Alaskan Splendors – Vancouver to Anchorage

Vancouver, a bustling west coast seaport in British Columbia, is among Canada’s densest, most ethnically diverse cities. A popular filming location, it’s surrounded by mountains, and also has thriving art, theatre and music scenes. Vancouver Art Gallery is known for its works by regional artists, while the Museum of Anthropology houses preeminent First Nations collections.

Ketchikan is an Alaskan city facing the Inside Passage, a popular cruise route along the state’s southeastern coast. It’s known for its many Native American totem poles, on display throughout town. Nearby Misty Fiords National Monument is a glacier-carved wilderness featuring snowcapped mountains, waterfalls and salmon spawning streams. It’s also home to rich wildlife including black bears, wolves and bald eagles.

Misty Fjords National Monument is a national monument and wilderness area administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Tongass National Forest.

The City and Borough of Wrangell is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,369, up from 2,308 in 2000. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Borough on May 30, 2008, Wrangell was previously a city in the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area. Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw.

Haines is a census-designated place located in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. It is in the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle, near Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. As of the 2010 census, the population of the Haines CDP was 1,713, out of a total 2,508 in Haines Borough.

The City and Borough of Juneau, commonly known as Juneau, is the capital city of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the second-largest city in the United States of America by area.

Sitka is an Alaskan city and borough near Juneau, the state capital. It’s spread over Baranof Island, part of Chichagof Island and others. It was part of Russia until 1867 and St. Michael’s Orthodox Cathedral is topped with an onion dome. The 1842 Russian Bishop’s House is nearby. Sitka National Historical Park is the site of Russia’s defeat of the indigenous Tlingit people and has a trail dotted with totem poles.

Seward is a port city in southern Alaska, set on an inlet on the Kenai Peninsula. It’s a gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, where glaciers flow from the Harding Icefield into coastal fjords. Surrounded by peaks, the fjords are a whale and porpoise habitat. The city’s Alaska SeaLife Center has seals and puffins, and fishing boats fill Seward Harbor. To the west, a trail leads to the summit of Mount Marathon.