of this town of nearly 300,000 residents, set right on the edge of the wilderness. Bear sightings are also common, and the residents say they have been active this spring.

In any case, summer is about to start with a flourish here in the 49th state. And what a place to hold a party. Sunset tonight? 11:45 p.m.

- Chris Erskine, Los Angeles Times Deputy Travel Editor

[Photo: Alaska Convention & Visitors Bureau]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 7:00 pm by Chris Erskine and is filed under Alaska, National Parks, News, Tips & Advice, Outdoors & Adventure, Spring, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.