Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Alaska Vacation - An Extraordinary Family Vacation Adventure

Adventure awaits in America's last great frontier. Every one of Alaska's 586,000 square miles invites you to its own extraordinary adventure. Rich in wildlife, this great frontier is home to more animals than people. Its magnificent scenery inspires awe in the beholder. So an Alaska vacation is your passport to a thrilling adventure.

Alaska's National Parks

Alaska is home to 8 national parks. These parks occupy one-half of the land area in the U.S. national park system. So, an Alaska vacation would not be complete without a visit to at least one of these parks.

Each park has is own unique characteristics. The centerpiece of Denali National Park is Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. Denali's more than 6,000,000 acres is home to grizzly bears, Dall sheep, moose and wolves.

The Wrangell St. Elias National Park contains the largest number of glaciers. Remote mountains, deep valleys, wild rivers and an abundance of wildlife are dominant features of this park. This is a great park of the avid photographer.

The Kenai Fjords National Park is located in southeastern Alaska. It is dominated by great fjords and the Harding Icefield. Fjords are deep valleys carved by ancient glaciers. These fjords are now filled with sea water. The Harding Icefield sits on a mountain platform above the coastline. Only rarely does a mountain peak penetrate the flat ice surface of the field. The Exit Glacier is extremely popular with vacationers, and it is easily accessible.

These parks are representative of all Alaska's national parks. A visit to any one of them on your Alaska vacation will offer rich dividends.

Adventure to Alaska's Glaciers

Imagine the spectacle of ancient glaciers dropping massive chunks of ice into the sea. The glaciers of College Fjord, Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Bay National Park offer some of the most spectacular sights and sounds you'll experience on your Alaska vacation adventure. After moving ponderously down the mountains and fjords, these massive rivers of ice drop their bounty into the sea. The process is known as "calving," and some tidewater glaciers shed enormous chunks of ice several times an hour.

In most cases, the cascading wall of ice you see is several hundred years old. While these newly formed icebergs melt rapidly in the warmer water, some are large enough to support seals and other wildlife looking for a free ride even though it is temporary.

Cruising Alaska's Inside Passage

Cruising the Inside Passage is one of the most popular Alaska vacation adventures. Ancient glaciers carved the passage. Now blanketed with majestic hemlock and spruce, it is a region of pristine water, snow capped mountains, deep fjords and forested islands. The area, with its mild, maritime climate, is a prime habitat for bald eagles, sea lions, porpoise and whales.

The picturesque communities along the coast continue to reveal the area's rich history. Quaint churches and other historical buildings preserve the Russian influence. You will relive the Gold Rush era as you make your way through the Passage.

Ancient totem poles are constant reminders of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indian cultures. You can watch as this generation of Native Americans preserve the art of totem carving. You can also see demonstrations of their traditional dance and music.

An Alaska vacation is no ordinary experience. The rich variety of options assures that you will have the time of your life. From the majestic mountains that dominate Denali National Park to the massive tidewater glaciers, from abundant wildlife to remote lodges, your Alaska experience will be permanently imprinted in your memory. If you never get to visit Alaska again, your Alaska adventure will still live within you.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Choose The Right Bass Fishing Tackle For Your First Fishing Adventure

If your going on your first Bass fishing trip and you haven't done any fishing ever before it can be a bit daunting to try and find the right fishing tackle. The moment you step in to a shop that sells fishing tackle, or better yet a shop that specializes in fishing, you will see that there are thousands of items to choose from. Things like lures, reels and rods are there in so many forms and variations and they exist because each one is needed in its own situation. For a beginner this can be shocking and even a reason not to go fishing but you should not let this huge assortment of fishing items to choose from get you down. As a beginner you don't have to know what all the different items are for just try and get the basics.

A Rod

We begin with the most difficult item in your bass fishing tackle, the decision which rod you need to buy. You already know that there are a lot of rods you can choose from. One can get a special rod for every type of fish you can catch or for the special lures that are available. The choice of rod largely depends on the type of lure you will be using.

Looking at them you would not say so, but a fishing rod is a complex piece of tackle. When we talk about bass fishing rods there are four points to look for and these are tip action, length, power and sensitivity.

Tip Action

This tells you if the tip is soft or maybe more stiff. When the tip of your rod is soft then you will be able to make a more accurate cast, but on the other hand it will make the choice of lures a lot smaller.

Length

The type of fishing you are going to do and the type of lures you will be using will dictate the length of the rod.

Power

When we talk about power what this means is the weight of the rod, is it heavy or light. When you are going for bigger fish then you will need a heavier rod.

Sensitivity

This specifies how much the rod will let you feel. The more sensitive the fishing rod is the more you will be able to feel what the bait or lure is doing under water and of course when the fish are starting to take little bites.

So what does this mean for the choice you have to make. When you are going to fish with worms the best rod of choice would be the one which is sensitive because you want to feel what is going on at the bottom of the water. But the rod also needs to be fairly heavy and have a soft tip so you can do some accurate casting.

On the other hand when you will be using a spinner as bait then the rod needs to be a bit lightweight. This is because you will be casting a lot and a heavy rod would be costing your arms. When you get a short rod this will help in making those very accurate casts and with a medium to soft tip this will only get better.

These are only a simple and very basic examples of the type of rods and what the differences are, we haven't even touched the subject of reels, lines, lures etc. etc. We don't want to scare you away from fishing. Talk to someone that has done some fishing and who can tell you what type of rod you will need to take with you. Make sure you take the right bass fishing tackle with you. You could even talk to the people in the tackle shop, they can give you some good advice.