The Arctic Circle

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6 Aug 2016: Today we hired The Northern Alaska Tour Co. to take us up to the Arctic Circle by van. The tour company offers a number of what it bills as adventures up into the Arctic. One is a one day round trip flight to Point Barrow, AK which we were tempted to take but it was costly and we elected to take this drive instead. Having never been up there before, we preferred to let someone else drive so we could pay attention to the sights and learn from someone knowledgeable with the area. Our guide picked us up at the RV park at 0545. We drove to their headquarters where we received an orientation, completed our lunch order and got into the van, a 16 passenger bus with huge, super clean windows. Owing to Jeanne's foot, we sat in the front seats on the right side of the vehicle with a great view to the front and side.

Departure time was 0630. We traveled through Fairbanks, up through Fox and after about 50 miles hit the Dalton Highway. On the way we passed several working gold claims. Our guide was a loadmaster for cargo planes when the oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay in the 1970s and he regaled us with many stories about how all the necessary equipment was assembled and flown up there. Then there was the building of the road as well. The Dalton highway is the only road connecting the oilfields to the rest of Alaska. It is a little over 400 miles up there. We were only going up to the Arctic Circle. Nevertheless, we wouldn't return home until 2230.

The Alaska Pipeline parallels the highway. Obviously, the road has to be close by to get the materials delivered to the construction site. Space here does not permit a full discussion of the methods of construction. Just one factor was dealing with the permafrost. There are two kinds of permafrost; stable and unstable. The oil comes out of the ground at 185 degrees F. You can't allow heat to melt the permafrost, especially unstable permafrost. Measures were taken to protect the ground. About half the pipeline is below ground for this reason. Another factor is earthquakes. The pipeline must be constructed to withstand earthquakes. The pipeline is a pipe within a pipe which rests (not bolted) on a cradle. It was also built in somewhat of a zig zag pattern to absorb stress induced by earthquakes. Surprisingly to me, it was built with private money. A consortium of oil companies formed a corporation named Alyeska and spent about $8 billion in 1977-78 to construct it. It was engineered to last 20 years. That was 39 years ago and there has never been a design or construction failure. Our guide told us that two individuals shot at the pipe with two .338 Winchester Magnum rounds with armor-piercing bullets. Repair of the puncture cost millions. One of the two became remorseful and confessed to the deed. The other was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He just got out last month.

The road surface on the Dalton highway is comparable to that of the "Top of the World" highway. It is a little wider and there is a wider shoulder to accommodate all of the heavy truck traffic. It is smoother as well. There was one segment named "The Roller Coaster" with a very steep descent followed by an equally steep climb up the other side. Another segment called "The Beaver Slide" was also a formidable slope. We heard over the CB radio that a pickup truck had caught fire southbound on the Beaver Slide. When we got there it was reduced to a metal shell. The aluminum wheels had melted and flowed downhill a ways before cooling. Another wreck by the side of the road was an obvious casualty of hitting an object that did not move much. The front end was mashed all the way back to the windshield. It was nice to let someone else drive. We took a rest break at a log building containing a general store. It was closed but the outhouses were available for our comfort.

Allen, our driver/guide told us about the constituent trees comprising the Boreal Forest. There are eight: Black Spruce, White Spruce, Alder, Birch, Aspen, Cottonwood, Tamarack and Willow. The presence of Black Spruce denotes unstable permafrost. When you see Black Spruce, the pipeline submerges below ground, where it is placed on an insulated gravel bed along with anodes to prevent corrosion by electrolysis.

He also discussed the difference between an Indian and an Eskimo. Eskimos live on the coast. They eat marine mammals and fish. Indians live in the interior. They eat land dwelling mammals and fish. Eskimos came from the Steppes of Mongolia and stayed. Indians did likewise but continued on and later moved back North.

Another topic about the effect of the North Slope oil (North Slope of the Brooks Mountain range) was on the First Nations people. The question was, who owns the land on which the oil flows. A large court case awarded a significant amount to the natives, who had to form corporations to manage the ensuing wealth. These corporations make investment decisions and allocate resources to the villages for education, modern buildings and equipment etc. They have had their condition much improved by this and are better able to maintain their lifestyle.

Next, we crossed the Yukon River. The bridge is the only one spanning the river in its entire 1700 mile journey to the Bering Sea. The pipeline attaches to the bridge. There are boats prepositioned with oil booms in the event of a spill. Practices are conducted monthly to retain proficiency. The boats and equipment were purchased with money awarded because of the Exxon Valdez spill. Just over the bridge was a place called Yukon Camp. It is one of only two places on the highway to have gasoline available; the other is at Coldfoot. We ate lunch there.

Allen taught us about some of the geomorphisms encountered along the highway. Pingos are the result of water becoming trapped underground. When it freezes, it expands. When it expands, it has nowhere to go but up, creating little round hills maybe 15 meters high. We saw several Pingos on our trip. Another feature is a Tor. Tors are rocky outcroppings, the cause of which is not fully understood, at least by me. Another one is Polygonized Permafrost. As I understand it, when permafrost melts, it shrinks and when it does, it form little polygons of shrunken permafrost surrounded by water.

We reached the Arctic Circle (66 degrees, 33 minutes North Latitude) marked by a simple sign decorated with a globe with a dashed line around it. Behind, on a raised platform were four signs describing the seasons. Allen produced a red carpet with a dashed line on it and invited each of us to step over the line while photos were taken. We had crossed the Arctic Circle! Afterwards Allen prepared a sliced Brownie topped with whipped cream which we ate as we congratulated each other on our accomplishment.

The way back was more stories about Alaska and pointing out photo opportunities. Occasionally, a real good one would present itself and he would stop the bus. We got a chance to get out and pick wild blueberries near the pipeline. It was above ground at this point and we could make out some of the details of its construction. The blueberries were small and somewhat tart but very good to eat.

Back at Yukon Camp, we disembarked for dinner. After being in the coach for almost 12 hours, any chance to get up and move about was welcom. Earlier in the day we had all ordered what we wantwed for dinner, including dessert. I had ordered BLUEBERRY Pie. How appropo!

As we drew near to Fox, Allen pulled over one last time to give us an appreciation of what it feels like to enter the forest and walk on permafrost. Actually, the permafrost lie about 21 inches under organic matter. The ground was very spongy. Blueberries, Lingonberries and mushrooms littered the moist forest floor. Nearby, Moose droppings testified to the presence at one point in time of that solitary denizen. Looking through the trees, one could see perhaps 25 feet. I imagined what it would be like to walk even 1/4 mile through that environment. Spooky.

We left the Dalton highway and proceeded South to Fairbanks. We drew close to the office which is near the airport. Dozens of little Piper Cubs lined the parking places. One had pontoons and was mounted on a trailer. The Fairbanks airport has a long pond adjacent to the runway on which pontoon planes can land. Novel idea but quite necessary in this land of bush pilots. We arrived back at about 2200 and received our official Arctic Circle Crosser's certificate. Jeanne and I were driven back to the RV park and right up to our coach. It was a wonderful excursion. We were well fed, entertained and informed. Our guide was experienced and knowledgeable. Can you imagine talking for 15 hours straight? Actually there were 3-4 videos played about the Pipeline, Permafrost and gold mining. Otherwise Allen had the floor. We would highly recommend anyone wishing to cross the Arctic Circle to take such a tour. We learned so much about Alaska; its people, resources and history.

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