The 1973 oil crisis and resulting high prices made exploration of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in Alaska’s far north feasible.  Finding plentiful oil, the Alyeska corporation constructed an 800 mile pipeline 48 inches in diameter to carry the crude oil from the shores of the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea south to the town of Valdez on Prince William Sound.  The pipeline was completed in 1977, and has been pumping oil ever since.About half of the pipeline runs underground and half is on supports above ground, adjacent to the Dalton Highway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay (and adjacent to the Richardson Highway south of Fairbanks).The silver cylinders on some of the pipeline’s supports are there to protect the permafrost underground – to keep it from thawing and rendering the soil unstable.  All manner of special techniques are used to protect the permafrost, particularly where the pipeline is buried.  It runs across rivers and streams (about 500)……and it crosses three major mountain ranges (Brooks, Alaska, and Chugach).  Constructing a pipeline through very rugged and remote country that can withstand earthquakes and temperature extremes is an amazing feat of engineering.

Since oil is such a critical part of the Alaskan economy we wanted to learn more about Prudhoe Bay, and we also wanted to see the Far North region and some of the animals that inhabit the tundra above the Arctic Circle.  Friends strongly advised us not to try to drive up the Dalton Highway ourselves – it’s a rough haul-road that is almost exclusively used by large tractor trailers.  We signed up for a tour – the last one of the season, departing on September 8th, where we would fly up to Prudhoe Bay, stay overnight and get to stick our toes in the Arctic Ocean, then ride in a tour van for the two day trip down the Dalton Highway back to Fairbanks.  An adventure!The photo above shows the tundra and typical overcast, gloomy weather over the town of Deadhorse, just outside of the secure fence around Prudhoe Bay.As far as I know, no horses were harmed in the construction of the Dalton Highway – the name came from one of the early subcontractors working on the road who abandoned one of their trucks with the company name “Deadhorse” on its side at the northern end of the road – and the name stuck.  The only reason to come to Deadhorse and Prudhoe is to work at the oilfields, and it’s a pretty grim place with absolutely NOTHING within hundreds of miles.  Oil workers usually work two weeks on and two weeks off, but the support staff often works 6 month contracts.  No alcohol is permitted, and that rule is strictly enforced.

Musk-oxen footprint

In contrast to the bleak landscape, birds and animals are varied and interesting.  Herds of musk-oxen wander nearby, as well as caribou.  We didn’t get to see any since it was hunting season and many of the animals were hiding, though a large herd wandered right by our hotel a week earlier.  The tundra was in transition from fall to winter, with a few small plants still showing some color, providing camouflage for a little snow bunting.

We spotted a short-eared owl hunting, as well as this red fox.  Both arctic and red fox live on the tundra, though the larger red fox are becoming more dominant in the landscape.

Plovers, gulls, ducks, and tundra swans were fishing in the tundra ponds and in the Arctic Ocean, where we went to stick our toes.  We were very glad to have a security guard escorting us to keep an eye out for polar bears.  Polar bears aren’t common this early in the fall (it was early September), but they are apex predators and they will hunt humans.  The guard had some interesting bear stories from his years working up there.This is a bleak place, utterly industrial with nothing but flat tundra and gravel pads with modular buildings (note in this photo the buildings are up on stilts to protect the permafrost).  Most of the oil exploration is done in the winter, when the tundra is frozen hard and covered in snow to protect the plants.  Long strings of modular offices and living spaces are connected together to make “trains” that are towed across the frozen land to various locations for exploration, and the crews live and work there for extended periods.You can imagine that you need very large tractors to tow these trains around…Aside from oil workers and support staff, only a handful of tourists (like us) and hunters come up to Deadhorse, and we get to pay about $200 a night for extremely spartan accommodations in Deadhorse Camp.  It’s a muddy, messy place, so you have to either remove your boots in the lobby or wear heavy shoe covers to keep the floors clean.  This is a very basic bunkhouse with shared bathrooms at the end of the hall.  There are no amenities in your room, and you have to be courteous since some people staying there were working night shifts.  Food was expensive and basic, but very good.  I could not imagine living and working here, but I have the utmost respect for people who do.

