What to Expect in August

When I think of August my mind goes crazy with amazing images!  Silver salmon are running which means The Seward Silver Salmon Derby, the Valdez derby, and the Ship Creek derby right in downtown Anchorage!

On the first Friday, the Tanana Valley Fair in Fairbanks starts.  I can taste those pita bread Kachemak Bay shrimp pocket sandwiches as we write this!

The first of fall colors start to show up high on the sides of the mountains in South Central Alaska in patches of bright reds and yellows. 

Oh!  The berries are coming into ripeness!  Raspberries, blueberries as far as the eye can see in places just outside of Denali National Park.  Speaking of which this is a great time to do the Tundra Wilderness tour into the park as the Grizzly bears love those berries and will spend hours right beside the road eating and eating and eating!  We counted 13 grizzlies on our tour into the park in August, 2007.  It was awesome!

Although statistics say it rains more in August,   I have many memories of wonderful sunshiny days sitting on the rocks of Resurrection Bay outside of Seward fishing for Silvers.   JoJo and I used to perform every year at the fair in Fairbanks and I have a lot more memories of being there in t-shirts and sunglasses than I do of being in a jacket.  Again, the idea is to go prepared for any weather.

As you get closer to the end of the month there are some hours of actual darkness, which means your first real opportunities to see Northern Lights.  Even after 35 years in Alaska, this is a show I never get tired of.  They are never the same twice and you never know when you'll see the most spectacular show of your life!  Our friend Todd Salat is one of the best northern lights photographers on the planet and even after years of spending weeks at a time "aurora hunting", you can hear the excitement in his voice when he talks about a particular show where he got a shot.

August is an amazing month to visit Alaska.  If you are lucky enough to be there at exactly the right time you'll be able to watch Alaska go from summer into fall.  I wish I could tell you what two week period that is but again, it's Mother Nature and she does things on her own time.