Left the campground around 6:30 and stopped at McDonald's for a bite of breakfast then drove on to airport. Glad we took the trial run yesterday so we could get lost this morning. We missed our turn, but it was easy to correct and we were there in plenty of time.
We got briefing instructions and met the pilot - Pete - an older guy with a big round belly. Got some pictures (of course) and boarded the plane. There were 2 other people on our flite with our group - a nice couple from Pennsylvania. Frank got to sit up front with in the co-pilot's seat so I felt better about the trip! After all, he did teach both of us how to fly while we were in Hawaii. It was a beautiful flight although we did go through some rain storms. We flew over mountains and lots of lakes and rivers and there was snow and it was beautiful! It was about a 2 1/2 hour flite and when we landed in Deadhorse it was rather a surreal scene.
It is absolutely flat for miles with mountains in the distance and the Arctic Ocean on the other side. We were met by our tour guide in a totally dust and dirt encrusted 12 passenger van. The roads are gravel and it is very very dusty. There are clouds of dust whenever vehicles pass.
There were 2 other people from Canada who were joining our tour group and coming up on another flite which had been delayed. We were able to get checked in to the hotel - more on that later and got some lunch. For security reasons, all tours to the oil fields must be escorted so our tour was not until 5 p.m. Our guide drove us around town and explained some of the arctic geologic features that we were seeing. Stopped at the general store and I got some sweat pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. It is a really rough place as it is oil workers and truckers and supply folks who live up there. There is really nothing much for them to do either.
We went to the other hotel at 5 p.m. and got video briefing of oil fields and part of the engineering marvel that has become the Alaska pipeline. It is very very interesting, but I am glad I have not scheduled an extended stay here! There were 2 busloads of us taking the tour and we boarded the bus and headed for the oil fields and the Arctic Ocean. Our tour guide was able to explain lots of the technicalities of drilling to us and I was amazed at the number of oil rigs and all the supply stuff that it takes. There are TONS of companies up there drilling and even MORE tons of companies that supply the fields. There is all kinds of slurry and specialized mud mixes that they use in the older wells that extract more oil. It truly is amazing! Some of the inventions and devices that they have come up with to work on the ice and not melt the permafrost are mind boggling. They have these vehicles that are HUGE that roll not on tires, but on specialized air bags to distribute the weight of the vehicle so it doesn't break down the roads. There are miles and miles of pipe for drilling that are stacked everywhere. Everything is color coded according to company....metal buildings are painted those colors. It is unbelievable and we only saw a very small part of it. Amongst all that we saw a moose, lots of ducks, birds and waterfowl.
Then we went to the Arctic Ocean for our dip! Neither Jerry nor I are official members of the Polar Bear Club as we only waded, but about 5 folks from the other bus dove right in - clothes and all. The winter ice had only melted about 100 feet from shore and the water temp. was 34 degrees! Jerry did take off his jeans, wrap in a blanket and wade in up to his knees....he looked kind of funny with his bare legs exposed and holding up the blanket. I had told the kids I would call them from the Arctic Ocean so that is what I was doing while I was wading. The water was very very cold and it did not take but a minute or so before I thought my feet looked a bit blue, but it was hard to tell because they were so numb! We went in 3 or 4 times while we were getting pictures - video, digital and film and then we took pix of our friends as well. It was a great experience!!!!
Got back to the hotel about 7 or 7:30 and went for dinner. Food was good and plentiful. Everything was served buffet style and the cafeteria was open all nite I think, although the buffet was shut down around 10 or so. There were plenty of coolers with fruit, yogurt, snacks, cookies, drinks etc. so you could even get a midnite snack. Oil field workers and truckers were in and out at all hours.
Now a bit about the hotel.....what is there to say??? It was rather like a dorm only it was trailer style. They can't build heated buildings on the permafrost so everything has to be elevated, all waste hauled out. The heater worked really really well in our building! There were long wings of rooms. C-wing had the ladies restroom and shower and B wing had the men's. Luckily for me (but not for Jerry) our rooms were on the C wing. It has been lots of years since I have had to trek down the hall of the hotel for the bathroom!!! The rooms were very very basic...just like a dorm room - 2 twin beds - one on each side of the room and there was a small closet - shelves above the beds, a shelf at the foot of the bed not quite so high and a plywood countertop shelf between the 2 beds. That was it.
They have 82 days of 24 hour sunlight in Deadhorse. We were there within a few days of the solstice and we were determined to see the sun at all hours. We decided to set the alarm every three hours so we could get up, get dressed, go outside and take pictures. It was amazing! WE were kind of primed for it as the sun sets in Fairbanks well after midnite, but at 3 a.m. it was just as light as it was at noon. We were very fortunate in that there was no fog or clouds. You can see from the pix (if I ever get a chance to load them) what the sun was like at midnite, and 3 a.m. It just circled the sky!!
It was hard to get to sleep and even harder to get back to sleep after getting up , but we were not going to miss this opportunity. We figured we would only do this once. I kind of wished that I had gone swimming in the Arctic, but it was cold enough just to wade. I just couldn't see riding back to the hotel in cold soaking wet clothes. The night was short on sleep but long on light. More later...Bye from the Arctic! By the way, the air temperature was warm - about 68-70 degrees! We were all warm or hot, especially when we were in the hotel which they kept very very warm! Too warm for me...we slept w/ window open and I finally had to take off pj's and do away w/ blanket b/c it was so hot!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment