Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life


End of Trip
Seaplane slides towards others already moored in a river near Talkeetna.
alaskan affection
Couple embraces in front of the Nagley Store in Talkeetna, a popular grocery store in the village.
Grizzly at the Table
Naife panel of the West Rib restaurant-pub.
Full house
Fairview Inn bar patrons watch the Bathtub Gin show.
Great North Decoration
Detail of the facade of the West Rib restaurant-pub.
small expedition
Adventurer descends a river in a small rubber boat.
Almost Familiar Concert
Bathtub Gin perform at the bar at the Fairview Inn.
Alaskan Composition
Train in the colors of the Alaskan flag passes near Talkeetna.
Bottomless mug
Creative logo of a Talkeetna cafe.
Alaskan Amber & Rooms
Neon Interior advertises the sale of the 49th state's most famous beer, Alaskan.
Ecological Parking
Bicycles on the wooden facade of the West Rib restaurant-pub.
Fudge and Cinnamon Rolls
Panel displays the specialties of a Talkeetna cafe.
Alyesca Pipeline
Section of the long Alyesca pipeline that carries oil from the northern coast of Alaska to Valdez in the south.
Taxi Station
Due to the absence of roads in many regions, seaplanes are considered Alaskan taxis.
Iglo City
Abandoned Iglo City building, an old 4-story attraction, shops, accommodation and service station.
Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Past Wasilla and Palmer, civilization is left behind.

With it, the last crossings and detours. The possibility of getting into the wrong way disappears in the almost deserted George Parks Hrightway.

It's eleven forty-five at night. The light still expands from the horizon. Illuminates the white night. Despite the name, the surrounding atmosphere is bluish, enhanced by the natural tones of the landscape.

The mountains insinuate themselves in the distance, detached from the clear sky by their snowy summits. As a counterpoint, the coniferous forest dominates the lowlands. It stretches right to the side of the road. It imposes a damp and mysterious pitch that we are forced to probe with extra care

Moose are the leading cause of road accidents in Alaska. It is after the sun goes down that they feel more comfortable crossing the roads or parking on them.

Brown, tall and slender, they blend in with the trunks of trees. Drivers often only detect them on the asphalt.

It was a bad luck we were determined to avoid.

From time to time, we pass wide arms of river, made of wild waters fed by the continuous melting of the surrounding glaciers.

Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna

Seaplane slides towards others already moored in a river near Talkeetna.

We are in the middle of the salmon season. Alaskans devote a considerable part of their energies to them. During the day, the banks delimited for this purpose are filled with fishermen enthusiastic about the inexhaustible offer of fish and the competition that takes place.

call combat fishing to this communal way of fishing but most fans don't take the name too seriously and bet on camaraderie.

At mile 98 of George Parks Highway we take a detour.

The Secondary Road that Leads Us to Talkeetna

We point to Talkeetna, one of Alaska's most iconic towns. Around the XNUMXth century, a new gold mining hub was formed there, which had since been discovered in different regions of the state.

With the end of the fever, the preservation of its historical aspect, the fact that it is located at the gates of the Denali National Park – to top it off with an airport – became attributes that attracted the families of greater Anchorage.

Hug at the Nagley Store, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna

Couple embraces in front of the Nagley Store in Talkeetna, a popular grocery store in the village.

And all adventurers eager to sight and conquer the grandiose Mount McInley, the highest mountain in North America. This mission is so challenging that the cemetery of the village is full of tombstones that honor the men who tried to fulfill it.

In 1991 alone, eleven lives sacrificed by the mountain were counted.

But it wasn't just climbers who promoted the town to its quasi-Alaskan stardom.

And Life on the Margins of Little Talkeetna

Other sub-cultures enrich the alternative community that inhabits and frequents it: the intrepid aviators who transport climbers and tourists to the mountains and later fly over them.

The social wild animals dissatisfied with the cloned and materialistic ambitions of most of their compatriots and who arrive determined to wrest an existence from the 49th state in their own way. The uncommitted groups of neo-hippies, of environmentalists sworn in support of the Green Party or not, who have already made the Green Party the most voted party in Talkeetna.

