Alaska, Day 7: to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay.

Headed to our northernmost stop today. The landscape changed pretty drastically, pretty quickly.

Mountains no more

Like Kansas, only much, much prettier

Our goal was the 5pm Prudhoe Bay tour. My other goal was a shower. I didn't really care, personally, but thought I'd be kind to the people around me on the plane the next day. Both were accomplished.

The tour was interesting but pretty limited for security reasons. We weren't allowed off the bus except at the Arctic Ocean, so most of my tour photos are blurry, through-a-bus-window shots.

Hisssssssssss

Everything in Prudhoe Bay is temporary, and like the pipeline, when the oil stops Prudhoe Bay will be shut down and the site cleaned up. I don't remember many of the details from the tour, so allow me to pilfer from the Ice Road Truckers web site for a moment:

Sitting 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, 400 miles north of Fairbanks and 650 miles north of Anchorage, the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska is home to the largest oil field in North America. ARCO and Exxon first discovered oil in the region in March 1968, drilling the Prudhoe Bay State No. 1 well; BP Exploration drilled a confirmation well in 1969. Over the next eight years, the three companies worked to delineate the region and set up an infrastructure, and Prudhoe Bay came "on stream" in June 1977. In 1979, production at the field reached a maximum rate of 1.5 million barrels per day. By 2006, more than 10 billion barrels of oil had been produced at Prudhoe Bay.

I was surprised at the attention to protecting the tundra. They don't drill or test until the ground has frozen, which minimizes impact on the land, and truck tires are specially designed for minimal impact. The design of the drills is also fairly low-impact. Or so they say...

The inventor of these tires had someone actually drive
a truck over him to prove the tires wouldn't hurt the tundra

The tour included a stop at the Arctic Ocean. For safety reasons, you can't swim anymore, but you can stick your feet in if you wish. I did not wish.

I was really hoping for a polar bear photobomb

After the tour, shower and dinner we headed back to camp.

It's all fun and games until a trucker actually picks me up

The sky was clearer than it had been, and since we were as far north as we could go, I finally decided to try time-lapse to capture the sunlight.

10:38pm

11:30pm

12:54am, at which point rain clouds rolled in
(and I got bored with this project)

Prudhoe Bay and many other northern towns are dry. That didn't stop us from drinking a toast to the Arctic, though!

Carefully rationed over 500 miles

Portland representing in the Arctic!

In true prohibition style, Sean traded lettuce and cereal
with our campsite neighbors in exchange for a couple beers

Despite the awful mossies, we all stayed up a little later than usual - I think we were all sad that our adventure was coming to an end...

Song of the day: Inaudible Melodies, Jack Johnson

Alaska, Day 6: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Today was all about the hike. About eight miles, about as many hours, probably about 1600' elevation gain, and EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND BAZILLION mossies. I think my arms were as tired as my legs just from waving them away all day.

But? Sooooo worth it.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, from Atigun Gorge

Atigun River

Atigun Gorge, part I

Atigun Gorge, part II

Photos do not do it justice. So frustrating.

As we headed back to the road Tim picked blueberries for breakfast pancakes. Rain clouds started to move closer and we reached the road just as the drops started to fall. We still had an hour before Emily was picking us up, but as luck would have it, a nice lady named Heather (originally from Portland, now in Fairbanks, up north for a short camping trip) had parked her truck at our pickup spot to take her dogs for a walk. At that very spot, on an otherwise fairly deserted highway. I knew Tim was thinking exactly what I was thinking, but before we could even ask, Heather offered us a ride. I hope to be able to buy her a beer one day - either when she's visiting family in Portland, or in New Zealand (we'll both be there in February).

Small world.

Song of the day: Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder

Alaska, Day 5: to Galbraith Camp.

First stop was Wiseman (population 16), a slightly larger town just up the highway from Coldfoot. Lots of characters in Wiseman.

I really wanted to buy something at the mercantile
just for this experience

I didn't meet 8-Ball, but we talked to Jim, who runs the Wiseman museum (a 10x20' building crammed top to bottom with local memorabilia, sports paraphernalia and random candy), for a bit. Very friendly guy. Most other folks we ran into treated us like tourists - not to say they treated us badly, they were just indifferent to our existence, much like we in Portland ignore map-holding travelers downtown. Jim would've talked our ears off if we'd let him.

