Back in Horseheads

We returned to Horseheads last week – and very quickly resumed family life.  Our daughter arrived home at the same time; she has been living in Madrid, teaching English for the past year and has her own blog Kri$ten en €spaña.  I returned to my part-time job, we celebrated our 28th anniversary, and Jeff resumed working on his many projects and planning our next trip.

Some credits are due.  Harriet, thank you forgiving me the idea of the blog – we now have a written account of the trip and it will be fun to look back at it. Here’s a picture of your old house I took while passing through Illinois – thought you might like to see it:

Jeff, thanks for planning the trip of a lifetime – your attention to detail is amazing!  Also, for the record, Jeff took most of the pictures.

There are a few final photos.

Animals and animal-related

Another bison- he was walking down the side of the road:

Fox:

Wild musk ox living in Prudhoe Bay – it’s hard to believe they can maintain their size by eating just the tundra plants:

Cute bears:

Not so cute bear:

Another moose – they can weigh up to a 1500 pounds and eat 9800 calories per day!

Arctic ocean

Jeff and Beau swimming in the Arctic.  They are being careful to keep their heads above water – the guide warned them that they could permanently lose their hearing if they put their heads underwater. He said that the seismic testing being conducted is very harmful to the ears. Someone asked ‘what about the fish?’ The guide said their hearing would not be harmed. Hmmm…

After the swim – everyone else is wearing winter coats and hats!

Pipeline, oilfield life

The workers at the oil field live in ‘man camps’ – here is a picture of the BP camp at Prudhoe Bay:

The guide said it has an indoor gym and swimming pool.  I found a couple of interesting articles about man camps: http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/archive/5230/glocal/prudhoe/www.d.umn.edu/~hoef0049/pblife.html

http://www.suntimes.com/business/7391868-420/earning-100k-at-man-camp.html#.U-OZdvldWVM

 

The pipeline runs along the highway, across 800 miles of Alaska to its end in Valdez

Map of the pipeline:

 

 

Dirt roads and mud 

Truckers have named some of the hills on the Dalton Highway, here is a picture of Roller Coaster:

By the time we got back to the beginning of the Dalton, the jeep was completely encrusted with mud:

 

Here is a view out the back window:

Also note that we each traveled with one carry-on size suitcase for the 22-day trip!

Final photo

We have so many great pictures!  For fathers’ day, Kristen gave Jeff a certificate for a photo book so he could make a book of the trip – can’t wait to see it!

 

Odds and Ends

Today we (Jeff) drove from Ft. Nelson, British Columbia to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, about 600 miles.  It rained during almost the entire 11-hour trip, so no pictures from today. But there are a few from the trip that I haven’t posted yet.

This is an overview of the entire 5,000 (approx) mile Horseheads to Deadhorse trip:

Here is Jeff and the very muddy jeep at Atigun Pass, which is the highest road pass in Alaska:

This rainbow picture was taken in Alaska, just north of Coldfoot:

Here are a couple of pictures Jeff took at Prudhoe Bay:

 

 

We were surprised that there really isn’t anything in Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay except the oil wells, trucks, equipment, etc.  We learned on the tour that there are no permanent residents, most of the workers are on a two-week, two-week off schedule and commute back and forth.  

On our way back to Coldfoot after seeing Deadhorse, we stopped at a tiny hamlet called Wiseman, population of 29.  There is a general store and cabins that you can rent; it’s a good place to visit to see the Aurora Borealis.  Here is a picture of a typical building:

 

Tomorrow we drive to Fargo, North Dakota.

Lots of Animals!

We have started the return trip 😦  We’re driving longer days – 600 miles, 10-11 hours of driving and we’re still in remote places without reliable, fast internet, so don’t worry Mom & Dad, we’re ok!

Yesterday we saw more animals than all the other days combined – moose, sheep, a young caribou, a fox, and several bison and many, many bears:

 

 

 

The night before we saw a wolf, but he was too fast to catch with the camera.  We think we also saw a black wolf, but there’s a chance it was someone’s dog.  I’m not convinced anyone would let their dog run loose in the forest 10 miles from civilization, but it’s possible.  

