Page 1 of 3
Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 10:42 am
by Sir Henry
Tomorrow I fly up to Fairbanks for two weeks of fun and fishing. I’ll be visiting an Army buddy and we will head north along the pipeline. I’m not really sure where we will be going because my only job is to show up.
Last fall I flew up and will did some hunting. It’s funny because I’m not even there and we talked on the phone last night about coming up in the dead of winter. Most people leave the -20F Wisconsin winter to head south. I would be leaving -20 and heading to -40F.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 9:18 am
by daytime dave
I hope you enjoy it Gene!!!
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:04 pm
by Sir Henry
I made it through security but had a pocket knife in my luggage. I no longer own the knife.
I also spent $14.03 on these two items.
- 5954D01A-B967-4DB3-9FC8-89956FCF5BDB.jpeg (2.82 MiB) Viewed 11337 times
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:39 pm
by Vaquero
Safe travels, Gene. Hope you have a great time.
Sorry about the knife.
RP
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 5:20 pm
by Sir Henry
Vaquero wrote: ↑Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:39 pm
Safe travels, Gene. Hope you have a great time.
Sorry about the knife.
RP
Thanks. It was a lowercase kabar from the 50’s.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 7:19 pm
by North Country Gal
Have a great time, Gene. Love to see some pics, if you get a chance.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:16 pm
by JEBar
do hope you have a great trip .... looking forward to following it through your reports
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:57 pm
by BigAl52
Ground Control to Major Tom. Have a good time. I hate the airlines they totally do not give a damn about the customer anymore.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 10:06 am
by Hatchdog
-20 to -40, probably not even feel it.
Enjoy your trip and your expensive snacks. Cream Soda, only second to Root Beer. I’ve never been a cola fan.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 10:49 am
by Sir Henry
Sunset was at 12:40 am and then it rose at 3:07 am. Even when it was down it wasn’t all that dark. When my friend picked me up around 9 pm he received a phone call and had to report in full uniform at 10 pm or as he says 22:00. Apparently a 50 cal machine gun went missing in the field and everyone had to walk the fields looking for it. Remember all that light I was talking about. Welcome to Army life.
We will be going salmon fishing this weekend. He is a resident and can fish. I’m not and can’t net salmon but I can watch. Then we are headed north above the Arctic Circle and will be where the sun never sets for about three months.
We always have a blast either hunting, fishing or camping in the wild.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 10:59 pm
by markiver54
What a very interesting trip! Enjoy !!
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 11:32 pm
by Sir Henry
Day 1: we visited the University of Alaska Museum of the North today the went fishing at a small nearby lake. My friend caught two right away and then they stopped biting.
Tomorrow we leave the city for three days of camping and fishing.
This is the life!
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 12:45 pm
by Sir Henry
Last night we stayed up till 2 am. It’s hard to think about going to bed at midnight when the sun is still up.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2023 1:08 am
by Sir Henry
Day 2: we headed south on AK2 along the pipeline to Fielding Lake to camp and fish for three days before heading back to Fairbanks.
- 9328C2AB-FA5A-45D5-82E4-0F5B35920E13.jpeg (2.16 MiB) Viewed 11884 times
Internet is slow.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 11:39 pm
by Sir Henry
Days 3 and 4: we continued to fish several lakes with poor luck. My friend caught two and I caught one. No one else’s was catching fish and there were a lot of fishermen for the holiday weekend.
- B85B32BB-3D34-478A-BF87-BE1FCEE85BF6.jpeg (4.23 MiB) Viewed 11866 times
We followed the pipeline South about 170 miles.
- 54CE0000-DA6E-426C-984D-98B297D1A2A7.jpeg (1.85 MiB) Viewed 11866 times
It was really a nice road and drive. Tomorrow we will have a barbecue with a few friends. On the 5th we will reset and on the 6th head north along the pipeline to Prudhoe Bay. This will be the first time being above the Artic Circle for both of us. We will end up driving about 700 miles of the 800 mile pipeline.
- E3A35E4E-3EAD-42C9-A8AC-E617DD9B1185.jpeg (1.67 MiB) Viewed 11866 times
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:06 am
by BrokenolMarine
When I was a youngin' my stepfather and his brother went up to Alaska to weld on that pipeline in the 60s. They were paid more in six months than they would have made in two years working in Tampa, where we were living at the time. They said it was so cold that another welder caught his jacket sleeve on fire and didn't realize it until he had badly burned his arm. Never felt it. Even back then, everything was super expensive, so they ate a lot of spam, peanut butter straight from the jar and drank water to save the money they were earning. (For about the first two weeks.) Then they just paid for stuff and ate well to combat the cold. Still made really good money. They were offered a huge bonus to stay on at the end of the six months, but packed up and came home.
One thing they admired, was the pipeline put spaces every now and then for the wildlife to go UNDER the pipeline. "Underpasses."
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 11:25 am
by The Wiz
Did you notice, with the pipeline ,any problems due to the perm frost melting because of climate change?
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 12:18 pm
by Sir Henry
BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:06 am
When I was a youngin' my stepfather and his brother went up to Alaska to weld on that pipeline in the 60s. They were paid more in six months than they would have made in two years working in Tampa, where we were living at the time. They said it was so cold that another welder caught his jacket sleeve on fire and didn't realize it until he had badly burned his arm. Never felt it. Even back then, everything was super expensive, so they ate a lot of spam, peanut butter straight from the jar and drank water to save the money they were earning. (For about the first two weeks.) Then they just paid for stuff and ate well to combat the cold. Still made really good money. They were offered a huge bonus to stay on at the end of the six months, but packed up and came home.
One thing they admired, was the pipeline put spaces every now and then for the wildlife to go UNDER the pipeline. "Underpasses."
I’m amazed at how hilly the terrain is where it’s built. I rises and lowers hundreds of feet at least in the 170 miles that I’ve already seen. Plenty of places for wildlife to cross
Note: I said hilly because that is where the pipeline is although the hills are between high mountains.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 12:21 pm
by Sir Henry
The Wiz wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 11:25 am
Did you notice, with the pipeline ,any problems due to the perm frost melting because of climate change?
The southern part doesn’t have permafrost. I’ll look for it when we do the northern section. We still have 500 miles to see going north.
Re: Alaska Summer 2023
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 12:16 pm
by Sir Henry
I bought a travel guide which includes the Dalton Hwy. It’s quite detailed so we will know what’s ahead. The road was sections like the roller coaster and oh shucks curve. Except it’s not shucks.
- D66491CD-CD78-4270-AA0E-7D315209547A.jpeg (3.79 MiB) Viewed 11823 times
It’s a large book and I took the picture in the window sill. My friends house has 18” walls.