We are at the North Slope. Yep the end of the road. And baby it's cold out here. What is it like in the winter! We flew up on a Piper Chieftain-2 1/2 hr ride from Fairbanks over the Brooks Mt. Range. More wilderness and the largest oil field ever discovered in North America. Remember back in the 70's when the environmentalists were fighting with the oil companies and Congress not to build the pipeline? Ah, then the Arab Oil Embargo hit and Congress finally said "Just do it". And boy did they. The Pipeline was the most expensive private construction project ($8 billion) in history. At one time they had 25,000 people on the job. We are staying at oil field "camp" with the oil field workers. Yep I am the only girl on the tour...although I see a few others. We are living in box car type accommodations. No liquor allowed btw. Had to sneak Pleep and DOC in....
According to Alaska DOT, the average daily volume of traffic is about 200 vehicles when you get up to Prudhoe Bay. North of the Brooks Range, there is limited traffic, and most of it consists of commercial vehicles. A
s The Milepost and other sources make clear, Prudhoe Bay / Deadhorse is very much a "company town" -- it focuses on oil production, transport, and supporting services, and is not set up to handle a lot of tourists (though there is some lodging available). The population of 
Prudhoe Bay is approximately 47. The approximate number of families is 0. The amount of land area in Prudhoe Bay is 89.758 sq. kilometers. The amount of surface water is 31.272 sq kilometers. The distance from Prudhoe Bay to Washington DC is 3594 miles. The distance to the Alaska state capital is 938 miles. (as the crow flies) Prudhoe Bay is positioned 70.28 degrees north of the equator and 148.37 degrees west of the prime.
According to Alaska DOT, the average daily volume of traffic is about 200 vehicles when you get up to Prudhoe Bay. North of the Brooks Range, there is limited traffic, and most of it consists of commercial vehicles. A
s The Milepost and other sources make clear, Prudhoe Bay / Deadhorse is very much a "company town" -- it focuses on oil production, transport, and supporting services, and is not set up to handle a lot of tourists (though there is some lodging available). The population of 
Prudhoe Bay is approximately 47. The approximate number of families is 0. The amount of land area in Prudhoe Bay is 89.758 sq. kilometers. The amount of surface water is 31.272 sq kilometers. The distance from Prudhoe Bay to Washington DC is 3594 miles. The distance to the Alaska state capital is 938 miles. (as the crow flies) Prudhoe Bay is positioned 70.28 degrees north of the equator and 148.37 degrees west of the prime.
We told Pleep the Arctic was cold, cold, cold and that he would need to bundle up. He thought his fur would be sufficient but it turns out he needed way more insulation.
Not quite a perfect fit....
DISCOVERY AT PRUDHOE BAY; Pleep thinks they mean him- the first monkey ever spotted at Prudhoe or anywhere in the Arctic. He hopes the polar bears don't like monkey meat.
Now we can actually measure when hell freezes over
Deadhorse, Deadhorse, why are we in Deadhorse? Is it really the end? Pleep gets stuck to the pipe taking this photo op....
Pleep & DOC love all the truck stop opportunities; places to stock u
p, chat up the locals and see if how much trouble they can get in before they get kicked out....
p, chat up the locals and see if how much trouble they can get in before they get kicked out....
Pleep seems to have developed a bit of an intestinal disorder; maybe all those cookies from the Denali bus caught up with him. The tour guide had to make him get out of the car; Buba and DOC nearly passed out
Finally hit the Arctic O
cean. We told that monkey not to get in the water, that it was not all toasty warm like the Gulf of Mexico. He had to test it himself. Now he's freezing and moaning about needing a hot coffee with short of brandy in it.
cean. We told that monkey not to get in the water, that it was not all toasty warm like the Gulf of Mexico. He had to test it himself. Now he's freezing and moaning about needing a hot coffee with short of brandy in it.We had to put Pleep next to the heater to thaw o
ut. He kept squawking about needing a shot of Jaegermeister. He said it would ward off colds and coughs too - just like Vicks Formula 44.
ut. He kept squawking about needing a shot of Jaegermeister. He said it would ward off colds and coughs too - just like Vicks Formula 44.It gets down to -115 and 2 months with no sun. Yikes!
As they say here "The wind never blows-it sucks!".
This place is all about muscle....onward to Coldfoot...Coldfoot?