These characters and social clans mix dynamically, democratically and affably. As a result, Talkeetna radiates a sense of well-being and warmth that causes many visitors to postpone their matches. Some of them forever.

West Rib, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna

Bicycles on the wooden facade of the West Rib restaurant-pub.

It's the tiny size of the hamlet (let's call it that) which starts by surprising. In Alaskan fashion, downtown is down to a single street, Main Street.

The the oldest buildings are concentrated, now shops, tour agencies, bars and restaurants embellished with paintings, signs and other colorful decorations.

From June to September, this street is walked up and down again and again. Until the novelty runs out and outsiders are forced to choose a place to enjoy the evening.

Fairview inn, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna

Fairview Inn bar patrons watch the Bathtub Gin show.

One of the most charming places in the village, the Fairview Inn, lets out chords of live music into the street and challenges the most curious passersby.

Fairview Inn and the Intoxicating Show of Bathtub Gin

Founded in 1923 as an overnight inn for the long journey between Seward (near the south coast) and Fairbanks (hundreds of miles north, halfway to the Arctic Circle), this property has kept up with Alaska's recent past. Over time, it became a kind of living museum.

As soon as we enter the bar on the ground floor, we notice the classic construction. The floor is made of plank, worn. The huge counter, square to optimize contact with customers, is protected by a frightening skin of grizzly hanging from the ceiling and accompanied by a few others as well as moose and caribou frames.

All around, the furniture is made up of various relics, including an old jukebox and Talkeetna's only slot machine. Scattered all over the place, there are still testimonies of the region's history, in the most diverse formats and humorous warnings that take the opportunity to regulate the erratic behavior of customers.

As in most of the state, beer is a kind of institution here. In addition to the famous Alaskan – the emblematic brand, par excellence – numerous small bars and breweries offer new flavors at various frequencies that can be weekly.

Bathtub Gin, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna

Bathtub Gin perform at the bar at the Fairview Inn.

When Bathtub Gin starts to perform, the two rooms on the ground floor are filled to capacity. Beer refreshes most of the audience.

The band's musicians – including the banjo-playing vocalist and keyboard player, his then-octogenarian mother – live in the city. That night, songs from Louisiana and Mississippi are heard. This choice drives an unexpected southern sector of the public crazy.

Alaskan Amber and Craft Beer Alaskan Fever

Excited by the concert, we only left the bar so often. Outside, as throughout the state, the night is white. We rest for a few hours. We have breakfast at the first bar to open.

At that hour, the employee had more time, so he decided to start a conversation. The morning hadn't even started and we found ourselves praising once again the Alaskan Amber who had enchanted us so much.

Alaskan Amber, Alaskan Fashion Life, Talkeetna

Neon Interior advertises the sale of the 49th state's most famous beer, Alaskan.

Mark accepts the admiration. Note that we were in those parts a few days ago: “Alaskan is a good beer but here in Talkeetna we have our own private breweries.

I'm crazy about improvising new flavors. Me and several others here on earth. Do one thing. Change your plans. Stay at home until Sunday. So you can better explore these places and our homemade beers.”

As commonplace as it may sound, for these and others it is that those who lived the Great North know that it is better not to say goodbye.

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Here begins Alaska

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Journey to the End of the Alaskan Road

If Anchorage became the great city of the 49th US state, Homer, 350km away, is its most famous dead end. Veterans of these parts consider this strange tongue of land sacred ground. They also venerate the fact that, from there, they cannot continue anywhere.
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The Sacred Ceiling of North America

The Athabascan Indians called him Denali, or the Great, and they revered his haughtiness. This stunning mountain has aroused the greed of climbers and a long succession of record-breaking climbs.
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Sitka: Journey through a once Russian Alaska

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The Little Capital of Greater Alaska

From June to August, Juneau disappears behind cruise ships that dock at its dockside. Even so, it is in this small capital that the fate of the 49th American state is decided.
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Journey through a Glacial Alaska

