The Amateur Traveler talks to Joe Bickley of Alaska Backcountry Consulting about traveling to Alaska, particularly the interior and back country. Alaska is a bug state and Joe lives in the center of it near Fairbanks but at the northern end of the Alaskan road system. Joe gives us some directions on places to go to see Alaska’s vistas and encounter its wildlife. He takes us above the tree line at Denali National Park (aka Mt McKinley) which is not quite half the size of the state of Rhode Island. At that Denali is not even the largest National Park in Alaska. That honor goes to Wrangell-St. Elias. Alaska also has the largest National Forest which is Tongass National Forest. Joe takes us to one of his favorite spots off the Denali “highway”. He also directs us down to the Kenai Peninsula known for great fishing and also to the town of Homer with its artist culture. Learn what some Alaskans call those bells that a tenderfoot might wear to scare off bears.