In front of Jim's museum

Wiseman's cemetery is a bit larger than Coldfoot's.

But not much larger

We spent an hour or so wandering around the town, then continued north. Amazing views along the way...

Somewhere between Sukakpak Mountain and Chandalar Shelf

Lunch spot

Chandalar Shelf, part I

Chandalar Shelf, part II

First glimpse of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The guides were not licensed to go with us into ANWR and Mary opted to try a less strenuous hike the next day, so Tim and I were on our own. That night we all pored over Emily's map, studied the mountains across the way, and consulted Tim's Lonely Planet to see where the wildlife hung out. We were going to make the most of our day in ANWR come hell, high water, or a bazillion mossies.

Song of the day: Virgin Mountain, Loch Lomond

Alaska, Day 4: to Coldfoot.

About 60 miles today, with random stops when we needed a break from the bumpy road.

I made them go back for this one

Pretty mossie-riddled lake - we didn't stay long

I thought the sign said "no services 216 miles"?

Grayling Lake Wayside

After a quick stop at the Arctic Circle Visitor Center we headed to Marion Creek campsite. This was my favorite campsite by far, and later we'd all lament that we only had one night there. We set up camp and headed on a muddy waterfall hike. If I'd been in Oregon, I would've been pretty disappointed after slogging through several inches of muck for a few miles only to find that the waterfall was ridiculously far away. But it was Tuesday afternoon and I was in Alaska. I didn't care.

Marion Creek

Picking blueberries along the trail

You call THAT a waterfall? COME ON!

We gave up on the hike eventually, and found a place where we could scramble down to the creek. Sean headed back to make dinner, Emily waded, Tim skipped rocks, I napped and Mary created a little extra zen in an already completely peaceful environment.

I want to live in a van down by Marion Creek

100% organic

After dinner we wandered into "town." The story goes that Coldfoot was where the faint of heart changed their mind about working in the mines. It's basically a truck stop halfway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, and the truck stop is basically all there is to the town. Our foray in town took about 20 minutes, including the time it took to drink a beer at the truck stop and walk through the 3-person cemetery.

Continuing my tradition of visiting foreign places of rest

The hike must've worn us all out because we were in bed early. And still the sun shone on.

Song of the day: Lady on the Water, Blitzen Trapper

Alaska, Day 3: to Arctic Circle wayside.

Caribou sausage and eggs for breakfast, then lots of driving.

Lots and lots and lots of driving

First, a stop right outside Fox to get a close up view of the pipeline. Despite it being 40 years old and right by the side of the road, it was surprisingly shiny and graffiti-free.

And massive. And ugly. The road follows this trail of steel all the way north. It was rarely out of our sight. Quick pipeline facts:

• it's 800 miles long
• it's 4 feet wide
• it was built in 3 years
  
• it takes 37 days for oil leaving Prudhoe Bay to reach Valdez
• residents get an annual stipend of about $1200 from the oil revenue (plus other mineral royalties)
• by law, it must be removed when the oil dries up

And? It's ugly.

Not ugly, on the other hand, was the view from a quick hike we took just to get out of the car for a little while.

My valley was pretty darned green, actually

I loved hiking in Alaska. Unlike here, where trails are maintained and bushwhacking is less common, up there we would just pull over and start walking. Always with bear spray, of course. There were trails too... but those weren't as much fun.

We stopped at the Yukon River Visitor Center (why not?) where I met Doug from Eastern Oregon. Doug's sons live within two miles of me here in Portland, and the older couple running the visitor center were also from Oregon. Doug and his wife were celebrating their 40th anniversary on this trip; the visitor center woman snorted and said, "you know what I got for my 40th anniversary? Half a hamburger at the Hot Spot!" A few miles up the road we passed the Hot Spot and I got the snort.

A few other stops as we continued north...

More tors at Finger Mountain

Fire weed and permafrost

Finally, the sign we were all waiting for.