 

YOLO

Since we have been in Coldfoot and Deadhorse, there has been limited internet access, and it has been very slow.  So, today, I will just stick to one topic – swimming in the Arctic Ocean.

When we were in Deadhorse, we went on a tour of the oilfields in Prudhoe Bay, which is the only way you can see or go to the ocean.  The oil companies control all ocean access in Prudhoe Bay, there is no public access.  So, we went on the tour, which was very interesting.  We were allowed to get off the bus just once after passing through the security checkpoints – at the ocean.  Most people just looked at it and took pictures, a few waded in:

And then there was one who went swimming!

If you look out on the horizon, those white objects you see are icebergs:

Jeff is now an official member of the Polar Bear club!

Coldfoot, Alaska

This morning we left Fairbanks and headed north to the beginning of the Dalton Highway. It begins about 70 miles north of Fairbanks.  If you have ever watched the tv show Ice Road Truckers, this is one of the roads they drive; it ends in Deadhorse, on Prudhoe Bay, which is our ultimate destination.

 

On the Dalton Highway, there are only a couple of places to get gas or food. Just before we got on, we stopped at a general store and bought some snacks and used the outhouses (!)

 

It drizzled all day, there was lots of mud, and not many other vehicles on the road.

We stopped at the Arctic Circle for pictures.  I was surprised that there were trees, shrubs, plants, etc. growing north the circle:

The highway was partially paved, it took us about 6 hours to travel 250 miles.  There is no cell phone service at all; we have a CB radio just in case.  We’re staying at Coldfoot Camp, which is about midpoint on the Dalton.  It is really a collection of trailers used to house the oil workers.  There is a mess hall inside the general store/gas station/post office.  Our room is pretty spartan, but the food is very good.

 

We’re on Alaska Time, which is 4 hours behind NY.  Sunset is at 1:00 a.m., sunrise at 3:29, twilight in between.  For entertainment tonight, we might go to the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center to watch an educational film about the Arctic Circle, or we might go over to the truckers’ lounge and buy an hour of internet access and watch tv 🙂

There was no internet access, posting today from Deadhorse.

 

Scrabble/Words With Friends Tip

For the first time on the trip we woke up and didn’t have to pack up and leave.  Before leaving ‘civilization’ and driving toward the Arctic Ocean, we spent a 2nd day in Fairbanks.  The first thing we did was to visit the LARS – Large Animal Research Station, which is part of University of Alaska Fairbanks.

 

The Research Station is a large farm complex where they raise and study caribou, reindeer and muskox.  They offer guided tours, which is what we did.  The tour was very interesting, we learned a lot about the animals and got to see them as well.

Quick Quiz – Look at pictures A and B below – which one is the reindeer?

A.

 

 

B.

 

 

If you guessed B, you are right.  If you are more like me, you didn’t really notice a difference. The guide told us that caribou and reindeer are both members of the same species, they are different sub-species.  Caribou are native to North America and cannot be domesticated, they are also leaner and have longer legs.  Reindeer are not native to North America and are stockier because they have been bred for meat.  They can be domesticated, which is how one would recognize B as the reindeer, it’s wearing a halter.

She also said that when they first opened the research station, they cross-bred the two and got Reinbou’s and Carideer!

The Musk Ox is an unusual-looking animal:

 

 

They told us that they are ancient, ice-age animals.  They have very long outer hair that reaches to the ground like a skirt.  The undercoat is shorter and very soft.  It falls out or can be harvested once a year.  Here is the scrabble tip – the soft undercoat is called qiviut. It can be spun into yarn that is 8 times warmer than wool, softer than cashmere, and really expensive – $80/skein!

Note to Alex and Robert: all the animals have a ‘bulk’ season – they eat as much as possible all summer to gain as much body mass as possible.

After visiting the farm, we had lunch and started getting ready for the trip.  We had stopped by the Alaska Visitor Center yesterday and they recommended that we get tire patches and flares, so even thought Jeff has already packed 3 full-size spares, we go some tire plugs and cans of fix-a-flat.  Just to be super-prepared, we also got a tire inflator that can be plugged into the lighter socket.  So, we are all set to drive the Dalton Highway tomorrow!

