Things you may not know about Alaska

After a wonderful, cruise-tour to Alaska, I would now like to share with you some facts about
Alaska:
--of the 20 tallest mountains in the USA, 17 are in Alaska
--Ketchikan, Alaska gets 300 days of rain a year (and we happened to be there on a clear day!)
--if there were no mosquitoes, there would be no bears in Alaska
The female mosquitoes bite you, but the male mosquitoes drink nectar and they act as pollinators for the flowers in the high alpine areas of Alaska. Bears in Alaska eat
thousands of berries as part of their diet, so the berries didn't get pollinated the bears would have to leave to find food elsewhere.
--Fireweed is a pretty pink flower that grows like a weed in Alaska. It is called fireweed, not because of its color, but because it is the first plant to start growing after a fire. The flowers bloom from the bottom to the top, and when the last blooms fade at the top, the Alaskans say there will then be six more weeks until winter.
--moose antlers are very heavy--I could only lift one at a time. But I could lift caribou antlers.
--if you encounter an angry moose--RUN and hide behind the nearest tree (even a skinny
tree will do). An angry moose won't stop until it has stomped you into the ground.
--however, DO NOT RUN FROM A BEAR--if you run, it will think you are food. Stand still and talk calmly to the bear--if you can.
--Be careful about walking along the banks of rivers that flow from the glaciers. The silt from the glacial waters is so fine that it can make the banks of the rivers like quicksand.
--one of the bays near Anchorage has tides that rise 38 feet overnight.
--there is an Abraham Lincoln totem pole at the museum in Anchorage.