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Northward we go!
Deadhorse, AK |
Deadhorse, AK
The Orb… We have heard of this mythical creature that rises into the sky and provides light and warmth… We are in search of her but yet to find her. We woke up today with more rain and cool temps but we were warmed by our sourdough pancakes provided by Uta and Bernie, as well as eggs and delicious hot chocolate. The grown-ups (LJ, Sara and Melora) had coffee. We chatted with them and Bernie shared about the hunting around their area and to the north. Sadly, too many sport hunters and no permits for the hunting of dall sheep have now reduced the population by 70%! He said companies even parachute in hunters. Breakfast hit the spot and we said our goodbyes, as we would be returning day after tomorrow to stay in their other cabin. The cabin worked out well, we did have to do a round robin into the bathroom when Mr. X (in the adjoining cabin) jumped in the shower after breakfast. We were going to do a bathroom visit right before we left (not a lot of indoor plumbing options on this next leg of the journey, and by that I mean none) and he left breakfast before us and snuck right in there. So as soon as I heard him depart (yes, I was bathroom stalking!) we started rotating through and packed out to hit the road for Dalton Day Two!
New Bingo cards were deployed and tallying of things we passed commenced. Road conditions on this second leg went from frost heave filled pavement to well packed gravel to gravel with what seemed to be land mines of potholes. There was no option for lunch on this stretch of highway so we lunched on the considerable amount of snacks we had in the car and Melora made us some dehydrated Mexican Chocolate Pudding… she’s kind of handy to have around! There were stops at pit toilets which I’m guessing I don’t need to elaborate on but I will share that several of them had signs to be sure to look outside before just walking out as there could be bears. We had a few photo stops but not as many beautiful opportunities without The Orb.
We stopped a few times looking for wildlife but we were not having much luck until over the CB FLJ (a female named L.J., coincidence? I think not!) said there were muskox ahead as well as a bear! We knew they were at least a few miles ahead of us but we were able to find the fuzzy muskox running around and having a grand time, They were a bit too far away for the photographers ideal images but we did get some video and we all enjoyed them all the same. Our first time seeing them in Alaska and I must say, very cool! On up The Haul Road, as we locals call it, we found the bear, again not our best pics but wildlife none the less! The arctic ground squirrel were our most plentiful animal. The road conditions on the last 25 miles or so getting into Deadhorse were… challenging to say the least. They were doing construction and we had some one land portions here as well. Arriving into Deadhorse was very interesting. It is like a huge construction area with shipping containers made into lodging and business offices and basically no directional signage whatsoever. Once into the city we had a cell signal (very poor) and we called our lodging multiple times and got their answering machine. When I finally got someone and said where we were he had never heard of it and asked if we had gotten to the stop sign yet, that was his only landmark he could provide. He finally turned the phone over to someone who knew the area better and I turned the phone over to LJ and he was able to get directions to get us to Deadhorse Lodge, not to be confused with Deadhorse Camp. There are only a few options for housing there and most can only be reserved a week in advance because the majority of their rooms are reserved for oilfield workers. We couldn’t get either of our first two choices, the Prudhoe Bay Hotel or the Aurora.
Our site was mainly construction workers and there were also some Coast Guard personnel as well. They seemed to be large shipping containers that had been made into rooms and there were four wings off of a main hallway. There was also a weight room, cardio room, cafeteria and movie/recreation area. Your room includes your meals and the use of their laundry facility. A very nice gentleman greeted us and asked if we might be tourists. He gave us the Code of Conduct to read and sign and we paid for our rooms and then he took us on a tour of the facility.
Our rooms had a twin bed in each, small desk and place for your clothes and two of the four had a bedside table. There were community bathrooms but they were very nice.
They had designated some for females and they were in a group of two or four bathrooms, each with a shower, sink and toilet and a locking door – I had basically envisioned dorm bathrooms so this was a pleasant surprise. Each wing had laundry as well. The inside was very clean. Outside was mud, muck and gravel everywhere you looked so you either left your shoes at the door area or you put on booties.
We unloaded and took our things to our rooms and then LJ left to go to the general store. Sara, Melora and I went to the cafeteria to get some dinner as by now it was 8:45 PM. They make plates leftover from the hot dinner service, which had ended before we arrived. They also had fruit, chips and other snack items available, doughnuts made on site, an ice cream cooler, salad bar (closed at the time we were there) and a multitude of other options. We waited for LJ to return and when he finally did we found out he never found the store and over the rough roads it had taken him 45 minutes to get the few miles to the gas station to refuel the car. He ate and ambitiously decided to do laundry (after 10 pm!) and since I had my very own room, I went to bed! Each room did have a small tv with a few channels so I watched about ten minutes of television and called it a day! Tomorrow we see the Arctic Ocean!
Tropicana Driver – LJ took the wheel today and drove the second leg
Bingo winner – Melora
Final Count for Monday –
- 60 Passenger Vehicles
- 36 Tractor Trailers
- 3 Motorcycles
- 25 Waves
- 1 Brown/Grizzly Bear
- 24 Muskox
LJ and Bev 