To Beat the Heat, Don't Go To Alaska - Alaska, USA

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To Beat the Heat, Don't Go To Alaska!

Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

My first trip to Alaska started with a common thread that seems to run through all of my travels. HEAT.

Last year when I went elk hunting in Colorado in the third week in October, I experienced record heat. The temperature reached 85 degrees at 7000 feet above sea level. I was hunting in a tee shirt in the evening, and I was unable to use my cold weather gear. I like cold weather and I can't seem to find it, even in Alaska.

A few months ago on a trip to Florida in early spring, I again found record heat. Some years ago on a trip to Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and a few other points south, again record heat. It was so hot that I could not sit in the sun to watch a baseball game at Camden Yards. The external thermometer on our rental car reached 108 degrees. That detracted from the vacation experience somewhat.

So when I booked my trip to Alaska, at least I didn't have to worry about the heat, right? I was wrong. We landed June 18 at about noon. I immediately felt the heat. My first reaction was confusion but the car license plates on the road did confirm that I was in Alaska. My confusion soon turned to disbelief.

"Kinda hot, isn't it?" I asked the cab driver.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Record heat. I guess it is supposed to stay with us for a while."

Well, disbelief then turned to disappointment. I was in Anchorage, Alaska and it was 80 degrees. At least it cools down when the sun goes down. The problem is that on June 18 in Anchorage, Alaska the sun really does not go down.

After a couple of hours of shopping in the stifling, un-air-conditioned stores of Anchorage, we retreated to our hotel room, pulled the blackout curtain (which partially worked), cranked up the room air-conditioner and went to bed at 6:30 pm.

The next day we worked our way up through Talkeetna on our way to Denali Park. I was thankful that the rental car had air-conditioning. At every stop, sweating was the first order of business. There was no relief inside buildings because there was no air-conditioning. The only escape was the car.

That evening we checked into our hotel for the next two nights outside Denali Park. Our Alaska-themed room (a salmon was painted on the wall) had a sliding glass door and small balcony on the west side. This was the only window. The view was beautiful. We enjoyed the view as we sat sweating all night. The room had no ventilation but we were provided with a portable fan. We could not pull the blackout curtain because that would block the little fresh air we got. Remember this is now June 19, just a couple of days from the summer solstice. That means that the sun is beating in through our room all night. For two nights we suffered in our stuffy room in which we couldn't close a window or pull a curtain.

After the second night outside Denali Park, I was anxious to continue our trip to Fairbanks where I hoped we would find relief from the heat. When we got to Fairbanks we had good news and bad news. Our hotel room was air-conditioned but it seems that it was hotter than it was in Denali or Anchorage. When was this going to stop? I was beginning to feel foolish because I bought a 3 in 1 jacket for the trip. The jacket was really a light windbreaker, a light fleece jacket or a cold weather jacket, depending on the zip in or zip out inserts used. I thought I was prepared for all forms of weather I would encounter. I did not count on the heat being a factor. What a waste of money.

One off the record

In our room in Fairbanks I read some statistics about the city. One statistic caught my attention. The highest temperature ever recorded in Fairbanks was 93 degrees. I thought we might be close. We decided to venture into town for the evening for the solstice festival. At 8:00 pm it was still stifling hot. We passed a bank thermometer that read 92 degrees. At this point I was disappointed. What is two degrees? As long as I am in Fairbanks and it is over 90 degrees why couldn't be 94 degrees? After all, that is my style. I got the record for heat on June 20 in Fairbanks but since I was there I wanted to be part of history. I wanted to be part of the highest temperature ever recorded in the city. That was not to be and the temperatures remained warm for the remainder of our trip.

That experience in Fairbanks taught me not to sweat the heat so much. Heck, I can be part of history everywhere I go. I just miss using a jacket once in a while.

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