Pole #2 - check

The campsite was absolutely riddled with mosquitoes (which we all took to calling "mossies" like the Aussie). Setting up camp was an obnoxious task, even with head nets; dinner was an exercise in futility since we had to constantly wave our arms around; and since there really is no "night" they never went away. That didn't stop us from a few rounds of frisbee baseball, though, and eventually we went to sleep under the summer sun.

Song of the day: Into the Great Wide Open, Tom Petty

Alaska, Day 2: Fairbanks -> Chena Hot Springs.

After breakfast I took a quick walk to the lake at the hotel.

Wedgewood Wildlife Sanctuary

The mosquitoes were out in full force so I cut the walk short. Little did I know that "full force" was about to take on a whole new meaning...

About an hour later I met up with the group. I'd known it would be a small group (three passengers including me, two guides) but I was thrilled that the other two passengers were traveling solo too. Santa Rosa's Mary and Aussie Tim were doing separate extended trips with the same tour company, and I was immediately jealous. With Driver Emily and Navigator Sean at the helm, we headed northeast to Chena Hot Springs, our first stop.

Along the way we stopped at Angel Rocks for a short hike to a beautiful view.

I can see Russia!

Tors were formed millions of years ago when molten rock pushed
upward and cooled before reaching the earth's surface

Chena Hot Springs is completely self-sustained, relying on geothermal power for energy. (I won't do the description justice, but you can read more about it here.) They also have an enormous hydroponic greenhouse. The tomatoes in the salad at dinner were delicious.

Northernmost greenhouse in the US

There's also an ice bar featuring sculptures by ice carving world champions. It was built to boost touristm, and only served appletinis, reasons I would've shunned under normal circumstances - but the weather was balmy, and 30 minutes in a freezer would make the hot springs a little more appealing. The sculptures were stunning but I don't need to do that again.

A whole new meaning to "frosted glass"

After a nice dinner of salmon and raspberry pie we hit the hot springs. Very relaxing and allegedly medicinal, but the best part was the moose that wandered over by the lake as we were soaking. Photo coming soon.

Not pictured: moose

Song of the day: Northern Exposure theme

Alaska, Day 1: Fairbanks.

I arrived at the airport groggy and cranky after an overnight adventure that included a four hour (1am-5am) layover at Anchorage airport. It was a nice day and I'd heard that Fairbanks wasn't exactly a hotspot of tourist entertainment, so for a hot second I considered renting a car and making the drive to Denali. Unlike other national parks, though, you can't drive through Denali and to truly do it justice I felt like I'd need a few days hiking at minimum. So I dropped my bag at the hotel and decided to check Fairbanks off the list. Denali will have its day soon.

After learning that the free hotel trolley that goes around town didn't start until 1pm, I asked them to call a cab so that I could go "downtown" for breakfast. "The" cab (I seriously think there is only one) arrived and I asked her for a breakfast recommendation. "Well, there's the diner, or there's a fancier little bistro" - I cut her off there, saying a diner sounded great.

Turns out, it was THE Diner

After a tasty, huge breakfast of French toast with strawberries, bacon, non-reindeer sausage and eggs I headed out to explore.

There is not much to see in "downtown" Fairbanks.

The river walk was pretty, though, and the University museum was really well done. The museum also offered movies from which I learned that there is a species of wood frog that freezes for eight months of the year and thaws for the summer, and that electrons form mirror images of the Auroras Borealis and Australius - I had no idea they were made from the exact same light. I want to see both the frogs and the lights someday.

Down by the river

Alaska puts antlers on things

I tried to go to the auto museum at the hotel (cars from the late 1800s through mid 19th century) but it was closed for a wedding, so I got a beer and some dinner at the bar and wandered over to the Tiaga Center for the evening movie. The schedule showed a documentary about driving the Alaskan highway but the staff couldn't find that one so the three of us (myself and two older ladies from New Zealand) chose a wildlife video instead. It definitely got me in the mood for camping, and I headed to bed in the night's bright sunlight excited for the adventure to come.

Song of the day: Far Behind, Eddie Vedder

Photo of the day, 3/13/2010: phase I, the end.

Song o'the day: Time to Move On, Tom Petty. What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing...