Alaskans didn’t come here for the crowds. People come here looking for quiet, peace, and beautiful wild country. Unfortunately, the well known places have been overwhelmed with busloads of cruise passengers. Those of us that grew up here have seen the deterioration in the tourist spots.
Even in Denali, where access to the interior of the park along the single park road has only been by bus since the 1970s, has deteriorated over the years because the buses are (or were) hourly. When cruise lines started cancelling, the National Park Service opened the road to private vehicles.
Because of Alaska’s 14 day quarantine we have had few Outside tourists, so this year Alaskans are having a rare chance to see Denali as I did back in the 60s, when you could stop to have a 2 hour lunch and photo shoot and no cars would go by.
Places like Denali, Glacier Bay, and Misty Fjords are all close to the limit for retaining wilderness characteristics because of visitor impact. Thank goodness having to drive several thousand miles to get here (or having to take a boat or fly here, as in much of Alaska, including where I live) keeps the hordes that long ago overwhelmed Yosemite an other western parks away. I’m so glad I visited Yosemite and Yellowstone back in the 60s. I thought they were crowded then, and I wouldn’t want to visit either now.
We really are loving these places to death. I do want to visit Aus, but won’t go to Uluru not only to respect aboriginal beliefs but because it’s now too popular. Friends who recently walked the Spanish Santiago pilgrimage told how crowded it was. And I’m glad my parents had a chance to visit the Galapagos back in the 70s before adventure cruising became a thing, but I’m not going there.
I have a long travel bucket list, but I suspect that like many others, I’ll have to be content with beautiful 4K aerial drone videos on my video wall in my 90s. Why did I wait until my 30s to start traveling overseas?