North Pole

This morning we left our Buckshot Betty’s cabin and headed toward the U.S. border:

We stopped at the Welcome to Alaska sign for a picture:

 

Just over the border, we stopped to fill up – we were thrilled to pay $4.20 per gallon after filling up a few times in Canada for $1.40 per liter.  We also eagerly took our phones off airplane mode, but we had no coverage for miles.  We stopped to take a picture at the end of the Alaska Highway:

 

This map shows the whole Alaska Highway:

 

Our next stop was the North Pole!  The town is actually not at the north pole, but it’s officially named North Pole – it’s the place where all the letters to Santa are delivered.  Streets have names like St. Nicolas and Mistletoe; the streetlight poles are painted like candy canes, and they have a huge Santa:

 

  a Christmas House:

And reindeer:

From North Pole, we drove 15 more miles and got to Fairbanks, where we stopped driving for the day.  Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska, and it’s only about 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle.  Tomorrow, we’ll get some food, fill the gas cans and make sure the jeep is all set for the drive to the Arctic circle. Tonight, sunset is at midnight, then twilight lasts until sunrise at 4:00 – I’m thankful for blackout curtains!

Bear Spray Sold Here

Today, we saw some more stunning scenery – we drove closer to the mountains we saw yesterday, the Dawson range and the St. Elias mountains, which have the highest peaks in Canada, higher than the Colorado Rockies.

On one of our stops in the morning, I saw a sign for this product which I hope we don’t end up needing:

We drove along Kluane Lake, the largest lake in Yukon.  It is a beautiful lake, surrounded by mountains, the aquamarine color is so pretty it looks fake.  It’s fed in part by glacier melt, and it’s really cold! We stopped to have lunch on one of the beaches:

 

We ended mid-afternoon again, in Beaver Creek, the ‘most westerly community in Canada.’  Our hotel room turned out to be a cabin:

Sunset is at midnight, sunrise tomorrow at 5:01, but there are 2 hrs and 45 min of twilight, so just over 2 hours of actual darkness.

So far, we have driven about 3,800 miles and have driven almost the entire Alaska Highway – less than 200 of the 1,387 to go.  Tomorrow, we leave Canada and enter Alaska.

 

The Three Bears

Today we drove about 275 miles through Yukon and saw more beautiful scenery:

And more bears!

 

At first, we saw the mom and 2 of the cubs, then the third one came out of the woods.  I looked up black bears – they have litters of 1-6 cubs every 2 years; the most common litter size is 2.

Later, we stopped along the way and took a short hike to see Rancheria Falls:

We got to Whitehorse mid-afternoon.  When we arrived at the hotel, we noticed a lot of young men in the lobby – there are softball teams here from all over the world  for the Junior Men’s World Softball Championship.  Our room is surrounded by boys from the Czech Republic – I hope we get some sleep!

Hot Springs and Wildlife

Today, we drove through some very beautiful parts of Canada – alongside rivers and creeks in BC and a little bit of the Yukon Territory.  The Canadian Rockies were in view all day.  Parts of the Alaska Highway are under construction, and so we were on gravel roads a few times.  There were a lot fewer cars on the road – the further we get from the gas and oil fields, the less trucks we see.  We saw a few Stone Sheep:

In the morning, we stopped at Muncho Lake:

For lunch, we stopped  at Liard Hot Springs, a beautiful Provincial Park. The main attraction for us was its natural hot mineral springs.  It was a nice break; the water was about 104, but up to 122 in parts!

Later in the afternoon, we entered the Yukon Territory:

Almost immediately, we began seeing animals – first a bison:

He was incredibly large, Jeff says only slightly smaller than the Jeep!  Or, if Jeff were standing next to him, only Jeff’s head would be above the bison’s shoulders!  He must eat grass every waking moment.

Then we began seeing bears:

We were within 10 feet of some of the animals, it was really cool to see them up close. They all just continued eating clover and paid no attention to us. We keep seeing signs for moose and caribou, but haven’t seen any yet – they’re on our list!

Staying at Watson Lake tonight – we’re on Pacific Time, sunset tonight is 10:45, sunrise tomorrow is 4:37.