Prudhoe Bay-The North Slope (08-15-14)

Everything changed for the residents of Alaska when oil was discovered on the North Slope. I am sure a lot of debate took place, and a lot of arguing back and forth, but the decision was made to utilize the oil, to build a pipeline to bring it to market, and to share the rewards with every resident of Alaska.


The result is Prudhoe Bay, or the North Slope- sometimes referred to as Deadhorse, AK although apparently Deadhorse refers to the area of Prudhoe Bay that is open to the public, and that’s not much. This is definitely an industrial area.

Life is different here.  As a start, the average temperatures in the summer are in the 30s and 40s.  We sure found that out.  It was 38 degrees when we arrived here at about 3 pm- it was foggy, and the wind was blowing at about 30 mph. It snows here 12 months of the year.  It snowed here last week- six inches- and the truck drivers had to chain up. There’s all kinds of snow removal equipment here.

There is no RV park here and the places that were suggested to us as good parking spots were completely open to the wind.  We ended up parking behind the building that houses the tour company that we were taking a tour with the next day.  After we got settled, Paul timed how often the furnace was coming on and the answer wasn’t good.  It came on about every 20 minutes.  That meant that we couldn’t leave the furnace on at night or it would kill the batteries.  When we woke up in the morning, it was 45 degrees inside the rig, but we were toasty warm.  I am really glad we decided to bring our down comforter!

Deadhorse isn’t really a town- its a supply station for the workers on the oil rigs.  There are no houses, no grocery stores, no restaurants and no regular hotels.  You can rent a room in a “hotel”, but they are really the dormitories for the workers.  Summer is their slow time up here.  They are gearing up for winter, when the ice makes it easier to move around and do the work that is needed.

  Most of the buildings have an area with electric plugs outside, so you can plug in your truck battery to make sure your truck will start. There aren’t many cars up here, at least, not that we could see.








There is one store- it has most of the necessities and not too many luxuries- although you can buy souvenirs.







The arctic temperatures mean that special provisions need to be made that most of us have never seen before-  The gas and diesel pumps have their own little houses that they live in so they don’t freeze.





All of the structures sit up on pilings so that the permafrost they sit on won’t start melting due to warmth.

With the wind blowing, and I am guessing that’s the norm, dust is everywhere.  There are signs asking people to wear their booties when they come inside a building, to keep the dust and mud to a minimum.

We kept ours because we figured they’d be handy if we want to go in the rig on a sloppy muddy day.








After our night rocking and rolling in the wind, it was time for our tour.  I didn’t want to come all the way to the Arctic Ocean and then not set foot in the Arctic Ocean.  Access is controlled by, I am assuming, the oil companies.  No one gets to the ocean by themselves.  For security reasons, you have to be with a licensed tour company and you have to be checked out ahead of time.  We had made our arrangements and were ready to head out.





We piled in a van with about 15 other people. The first thing we passed was the Prudhoe Bay National Forest.  At least someone has a sense of humor!

Most of the area is an industrial setting but we were reminded of the fact that this is a natural environment several times.  We watched the Tundra swans as we drove by, and our driver had to get confirmation that the Polar bears had been relocated before we could proceed. Seriously?? I think everyone on the bus would have paid money to be taken where the polar bear are!

Eventually we made it to the Arctic Ocean! I had to put my foot in, even though it was still 36 degrees with a 30 mph wind.

Paul managed to stick his finger in, but I can’t blame him, since my foot hurt for an hour or so after I dipped it.

There being nothing much to do in Deadhorse, we didn’t stick around once our tour was done.  We started the multi day trek back down the Dalton Highway.

Random thought:  I brought 7 jackets with me on this trip and I have worn all of them-and sometimes several of them at one time.