Gailen Schmidt, Eric Schmidt's mother, has stayed in the backcountry tree house he rents to adventurers. Schmidt charges $880 per person for a five-day, four-night guided visit at his 40-acre homestead near Beluga Lake. Cost includes flights. (Photo courtesy of Eric Schmidt)   Click on photo to enlarge

Had it ever opened, the Igloo City Resort at Mile 188.5 Parks Highway surely would have attracted travelers interested in an offbeat place to stay between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Imagine the appeal: Tourists could have returned home and bragged to friends that they had slept in a real Alaska igloo.

After all, isn't traveling largely about seeking adventure and collecting interesting stories to tell?

Sadly, though, the non-ice igloo's owners ran out of money before the hotel was complete. Today the half-built white hulk sits abandoned next to the rest of the "resort" -- two small cabins, a wash house, a gas station and a convenience store.

"It's just a landmark, aging not very gracefully," said Machel Hill, the resort's manager.

But while the Igloo failed, other funky lodgings have thrived in Alaska. Take your pick: You can stay on a boat remodeled into a cabin, in a train car, a haunted hotel, a lighthouse or at a working oyster farm.

Though many travelers want a comfortable bed, access to a bathroom and a good cup of coffee in the morning, adventure also rates high on many people's list, particularly in Alaska.

In some cases, travelers can have it all -- comfort and quirkiness. But adventure often means roughing it too. Sometimes that means using an outhouse instead of a flush toilet, but other times it might require a person to be comfortable in the backcountry and be able to hike, ski, kayak or snowmachine long distances.

But if you're up for it, why stay in a chain hotel when you can sleep in a treehouse?

Some of Alaska's funky lodgings were built specifically to appeal to those who like comfort and adventure, like the wooden boat and train car that Bryan and Karen Zak renovated into posh cabins overlooking Kachemak Bay.

Their places, called Alaska Adventure Cabins, are as comfortable as any hotel or cottage, with full kitchens, commanding views and often more bathrooms than you have at home.

The 75-foot Double Eagle, an old Gulf Coast shrimper from Florida that was used as lodging during the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup, was renovated last year into a three-story cabin with two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a living room, kitchen and three decks. It rents for $255 for four people and $25 for each additional person.

This summer, the Zaks will add a renovated Alaska Railroad Pullman Troop car to their inventory. Inside the car is a bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen and living room. Downstairs, the Zaks have added on a cabin with another bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living space.

The top of the car rents for $215 a night, but if you use both floors, the whole place rents for $265.

Both the boat and the train car are located on Baycrest Hill along the Sterling Highway on 10 acres, about two miles outside of Homer. Two eagles often soar in front of the boat, hence the Double Eagle name.

Other offbeat lodgings in Alaska have simply evolved. Take the treehouse that wilderness guide Eric Schmidt built to live in while working on his dream cabin at the base of the Alaska Range.

The treehouse, perched 15 feet above the ground to keep the area's many bears at bay, is one of the more peculiar lodgings in the state.

It looks like a fancy kids' fort, but it rents for $880 for a four-night stay. That cost includes lodging plus flights to and from the area, meals and Schmidt's guiding services.

The few who have stayed there said it was unforgettable. The nearest neighbor is 15 to 20 miles away, and the treehouse commands a bird's-eye view of the Alaska Range.

Getting there is an adventure itself -- in the summer, guests fly into a nearby unnamed lake and then hike nearly two miles to the 40-acre homestead, crossing a stream on the way. To get back out, guests hike to a creek and then raft about four miles downstream to another lake.

In winter, access is by snowmachine.

"Many people can say they stayed in a remote cabin or hiked and slept in a tent in the Alaska wilderness," said Mary Eldred, an Anchorage resident who has stayed at Schmidt's treehouse. "But how many people can say they rode a snowmachine 100 miles to spend a week in a treehouse?"

Guests describe the place as primitive but cozy, heated by wood stove. Scrawled on the wall are poems, sayings and insights. Access is by a wooden ladder.

"The entry, with a ladder leading to the ground, should not be attempted under the influence," noted another treehouse guest, Kevin McCarthy. "Or, for some people, a quick shot may be just what they need."

Schmidt admits it is a rustic unit. This fall, he said he is planning to build a deluxe treehouse nearby, with a shower and all the comforts of home.

