Forget Me Not Alaska, I Will Never Forget You

A thirteen year old boy named Benny Benson created the Alaska state flag in 1926. Benny made the flag’s color the shade of a forget-me-not blossom, and added the stars of the Big Dipper accurately pointing to the North Star to symbolize strength and the bright future of the state. There is nothing forgettable about Alaska travel; from Denali’s wildlife to the Inside Passage’s scenic views, this untamed frontier will captivate your heart and mind for years to come.

The Inside Passage

An Inside Passage cruise offers an epic adventure in itself. This maritime waterway stretches from the Puget Sound in Washington and reaches all the way north touring Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park. Taking an Alaska cruise of the Inside Passage beginning in Seattle or Vancouver will showcase the complete British Columbia coast as well as the entire panhandle of Alaska.

Particularly impressive is the Alaskan portion of the Inside Passage; it runs about 500 miles long and 100 miles wide and contains a staggering 1000 islands! Inside Passage Alaska cruises usually make their way north to Glacier Bay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Glacier Bay portion of the Inside Passage is one of the most popular Alaska cruise destinations due to the numerous tidewater glaciers that meet the ocean, sometimes calving off huge chunks of ice in front of onlookers and creating icebergs that dot the water.

Whale watching is also a popular activity on a cruise to Alaska. Whale watching will not only get you up close to humpback whales and orcas, but also the harbor seals and sea otters that can be seen in the inner passage’s fjords; bald eagles can even be sighted flying along the coastline to the forested islands. Alaska cruise tours make it easy to travel next to living glaciers, hear humpback whales sing, and see eagles fly into the sunset; seems too good to be true, but it is a normal day in the Alaska Inner Passage.

Denali National Park

Utmost care is taken at Denali National Park and Preserve to keep the wildlife wild. There is only one road through the almost 10,000 sq mile park and it is made of dirt so that animals will not hesitate to cross it. Passenger cars are not allowed on this dirt road, so all Denali National Park travelers must take one of the park bus tours such as the Tundra Wilderness Tour that traverses this dirt road to the Toklat River rest area. Alaska wildlife is abundant and tourist are likely to see grizzly bears, moose, caribou, dall sheep, wolves, eagles, marmots, ground squirrels, beavers, pikas and hares!

Mount McKinley is the showpiece of Denali National Park travel in Alaska. When the Alaska weather surrounding the peak of the 20,320 foot summit clears, the highest mountain peak in North America can be seen throughout Denali National Park and Preserve, and on a clear day, hundreds of miles away. If you are curious about what the weather is at Denali today: here is Denali’s National Weather Service report!

Thirteen year old Benny created Alaska’s state flag and from it sprang much of Alaska’s state identity including Alaska’s state song and the eventual adoption of the forget-me-not as the state flower. You can see the alpine and mountain forget-me-not during a tour to Alaska along the islands of the Inside Passage and within Denali National Park.

Alaska’s State Song: Alaska’s Flag
Written by Marie Drake
Composed by Elinor Dusenbury

“Eight stars of gold on a field of blue -
Alaska’s flag. May it mean to you 
The blue of the sea, the evening sky, 
The mountain lakes, and the flow’rs nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough’s dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams; 
The brilliant stars in the northern sky, 
The ‘Bear’ – the ‘Dipper’ – and, shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light, 
Over land and sea a beacon bright. 
Alaska’s flag – to Alaskans dear, 
The simple flag of a last frontier.”