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PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Valdez, Alaska

On the Black Gold Route

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker caused a massive environmental disaster. The vessel stopped plying the seas, but the victim city that gave it its name continues on the path of crude oil from the Arctic Ocean.
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A Klondike's Gold Fever Variant

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The Longest 4th of July

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Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

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The Caribbean Stepping Stone of the USA

Os United States continental islands seem to close to the south in its capricious peninsula of Florida. Don't stop there. More than a hundred islands of coral, sand and mangroves form an eccentric tropical expanse that has long seduced American vacationers.
Miami, USA

A Masterpiece of Urban Rehabilitation

At the turn of the 25st century, the Wynwood neighbourhood remained filled with abandoned factories and warehouses and graffiti. Tony Goldman, a shrewd real estate investor, bought more than XNUMX properties and founded a mural park. Much more than honoring graffiti there, Goldman founded the Wynwood Arts District, the great bastion of creativity in Miami.
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Tombstone: the City Too Hard to Die

Silver veins discovered at the end of the XNUMXth century made Tombstone a prosperous and conflictive mining center on the frontier of the United States to Mexico. Lawrence Kasdan, Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner and other Hollywood directors and actors made famous the Earp brothers and the bloodthirsty duel of “OK Corral”. The Tombstone, which, over time, has claimed so many lives, is about to last.
Miami beach, USA

The Beach of All Vanities

Few coasts concentrate, at the same time, so much heat and displays of fame, wealth and glory. Located in the extreme southeast of the USA, Miami Beach is accessible via six bridges that connect it to the rest of Florida. It is meager for the number of souls who desire it.
Little Havana, USA

Little Havana of the Nonconformists

Over the decades and until today, thousands of Cubans have crossed the Florida Straits in search of the land of freedom and opportunity. With the US a mere 145 km away, many have gone no further. His Little Havana in Miami is today the most emblematic neighborhood of the Cuban diaspora.
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Journey through the Abysmal North America

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Monument Valley, USA

Indians or Cowboys?

Iconic Western filmmakers like John Ford immortalized what is the largest Indian territory in the United States. Today, in the Navajo Nation, the Navajo also live in the shoes of their old enemies.
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Where sin is always forgiven

Projected from the Mojave Desert like a neon mirage, the North American capital of gaming and entertainment is experienced as a gamble in the dark. Lush and addictive, Vegas neither learns nor regrets.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
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Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Skipper of one of the bangkas at Raymen Beach Resort during a break from sailing
Beach
Islands Guimaras  e  Ave Maria, Philippines

Towards Ave Maria Island, in a Philippines full of Grace

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.
hippopotami, chobe national park, botswana
safari
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Muktinath to Kagbeni, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Kagbeni
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 14th - Muktinath to Kagbeni, Nepal

On the Other Side of the Pass

After the demanding crossing of Thorong La, we recover in the cozy village of Muktinath. The next morning we proceed back to lower altitudes. On the way to the ancient kingdom of Upper Mustang and the village of Kagbeni that serves as its gateway.
Luderitz, Namibia
Architecture & Design
Lüderitz, Namibia

Wilkommen in Africa

Chancellor Bismarck has always disdained overseas possessions. Against his will and all odds, in the middle of the Race for Africa, merchant Adolf Lüderitz forced Germany to take over an inhospitable corner of the continent. The homonymous city prospered and preserves one of the most eccentric heritages of the Germanic empire.
lagoons and fumaroles, volcanoes, PN tongariro, new zealand
Aventura
Tongariro, New Zealand

The Volcanoes of All Discords

In the late XNUMXth century, an indigenous chief ceded the PN Tongariro volcanoes to the British crown. Today, a significant part of the Maori people claim their mountains of fire from European settlers.
Jumping forward, Pentecost Naghol, Bungee Jumping, Vanuatu
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Pentecost Naghol: Bungee Jumping for Real Men

