Alaska Summer 2023

[markiver54]

What a very interesting trip! Enjoy !!

[Sir Henry]

Day 1: we visited the University of Alaska Museum of the North today the went fishing at a small nearby lake. My friend caught two right away and then they stopped biting.

Tomorrow we leave the city for three days of camping and fishing.

This is the life!

[Sir Henry]

Last night we stayed up till 2 am. It’s hard to think about going to bed at midnight when the sun is still up.

[Sir Henry]

Day 2: we headed south on AK2 along the pipeline to Fielding Lake to camp and fish for three days before heading back to Fairbanks.

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Internet is slow.

[Sir Henry]

Days 3 and 4: we continued to fish several lakes with poor luck. My friend caught two and I caught one. No one else’s was catching fish and there were a lot of fishermen for the holiday weekend.

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We followed the pipeline South about 170 miles.

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It was really a nice road and drive. Tomorrow we will have a barbecue with a few friends. On the 5th we will reset and on the 6th head north along the pipeline to Prudhoe Bay. This will be the first time being above the Artic Circle for both of us. We will end up driving about 700 miles of the 800 mile pipeline.

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[BrokenolMarine]

When I was a youngin' my stepfather and his brother went up to Alaska to weld on that pipeline in the 60s. They were paid more in six months than they would have made in two years working in Tampa, where we were living at the time. They said it was so cold that another welder caught his jacket sleeve on fire and didn't realize it until he had badly burned his arm. Never felt it. Even back then, everything was super expensive, so they ate a lot of spam, peanut butter straight from the jar and drank water to save the money they were earning. (For about the first two weeks.) Then they just paid for stuff and ate well to combat the cold. Still made really good money. They were offered a huge bonus to stay on at the end of the six months, but packed up and came home.

One thing they admired, was the pipeline put spaces every now and then for the wildlife to go UNDER the pipeline. "Underpasses."

[The Wiz]

Did you notice, with the pipeline ,any problems due to the perm frost melting because of climate change?

[Sir Henry]

When I was a youngin' my stepfather and his brother went up to Alaska to weld on that pipeline in the 60s. They were paid more in six months than they would have made in two years working in Tampa, where we were living at the time. They said it was so cold that another welder caught his jacket sleeve on fire and didn't realize it until he had badly burned his arm. Never felt it. Even back then, everything was super expensive, so they ate a lot of spam, peanut butter straight from the jar and drank water to save the money they were earning. (For about the first two weeks.) Then they just paid for stuff and ate well to combat the cold. Still made really good money. They were offered a huge bonus to stay on at the end of the six months, but packed up and came home.

One thing they admired, was the pipeline put spaces every now and then for the wildlife to go UNDER the pipeline. "Underpasses."

I’m amazed at how hilly the terrain is where it’s built. I rises and lowers hundreds of feet at least in the 170 miles that I’ve already seen. Plenty of places for wildlife to cross

Note: I said hilly because that is where the pipeline is although the hills are between high mountains.

[Sir Henry]

Did you notice, with the pipeline ,any problems due to the perm frost melting because of climate change?

The southern part doesn’t have permafrost. I’ll look for it when we do the northern section. We still have 500 miles to see going north.

[Sir Henry]

I bought a travel guide which includes the Dalton Hwy. It’s quite detailed so we will know what’s ahead. The road was sections like the roller coaster and oh shucks curve. Except it’s not shucks.

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It’s a large book and I took the picture in the window sill. My friends house has 18” walls.