Other unusual lodgings can be found on Kachemak Bay outside of Homer or on Resurrection Bay out of Seward. There, travelers can stay in yurts, at a kayaker's hostel, a working oyster farm or a "tent-and breakfast," a camper's twist on a bed-and-breakfast.

Options for adventurous lodging exist in just about every corner of the state. Here is how to find some of them:

LIGHTHOUSES

Several lighthouses in Alaska have been leased or built by private individuals and are rented to the public. Here are two:

• On Rockwell Island, a tiny spot of land about five minutes across the water from downtown Sitka, sits the Rockwell Lighthouse, built by local veterinarian Burgess Bauder. Bauder rents the lighthouse at the winter rate of $125 per night for two people, $150 for four, $175 for six and $200 for eight. Each level of the lighthouse sleeps at least two people, and eight is as large a group as Bauder rents to. Summer rates are $150 for two, $200 for four and $35 for each additional person.

This private lighthouse is equipped like a comfortable house, with a kitchen, two bathrooms, a phone, a deck and even a hot tub. Bauder says he doesn't guarantee the hot tub -- it's frequently busted and a bonus if it's working.

During the summer, a skiff comes with the rental so you can come and go as you please and Bauder doesn't have to be bothered with calls for rides. Views from the lighthouse are of picturesque Sitka or out to the ocean and other islands, which are often shrouded in mist. To rent the lighthouse, call Bauder at 1-907-747-3056.

• Only about four people a year visit the Cape St. Elias Lighthouse on the southern tip of Kayak Island, which juts out into the Gulf of Alaska in front of Prince William Sound. The lighthouse belongs to the U.S. Coast Guard but was leased about four years ago by Steve Ranney, owner of Orca Adventure Lodge in Cordova.

Ranney will fly a minimum of two people out there for $275 per person round trip. His Cessna 185 lands on the beach. The accommodations are primitive, similar to a public-use cabin, with bunks and mats, an outhouse and a propane cook stove but no running water.

There is no set rate for the accommodations. Guests are asked to donate what they can to help with restoration of the historic structure. Ranney recommends that people pack light because it is a hike in from the beach where the plane lands.

Activities in the area include beachcombing, bird watching and walking on the beach.

"It's one of the most dramatic places I've seen," Ranney said. Contact him at 1-866-424-6722.

ACROSS KACHEMAK BAY

• Mary Jane and Tony Lastufka have been operating the Across the Bay Tent & Breakfast for 11 years. Guests sleep in their own private canvas-walled tent nestled in the trees above Kasitsna Bay near Seldovia and have access to the Lastufkas' house, where they can hang out in the comfortable living room or eat meals.

Cost is $95 per person per night with all meals provided or $63 a night if you just eat breakfast. Tents are of various sizes, and the sauna is open to guests at no extra charge. The Lastufkas rent bikes and offer guided sea kayak tours.

A day tour that includes lunch and a tour of nearby Seldovia is also available this summer, as well as a sunset fishing package that includes a night in a tent and, of course, breakfast. For information and rates, call the Lastufkas from September to May in Anchorage at 345-2571 or at 1-907-235-3633 during the summer. The Web site is www.tentandbreakfastalaska.com.

• Debbie and Gary Seims offer a lodge and tent cabins at their working oyster farm in Peterson Bay near Halibut Cove, across the bay from Homer.

"A lot of people are very interested in the industry," said Debbie Seims. Options range from day trips to overnight packages and range in cost from $65 for a half-day oyster cruise to $945 for four nights' accommodation and three full days of fishing for halibut and salmon.

A tour of the farm and oyster sampling are always included. Activities include fishing, kayaking, digging for clams, cruising by boat, wildlife viewing and hiking. Contact the Seimses at 1-907-235-7156 or check out the Peterson Bay Lodge and Oyster Camp on the Web at www.petersonbaylodge. com. The lodge also hosts bonfires and has a sauna for guest use.

• Jessica and Lee Tenhoff of Nomad Shelter, a yurt building company, have just started renting yurt accommodations at several trail heads in Kachemak Bay on state park land.