Prudhoe Bay supports about 4000 workers, of which 15% are women.  In the busier winter season the population swells to about 7000.  Potable water costs 35 cents a gallon, and gasoline is about $6/gallon.  There is one main general store – hardware downstairs and snacks and a few necessities upstairs.Are we glad that we spent the time and money to travel up to Prudhoe Bay, to see it and to see the Arctic Ocean?  You bet!  We learned a ton of things – our tour guide was very experienced and full of knowledge, and our fellow tour members were all educated, interesting and interested people.  Seeing amazing wildlife was well worth the trip, though we were disappointed about not seeing musk-oxen or caribou.

Next up – the drive down the Dalton Highway from Prudhoe Bay back to Fairbanks.

We found Fairbanks to be a very interesting place – with the contrasts of very warm temperatures in the summer (it can reach 90 degrees) and very cold temperatures in the winter (-20 isn’t unusual, and it can get colder).  On this late November morning it’s a balmy 18 degrees there (according to Intellicast), and the number of daylight hours are quite short – with 30 days still to go before the shortest day of the year, and the sun will rise in Fairbanks at 9:50am and will set at 3:30 pm.  (Here in Petersburg the sun rose at 7:48am and will set at 3:30pm.)  We noticed that the thresholds at our Fairbanks motel were very high, and realized it was to accommodate winter snow accumulation.  We also noticed that EVERY vehicle had an electric plug hanging out of its front end.  The plug is for an engine block heater – an absolute necessity to keep the engine warm enough to start in the extreme cold.  Every parking lot had outlets to plug cars in, and in places where it would be normal to park a car for more than 5 hours at a time there was an outlet at every parking space.  You don’t want to be stranded with a car that won’t start in those temps!

Another interesting thing we saw in Fairbanks was a large number of pickup trucks with big poly tanks in the back.  People who live far enough out of town that they can’t connect to the city water supply need to provide their own water.  In most places you would just have a well to supply your home, but the land around Fairbanks has so much naturally-occurring arsenic in it that wells aren’t safe.  Those homes have a large water supply tank underground, and they either get water delivered, or they save a bit by hauling water themselves.

We travel because it’s a wonderful way to learn things.  Did you know that the hippocampus (part of the brain) of the chickadee grows by 30% in the fall so the bird can remember where it stored all its seeds for the winter?  Did you know that a moose – a pure vegetarian – can go up to 20′ underwater in search of its favorite vegetation to eat?  If you were designing a vegetarian animal that can go underwater, would it look anything remotely like a moose??

We took the opportunity of great weather to do a little hiking, and we chose the Angel Rocks Trail to enjoy the fall color and sweeping views.  Note the perfect fall color – this photo was taken on September 5th.After a good workout climbing up all those rock outcroppings we decided to head out the road to check out Chena Hot Springs.  Chena is a privately owned resort with natural hot springs piped to indoor and outdoor pools, as well as an ice museum – originally designed to be an ice hotel, but I can understand why that idea really didn’t catch on.  Despite sore muscles and tired feet, Jim opted for the ice museum rather than the hot pools so we took the tour.  The museum employs two ice carvers who repair and maintain some of the elaborate ice sculptures in the museum, and they periodically add new pieces.  The jousting knights on horseback were tough to photograph well, but they were incredible!The ice museum was really fun, with an ice bar where you could get an appletini in an ice glass……and where you could sit by a fake fire on an ice chair with a reindeer hide cushion to keep your tushie warm.In one of the rooms they had a bed with a giant polar bear for a headboard, with raised paws to complete the effect.  I know there are some ice hotels in Scandinavia, but I couldn’t imagine staying overnight in one.

We explored all the major things on our list in Fairbanks, sadly missing the last of the migrating birds at Creamer’s Field since they were well on their way south in early September.  With an extra day before the next adventure, Jim wanted to see the car museum.  This didn’t sound like the most exciting way to spend a day, but we believe in compromise and he never complained when I dragged him around to look for birds.  He lingered outside looking at the odd snow tractor and I braced myself for a loooong day……until we got inside and saw a stunning collection of beautiful classic cars and period clothing, learning that all but 3 of the 91 cars on display actually run!We thoroughly enjoyed this place – an unexpected delight.  The knowledge and care that goes into maintaining these lovely machines is impressive, and it makes us long for the days when cars had a lot more style.Jim was even a good sport and showed us what it must have looked like to venture out in one’s motor car back in the day…

Fairbanks was an unexpected delight, though we couldn’t handle those weather extremes, even with the promise of so many clear nights to see the auroras in winter.