Hiking on a glacier is something that I have always wanted to do. When I was a child I would always associate glaciers with Alaska. This grew my interest in the idea of living in Alaska. Unsurprisingly Alaska has the most glaciers in the U.S. with roughly 17,000 square miles. That is the size of fourteen Rhode Islands. I had a family friend who lived in Alaska. I hadn’t thought of Alaska as a place to live before I knew they had lived there. I realized that there were people who were able to live there. These events caused me to want to live in Alaska. A few other reasons that I would want to live in Alaska are the parks, communities, and snow.

The biggest reason I want to go to Alaska is their parks. They have the most National parkland in the country. Alaska is home to seven of the top ten largest national parks. Going outdoors and exploring is something I do a lot with my family. We have a cabin near Itasca State Park, the headwaters of the Mississippi. We go there once every couple of years. I would have so much fun. At the headwaters it is just a small creek. So I have the honor of saying I have walked across the Mississippi. I went to upper peninsula Michigan in the summer of 2018. It was just me and my mom. We hiked almost every day we were there. My favorite part was walking on the sand dunes. They were about 450 feet above Lake Superior. It had beautiful views of the dark blue waters of Lake Superior. So the biggest reason is the parks, the next reason is Alaska’s communities.

The second biggest reason I would want to live in Alaska is that it doesn't have very large cities. Alaska’s largest city is Anchorage with 280,000 people. But after that, it is Juneau with only 30,000 people.  I have lived my whole life in rural areas. I like that there is more room for a backyard and land around my house. A good example is school. In a bigger city, I might have 500 kids in my class. Having only 80-100 kids is better in my opinion. I got to know pretty much everyone in my grade. I am comfortable in my school. If I was with a lot of kids I don’t think I would be as comfortable. So living in a small community is important. I will next talk about the next most important reason which is the snow.

The third biggest reason I would live in Alaska is the snow. This may be a reason that people shy away from Alaska but not me. Alaska is the fifth snowiest state in the country. Receiving 64.5 inches every year. I love doing winter activities. Especially skiing and sledding. Particularly sledding holds a special place in my heart. Every wintertime I can remember going sledding with my brother. We would get all bundled up and waddle over to the Community Center in Cannon Falls. There was a fence to keep cars from falling down the hill. We would jump over the corner of the fence with a sled and just go down the hill. I could never imagine not having snow. I have never gone a winter without snow in Minnesota. So if I lived somewhere where it didn’t snow I would hate it. So having lots of snow is a must and Alaska sure does satisfy that need. 

Living in Alaska would be a dream for so many reasons but especially because of its parks, communities, and snow. These are all great reasons to live or visit Alaska. Alaska has so much to offer. I just shared what sparked my interest. There is so much more about Alaska that I didn’t talk about. Exploring Alaska is a great idea for anyone who likes the outdoors. I think that it would be great to go hiking on a glacier in Alaska. Especially the Matanuska glacier. Which is considered one of the best glaciers in Alaska. Hiking glaciers are one of many cool things you can do in Alaska.