The Last Frontier - Land Of The Midnight Sun

Below: Cordova Alaska's small boat harbor in winter at sunset. Alaska may have a midnight sun in the summer, in the winter however things are pretty dang dark. This sunset is likely at about 3 o-clock in the afternoon. The harbor is filled with commercial fishing boats, most of which make their money from the salmon fishery in the summer. In the winter Cordova has about 3000 people, but as spring comes and the fisherman return the town's population goes up to around 5000.

My family and I moved to Cordova Alaska in 1974. I was just a youngster but I remember the move from Colorado to Alaska well. My mom always talks about how after we arrived in Alaska I came in the house one day and asked, "What happened to the sun?". True enough, Cordova is rainy rainy, but on those few days that it is sunny - WOW it must be one of the most beautiful places on earth.

This is the Alaska most people imagine. This picture was taken by my friend Jared's father, Jay Kelley from his airplane. The Copper River is showing signs of spring, because the ice has melted near the Million Dollar Bridge. The left span of the bridge fell into the river in the 1964 earthquake. Childs Glacier is in the foreground, Miles Glacier rests far away, against the mountains, on the opposite side of the river valley. More information on this area can be found on the Alaska 2 (Summer) page.