News, Tips & Bargains : Fur, Festivals and Bear Watching

Even those who love the winter begin to weary of the white stuff by February, especially in Alaska, where galloping cases of cabin fever are common about now. That could be why so many festivals and blues busters are scheduled throughout the state this month.

The biggest and best known is the Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage, a terrific place to meet and mingle with Alaskans. The festival, scheduled to start Friday and run through Feb. 20, recalls the era when fur trappers and gold miners, escapingwinter’s grip, came to the “big town” to replenish their supplies and get rowdy for a few days.

They’d race their dog-sled teams, auction off their caribou skins and otter pelts, and grab a saloon girl for a fling.

Revived in 1936, the festival has been held annually ever since. Today about 140 different events are scheduled, including the Miners and Trappers Ball, a gigantic masquerade party that limits tickets to 4,000.

The action isn’t confined to Anchorage. Elsewhere in the state, residents will be battling winter blues with the Iceworm Festival in Cordova, the Peninsula Winter Games on the Kenai Peninsula, the Beaver Round-Up in Dillingham and the Tent City Festival in Wrangell. For more information,call (907) 465-2010. As March nears, all eyes will be on the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which begins March 5 after participating mushers draw for starting positions at the March 3 Mushers Banquet. This year’s 1,049-mile race welcomes back several veterans, including last year’s winner, Jeff King, and second-place finisher, Dee Dee Jonrowe. For information, call (907) 376-5155.

This is also the time to apply for permits to view Alaska’s brown bears this summer. The routine varies from site to site but all have two things in common: Interest is high and space is limited.

Deadline for applications is March 1 at McNeil River State Game Sanctuary on the upper Alaska Peninsula. Call (907) 267-2180 for forms and permit procedures.

The Pack Creek bear viewing area on Admiralty Island National Monument begins accepting reservation requests on March 1. Write Forest Service Information Center, 101 Egan Drive, Juneau, Alaska 99801.

Permits are not required at Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge where, for the first time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has turned over bear-viewing to Munsey’s O’Malley Camp. Reservations for four-day tours are on a first-come, first-served basis. Cost is $1,400 per person, inclusive. Call (913) 392-2348 for information.

At Brooks Fall in Katmai National Park on the Alaska Peninsula, permits are not required but campsites fill up fast. They are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Call (907) 246-3305.

Finally, if you’d rather look at things celestial, you might catch one of Alaska’s most spectacular sights simply by looking up: the Northern Lights. The aurora borealis, the magnetically charged bands of color, often dance across Arctic skies on clear winter nights.