Juneau is the
capital city of Alaska and the only way to get there is by boat or by plane.
If you want to bring your car to Juneau, you'll have to put it on a barge or
a ferry first.
The Auke and Taku
people have lived here for thousands of years. They are Tlingit, with rich
artistic traditions including carving, weaving, orating, singing and
dancing. After gold was found, a mining camp sprung up. The town was
organized in 1881. By the turn of the century, the placer miners had
wandered on, but large underground mines were being developed. Juneau was a
gritty mining town up through the 1940s. The mines shut down during World
War II under wartime orders, as they were not considered essential.
Travelling around
Alaska still demands a spirit of adventure, and to make the most of the
state you need to have an enthusiasm for striking out on your own and
roughing it a bit. Binoculars are an absolute must, as is bug spray; the
mosquito is referred to as the "Alaska state bird" and it takes
industrial-strength repellent to keep it away. On top of that there's the
climate , though Alaska is far from the popular misconception of being one
big icebox. While winter temperatures of -40°F are commonplace in Fairbanks,
the most visited areas - the southeast and the Kenai Peninsula - enjoy a
maritime climate (45-65°F in summer) similar to that of the Pacific
Northwest.
AURORA BOREALIS- "Northern Lights"
Named after the Roman goddess of dawn, the aurora are caused by
an interaction between the earth's magnetic field and the solar wind, an
invisible stream of charged electrons and protons continually blown out into
space by the innate violence of the sun. The earth deflects the solar wind like
a rock in a stream, with the energy released at the magnetic poles - much like a
neon sign. An ethereal display of light in the uppermost atmosphere, give their
brightest and most colourful displays in the sky above Fairbanks. For up to one
hundred winter nights, the sky appears to shimmer with dancing curtains of
colour ranging from luminescent greens to fantastic veils that run the full
spectrum. The Northern Lights are at their most dazzling from December to March,
when nights are longest and the sky darkest, but late September can be good for
summer visitors.
What is the weather in
Juneau, Alaska?
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Standard Time
in USA & Canada until:
Sunday 8 March 2009
Europe / UK clocks on
Winter Time / standard time until:
Sunday 29 March 2009
