We continued to see lots of ground squirrels, the fast food
of the arctic, and occasionally caribou would run across the road – They were
obviously very timid animals, and would run as soon as they heard or saw
us. The authorities use calcium chloride
on the roads up here to control both the dust in the dry and the ice in the
cold, and the caribou apparently gather at the edge of the road to lick the
residual salt on the ground. We passed
some low hills to the east called the Franklin Bluffs – These had varying colours in them – Very reminiscent of some of
the mineral deposits and sands one sees in parts of Australia. Increasingly
there was snow on the ground, and where there was water, it could not drain
away due to the permafrost underneath.
Pingos form – these form from the beds of spring fed lakes that have
been covered in vegetation. Subsequent freezing of the water can then raise the
surface several hundred feet above the surrounding terrain.
Finally we approached Deadhorse. Why Deadhorse ? Apparently the contractor that built the
runway up here for the original airport was called Deadhorse Contracting, so
the runway became known as Deadhorse, and eventually the town that grew up
around it did too. Now why that contracting
company was called Deadhorse is another question ……….! Population 4 permanent, but 3-6000 or more
part time as required ! Winter temps range from -56 deg F to +78 deg F in
summer. Average precipitation just 5 inches. Snowfall 20 inches. Prudhoe Bay is the largest oilfield in the
USA, and the 18th largest in the world, and provides about 20% of
the USA’s domestic requirements.
And when you arrive in Deadhorse, you are stunned – It is
just a great big oilfield location – Rigs, trucks, oilfield offices and
warehouses, and hotels that all look like landbased rig camps ! I felt quite at home !
Prudhoe Bay is actually the oilfield itself, with all the
contractors and living accommodation in Deadhorse. But no one can go into Prudhoe Bay unless
they have a pass, so tourists like us have to pay to take a tour to go in and
reach the Arctic Ocean itself. So we had booked a tour 24 hours earlier, and
had to provide passport details etc to obtain clearance to enter the restricted areas. As the tour wasn't till 1.30pm, we went into "town" for look around !! I went first to the M-I SWACO office (my ex-employer) and had a chat with the lads there for a while, and then we went and found the Arctic Oilfield Hotel where we were told we could get a meal an a shower. It is basically just a set of huts up on stilts above the permafrost, and is run like an oilfield camp, with a camp boss, accommodation, and a galley for all the workers. But they do cater for the occasional tourists, so for $15 we got a buffet lunch and a hot shower !!
Feeling much better after that, we went to the Prudhoe Bay General store where they sell everything you can think of, and a bit more ! We then headed back for our Arctic Ocean tour - and nearly missed it because a) we got lost, and b) I thought it started half an hour later than it did !! Anyway, we made it, and set off with a number of other tourists to find the Arctic Ocean. We passed the enormous arctic rig modules - These are basically land rigs mounted on an enormous sub-base, motorised, and have enormous tundra tyres, and are self propelled ! They would be a sight to see trundling down the road !! We passed the Halliburton office (an ex competitor of mine) and their metal "National Forest" (ha ha), and then drove out to Prudhoe with the water, often still frozen, all around us, and often full of migrating ducks and geese. Prudhoe is such a massive operation that, even with my knowledge and experience of the oilfield, is almost too big to comprehend. And the difficulties of operating in the cold make everything harder. Each of the little individual "huts" is a well head, protected from the weather. It is really more like an offshore operation, on land, in the way they drill all the wells. Anyway, we drove out past pumping stations, and gas plants and lots more, eventually reaching the Arctic Ocean. Although it looked the same as the land - Just white ice and snow !! The ocean was still frozen !! We were able to walk out onto the ice for some distance, but it was melting quite quickly, and they reckon within a couple of weeks it will have all disappeared and will just be ocean. Lots of geese and ducks everywhere we looked, even in the air !! After a short time, we returned back to base, to continue on our way. We met brothers Andrew and Matt on the bus - They had just flown into Prudhoe that morning with 2 brand new bicycles, and as we got ready to leave in Troopie, they were getting ready to cycle to S America !! See you on the road, guys !!
We then headed South out of Deadhorse, passing some horses and floats we had seen in Fairbanks, and who we learned later were preparing to ride horses all the way to S America !! Then it was off down the road, seeing ground squirrels and Caribou, bumping into Perth Klaus from Perth on his motorcycle who we had seen in Coldfoot, and then just keeping going in this now perfect weather. After the bad weather we had on the way north, this blue sky was just so beautiful, and with 24 hours of daylight, there really wasn't any reason to stop. Weather changes so quickly up here that we decided to try to get to the Atigun Pass in the sunshine - and although it was about 11.30 pm at night when we got there, the sun was still shining and the sky was still blue - And it was stunning ! The road that only 36 hours previously had been a quagmire was perfect, and the driving was not difficult. Driving through the Atigun Pass at night in broad daylight was very very special, truly a once in a lifetime experience. We had seen the worst the Haul Road could throw at us on the way north, and I had learned a lot of respect for the road after 2012's relatively excellent conditions, but now we had good conditions again, and we made sure we enjoyed them fully ! Once through the pass, we pulled over into a gravel bed turn out, and after a quick bite we were quickly tucked up and asleep. What an amazing day. Words and photos are totally inadequate - You have to do something like this to truly appreciate it.
Pics are here :-
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