I should have guessed that a state nine times the size of new England would be hard to stereotype, coloring outside the lines of my expectations. My preconceived vision of Alaska was a reflection of other places I have been: Chilean Patagonia, Wyoming’s Tetons, Canadian Rocky Mountains. Glaciers calving into mountain lakes, crystal streams flowing through canyons. This was, however, not what Alaska revealed of itself when my most recent adventure took me there.

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