Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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TALKEETNA IS ABOUT 120 miles from Anchorage, population 330, zip code 99676. It
began life as a Tanaina village, in 1916 became a work camp for construction of the Alaska
Railroad, and now serves as the staging area for climbing Denali, known to people from
Ohio as Mt. McKinley. Talkeetna is Tanaina for “river of plenty,” the way Denali is either
“home of the sun” or “the high one,” or both.
Talkeetna is also the town which celebrates Winterfest .
What is Winterfest? Ah, thereby hangs my tale.
Make that tail. A foxtail, in fact.
Hanging from a fox-fur G-string.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Winterfest is a December-long party featuring the Wilderness Women's Contest, the Tal-
keetna Bachelor Auction, a Carhartt's festival, a parade and a tree-lighting ceremony,
bazaars and craft shows, appearances by Santa with real reindeer, cookie decorating, ice
skating, snowshoe softball, broomball (whatever that is), the Taste of Talkeetna, a food
drive, steak night at the VFW and anything and everything else Talkeetnans can think up to
get them through the solstice and into a new year.
Did I mention the Wilderness Women's Contest? And the Bachelor Auction? I did? I
thought so.
The Wilderness Woman Contest commences at noon on the first Saturday of Winterfest.
It was twenty-two degrees out with a light breeze, and the bonfire on Main Street was en-
tirely too small. Hillary Schaefer of Ester, returning two-time Wilderness Woman champi-
on, was heard to say that if she won a third time she was thinking of retiring. The first
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