National Geographic Treasures of Alaska: The Last Great American Wilderness

Alaska - The very name sparks the imagination. Larger than many countries but with fewer year-round residents than most medium-size cities, the 49th state bristles with mountain ranges glittering with glaciers. Here are deep fjords exploding with the barks of seals, enormous ice fields stretching to the horizon, and vast forests, plains, and wetlands teeming with wildlife. TREASURES OF ALASKA celebrates this storied land. Travel by dogsled up a frozen Arctic river in the Brooks Range in search of the "place of perfect beauty." Hike to the rim of a six-mile-wide caldera in the Aleutian Islands, where active volcanoes rise along the Pacific Basin's Ring of Fire. Imagine trading places with a hermit who goes for months without seeing another human being and who writes poetry, plays the trumpet, and fashions jewelry from river stones to fill the long, dark days of an Alaskan winter. Climb with a bush pilot who turns the tragedy of a plane crash on Mount McKinley into a triumph of human spirit by becoming the first double-amputee with artificial legs to stand atop the continent's highest peak - the mountain that almost killed him. From gold fields to ice fields, from fishing boats to northern lights, Treasures of Alaska uncovers the wild heart and endless struggles that make Alaska a land of beauty, hope, and - most of all - dreams.