At once the most beautiful place on earth and a stinking hellhole.

The gorgeous Kodiak countryside is polluted with the stench of fish refineries, which smell to high heaven. The landscape is simmilar to the Irish Isles, but even more rugged, taller, and extreme. It rains constantly on the island, it is called an artic rain forest.

Kodiak Island is actually the largest island in the Aleutian Chain; the string of islands that separate the Pacific Ocean and the Bering strait. The easiest way to get to Kodiak Island is by plane. Planes usually take off from Anchorage, and fly into Kodiak (a city on the island). The thing about the landing strip on Kodiak is that it is built between a mountain sheer, and the ocean. Meaning if the pilot over does it when landing, you smash into the mountain (because it is too tall to pull up), and if he undershoots, you land in the chilly waters next to the airport. Great choice of land they picked, eh?

It is a beautiful island like Hartsock says, but as aforementioned it is incredibly boring. There are nice mountains on the island with incredible views. And since it is an island in the Pacific Ocean, the warm water jet streams flow around it enough to make it fairly warm during the summer. With the highs in the upper 50's (f) to the mid 60's (f), and a humidity of 80% or higher usually, making Kodiak feel incredibly hot and sticky.

Kodiak is most famous for it's bears, known as Kodiak bears. They can be dangerous, so if you travel to Kodiak, take special care not to run into any bears (except the one in the airport, which is dead and stuffed).

Besides Kodiak (city) there are two other major cities that sit along the ocean (making it easier for supplies to get in during the winter), they are Lions and Old Harbor. And all three cities have a population of less than ten thousand.

If you ever get a chance to go to Alaska, Kodiak is a nice place to visit briefly if you have the time, if not, don't loose sleep over it. Other places of interest include Denali National Park (which includes Mount McKinley), Anchorage, and Seward. If you get a chance to take a train through the mountain ranges and up into the mountains to Fairbanks, I would encourage you to do so, it is So beautiful up there.

And remember spring doesn't begin until mid June up there, so don't plan a vacation too early. And one last thing to keep in mind, because of where Alaska is, the sun stays up till like 1 in the morning in Anchorage (one of the farthest south major cities in Alaska). If you are planning on going farther north, make sure to either bring lots of caffeine or a mask to sleep in. =)




http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?addtohistory=&country=US&address= &city=&state=&zipcode=&historyid= 0&submit.x=49&submit.y=7

It's really a nice picture if you zoom out a lot.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.