Chuck:
This morning we took the Prudhoe Oilfield Tour. Leader Branden, gave us an excellent overview of the local oilfield operations. He told us a little about bird life, native Alaskan people, efforts to minimize impact on the environment and life in the frozen north. At a stop along the Arctic Ocean, we waded into the 32 degree water. Branden was very concerned about the possibility of polar bears or grizzly bears. Polar bears are very adept at stalking across wide expanses of snow and striking with amazing speed. He related two occasions when a polar bear had gotten within a couple hundred feet of the tour group. Today he showed Betty the week old footprint of a grizzly, thanks a bunch Branden. Many of the oilfield workers are on shifts of two weeks on and two weeks off. Their company flies them back to either Fairbanks or Anchorage. The magnitude of the operations and the equipment is amazing. They drill to about 9,000 feet deep then they can go more than two miles horizontally. The crude oil mix that is pushed out also contains natural gas and water. Large separators, centrifuges, remove the water and gas which is pumped back into the well to assist with pressure to push up more crude mix and the crude oil is sent down the pipeline to Valdez. New and more efficient processing methods are constantly replacing the old.
Directly after the tour; Betty, Bren and I started on the long drive south. Again, the tundra area was full of caribou and birds. We saw more musk-ox (probably the same herd we saw yesterday), red fox, a wolf, lots of little, prairie dog like, critters and more. As we entered the Brooks Range, we saw more mountain sheep. We left the North Slope as we cross over Atigun Pass. Also, we are leaving the cool, mosquito free zone (our Tour Guide had told us that hordes of mosquitoes would descend on Prudhoe in just a few days as the ice melts). We had supper and a couple of Silver Gulch beers at the Frozen Foot Saloon, then another night in the Ice Palace (work crew dorm rooms). The good news is that the washers and dryers used by the staff to wash towels and sheets are available during the evening for the use of residents, we needed that.