In 1995, the people of Pentecostes threatened to sue extreme sports companies for stealing the Naghol ritual. In terms of audacity, the elastic imitation falls far short of the original.
Dusk in Itzamna Park, Izamal, Mexico
Cities
Izamal, Mexico

The Holy, Yellow and Beautiful Mexican City

Until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Izamal was a center of worship for the supreme Mayan god Itzamná and Kinich Kakmó, the one of the sun. Gradually, the invaders razed the various pyramids of the natives. In its place, they built a large Franciscan convent and a prolific colonial houses, with the same solar tone in which the now Catholic city shines.
Lunch time
World Food

Gastronomy Without Borders or Prejudice

Each people, their recipes and delicacies. In certain cases, the same ones that delight entire nations repel many others. For those who travel the world, the most important ingredient is a very open mind.
Tabato, Guinea Bissau, Balafons
Culture
Tabato, Guinea Bissau

Tabatô: to the Rhythm of Balafom

During our visit to the tabanca, at a glance, the djidius (poet musicians)  mandingas are organized. Two of the village's prodigious balaphonists take the lead, flanked by children who imitate them. Megaphone singers at the ready, sing, dance and play guitar. There is a chora player and several djambes and drums. Its exhibition generates successive shivers.
Sport
Competitions

Man: an Ever Tested Species

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Dorrigo NP, Australia: Waterfall Way Suspension Bridge
Traveling
Dorrigo a Bellingen, Australia

Among Tree-Changers, along the Forests of Gondwana

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Promise?
Ethnic
Goa, India

To Goa, Quickly and in Strength

A sudden longing for Indo-Portuguese tropical heritage makes us travel in various transports but almost non-stop, from Lisbon to the famous Anjuna beach. Only there, at great cost, were we able to rest.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Curieuse Island, Seychelles, Aldabra turtles
History
Felicité Island and Curieuse Island, Seychelles

From Leprosarium to Giant Turtles Home

In the middle of the XNUMXth century, it remained uninhabited and ignored by Europeans. The French Ship Expedition “La Curieuse” revealed it and inspired his baptism. The British kept it a leper colony until 1968. Today, Île Curieuse is home to hundreds of Aldabra tortoises, the longest-lived land animal.
Facing Ponta do Passo.
Islands
Ilhéu de Cima, Porto Santo, Portugal

The First Light of Who Navigates From Above

It is part of the group of six islets around the island of Porto Santo, but it is far from being just one more. Even though it is the eastern threshold of the Madeira archipelago, it is the island closest to Portosantenses. At night, it also makes the fanal that confirms the right course for ships coming from Europe.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Winter White
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

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Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Literature
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Horseback riding in shades of gold
Nature
El Calafate, Argentina

The New Gauchos of Patagonia

Around El Calafate, instead of the usual shepherds on horseback, we come across gauchos equestrian breeders and others who exhibit, to the delight of visitors, the traditional life of the golden pampas.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
UNESCO World Heritage
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Montezuma and Malpais, Costa Rica's best beaches, Catarata
Beaches
Montezuma, Costa Rica

Back to the Tropical Arms of Montezuma

It's been 18 years since we were dazzled by this one of Costa Rica's blessed coastlines. Just two months ago, we found him again. As cozy as we had known it.
One against all, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet
Religion
Lhasa, Tibet

Sera, the Monastery of the Sacred Debate

In few places in the world a dialect is used as vehemently as in the monastery of Sera. There, hundreds of monks, in Tibetan, engage in intense and raucous debates about the teachings of the Buddha.
Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan
On Rails
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
Society
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Daily life
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
Rhinoceros, PN Kaziranga, Assam, India
Wildlife
PN Kaziranga, India

The Indian Monoceros Stronghold

Situated in the state of Assam, south of the great Brahmaputra river, PN Kaziranga occupies a vast area of ​​alluvial swamp. Two-thirds of the rhinocerus unicornis around the world, there are around 100 tigers, 1200 elephants and many other animals. Pressured by human proximity and the inevitable poaching, this precious park has not been able to protect itself from the hyperbolic floods of the monsoons and from some controversies.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.