Alaska: The cold state of love

What happens when two reporters head to Alaska to find romance?

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Single Washington Post reporters Tara Bahrampour, left, and Annie Gowen at the airport in Homer, Alaska. Alaska has the highest man-to-woman ratio of any state, with 108.5 men for every 100 women. In the District, there are 89.5 men for every 100 women, fewer than in any of the 50 states.

/ THE WASHINGTON POST

Alaska’s Old Sterling Highway. “In Alaska, men value women differently: If you can wield a chain saw, if you can buck wood, if you can catch a fish,” says Libby Casey, a Washington journalist in her 30s who spent 10 years in Fairbanks.
“A guy’s not going to date you because you look cute; a guy’s going to date you because you have skills.”

Tara Bahrampour / WASHINGTON POST

Photographer Mark Meyer met several single men in Anchorage who were interested in being photographed for this story. Kerry Tasker is a 30-year-old photographer.

Mark Meyer / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Paul Dombroski, 49, is a DJ and tournament director for the Whaler Bar in East Anchorage.

Mark Meyer / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Jake Aubrey is a 21-year-old student.

Mark Meyer / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Travis Snyder, 28, works at an engineering firm and is an avid hunter and fisherman.

Mark Meyer / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Jon Smiley, 28, is a mechanical/piping designer.

Mark Meyer / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Seth Boyer, 24, is an independent musician.

Mark Meyer / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

During their trip, Annie and Tara met plenty of single men, including Daniel "Gregory" Gallagher, 25, who recently came up from San Diego with $6,000 in gold mining equipment and works for a yurtmaker in Homer. In the spring, he plans to hike the avalanche chutes (paths cleared of trees by snow) with a metal detector and plunge into icy waters in an arctic dry suit to hunt for gold.

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

Caleb Aldeman of Wasilla is in his 50s. and divorced. Growing up in a log cabin, he had an ermine as a pet, and enjoys trapping, fishing and hunting.

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

Phil Costantini, 38, is a fisherman who has worked in Alaska for seven years. He lives on a fishing boat docked in the harbor in Kodiak. ““Honestly, this is probably the hardest place I’ve ever been at to find a girl to hang out with,” he says.

Tara Bahrampour / THE WASHINGTON POST

Tara aboard Costantini’s boat. It has a bunkbed area that sleeps four and a TV. He heats the galley by turning on the electric oven and leaving its door ajar.

Jenny Canfield / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

The Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer.

Tara Bahrampour / THE WASHINGTON POST

Patrons at the Salty Dawg Saloon.

Tara Bahrampour / THE WASHINGTON POST

Tara sings Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good” karaoke-style at the Down East Saloon in Homer.

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

Courtney Enlow, 23, a oil company employee, dines with several men at the Whale's Tail Bistro and Wine Bar in Anchorage, where the man-to-woman ratio has evened out as more women migrate to take jobs for environmental groups or oil and gas companies.

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

The fishing town of Kodiak is nestled between mountains and sea. Here, according to Census figures, there are 143 single men ages 25 to 59 to every 100 single women.

Tara Bahrampour / THE WASHINGTON POST

A street scene in Homer, nicknamed “The End of the Road.”

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

Jedidia Gautier, 23, works on the docks in Homer. He has made enough money to buy a house and a motorcycle, but has had a hard time meeting women.

Tara Bahrampour / THE WASHINGTON POST

Artist and woodcarver Bill Kitzmiller in his studio in Homer.

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

Expert moose caller Mark Braaten, 53, a volunteer for a veterans’ group, at the ceremonial kickoff of the Iditarod dog sled race in Anchorage.

Annie Gowen / THE WASHINGTON POST

Annie with a friend at the Iditarod race in Willow.

Caleb Aldeman / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the day

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Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Animal views

Rodent exhibition, swimming with elephants, Mexico’s feline mayoral candidate and more.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Madonna, Michael Buble, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, Estelle and other celebrities.

Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

Life in a Siberian prison

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 16: Reenactors dressed as knights stage a medieval jousting competition at Eltham Palace on June 16, 2013 in Eltham, England. The 'Grand Medieval Joust' event at Eltham Palace, an English Heritage property which was the childhood home of King Henry VIII, aims to give a great insight into life at the palace during the medieval period. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

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In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: John F. Tatum Sr. hugs his grandson John F. Tatum III during his annual Father's Day block party on Sunday, June 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)

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