Yurts are round, durable tent cabins. Right now there are three ready to rent: one at the Sadie Knob trail head and two on either end of the Grace Ridge trail, at Kayak Beach and Tutka Bay. More may be coming later in the summer. Cost is $65 a night; each yurt sleeps five. Call 1-907-235-0132 or check their Web page at www.nomadshelter.com.

KAYAKERS' HOSTEL

Mike and Raylene O'Connor, the owners of Resurrect Art Coffee House Gallery in Seward, have started a kayakers' hostel called Kayaker's Cove. This is a rustic wilderness lodge about 12 water miles from Seward near Humpy Cove, across from Fox Island. Some private cabins are available, but most kayakers sleep on pads in the lodge's loft. Cost is $20 a night in the main lodge or $60 for a cabin with up to three people. Extra people in the cabins are $20 each. The hostel rents single kayaks for $20 a day and double kayaks for $30 a day. People bring their own food and cook it in the communal kitchen. Bring your own sleeping bag or rent bedding for $5 a day. Call 1-907-224-8662 or check the Web at www.geocities.com/kayakerscove_99664.

HAUNTED HOTELS

Seward's Van Gilder Hotel is rumored to be haunted. But even if it's not, the Van Gilder is an unusual historic structure that still looks much as it did in the old days. Built as a meeting house and apartments in 1916, it was renovated into a hotel five years later.

According to local legend, the ghost is a young woman who was killed in the 1950s by her abusive husband. According to manager Connie Spencer, hotel employees have reported seeing a young woman wearing a white dress out of the corner of their eye or sitting in a rocking chair that isn't actually there. Other people have seen a man in a bowler hat -- perhaps another ghost. Call 1-800-204-6835 or check the Web site at www.VanGilderHotel.com. (Ask to stay in Room 202 for the best chance to see a ghost.)

TRAIN CARS

The Whistle Stop, a renovated train car parked next to the boat harbor in Seward, has two rooms that rent for $115 a night during the summer. One has a full kitchen. The view is of the harbor and mountains.

Call owners Jay and Cyndi Manasco at 1-907-224-5050 or e-mail whistlestop@sewardak.net.

The train car is located in a complex of train cars with a cafe, bike shop and mountain shop.

MOUNTAIN CABINS

If you really want to get into the mountains and have good backcountry skills, a high-altitude option is Don Sheldon's Mountain House. It affords a room with a view like nowhere else. Built by the pilot at the 6,000-foot level of Mount McKinley on a rock and ice outcrop of the Ruth Glacier, the hut is now rented out by his wife, Roberta Sheldon. Sitting on a five-acre inholding inside Denali National Park and Preserve, it is primitive but offers bunks and a wood stove. Cost is $85 a night for groups of five or less plus about $300 per person to get there aboard a ski plane. The rate for groups of six or more is $100 per day. The cabin comfortably sleeps about five or six. Larger groups usually use the cabin as a base and sleep outside in tents.

Because the season is so short (March through mid-July), visitors are now booking a year in advance, according to Roberta Sheldon. She said she screens all potential guests to make sure they are comfortable in the backcountry.

"I wouldn't put the average tourist off the street there," she said.

Visitors should also be mentally flexible. You can expect solitude at the cabin, but on rare occasions you may find yourself sharing the space with pilots or climbers who are weathered in. This doesn't happen often, but several years ago, a honeymooning couple flying into the cabin got stranded for a couple of days with a university class plus two pilots.

"This poor couple," Sheldon said. "I don't think they had a very good time."

Those interested in renting the mountain house should write Roberta Sheldon at P.O. Box 292, Talkeetna 99676.

HOMER'S ALASKA ADVENTURE CABINS

To stay in the Double Eagle, the renovated shrimper, or in the Moose Caboose, a renovated rail car, contact Bryan and Karen Zak of Alaska Adventure Cabins at 1-907-223-6681 or the Web site

www.AlaskaAdventureCabins.com.

ERIC SCHMIDT'S TREEHOUSE

To contact Schmidt about staying in his treehouse near Beluga Lake, call 345-4475. The Web site is www.earthfoot.org/places/usak04.htm. Schmidt, a wilderness guide, will take you hiking, fishing and wildlife viewing.

During the winter, activities around the treehouse include snowmachining, snowshoeing or skiing. Meals are provided and are served at the lodge next to the treehouse.