There is a palpable fear within Alaska's drinking population that the classic Alaska bar is dying out. Anchorage's The Monkey Wharf, with live monkeys behind glass taunting patrons, is long gone.

The inevitable has happened in the 32-year-old Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, and 44-year-old Rob Kehrer is dead. A 10-year veteran of what some consider the toughest wilderness challenge in ...

DOING THERE The Coastal Classic Train runs daily between mid-May and mid-September. From US$95 ($132.5). See alaskatrain.com. Brian Johnston was a guest of Ponant, Visit Anchorage and Alaska Train.

On Saturday, during the 2014 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, Kehrer died while trying to packraft across the Tana River in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. He is the challenge ...