personal
photo galleries
search
for more information contact skot@penguinstorm.com
| I Am Skooter | |
|
So here's us, on the raggedy edge.
I crossed many states just to stand here now, my face all hot with tears, / I crossed city, and valley, desert, and stream, to bring my body here: — Woody Guthrie, Remember the Mountain Bed |
|
Landing in Prudhoe Bay is pretty special. This place puts the podunk back in “podunk town.”
It sure is fun though.
At the local Starbucks…oh…wait. There’s no Starbucks here.
At the local hotel, the buffet lunch is $15. I appear to be the only non-oil worker here. Non-hotel diners need to register at the desk…this is basically home for a bunch of people whenever they’re not actually in field.
At noon, it’s like twilight here. No dark, but definitely not light.
Prudhoe is the start of the Alaska pipeline, and as you descned into the airport you cross right over it. You can’t help it.
From a distance, it could easily be mistaken for a fissure in the ice, or maybe a recently cleared roadway. It’s only on approach that it becomes clear what it is. It runs like a scar above — not on, but above — the seemingly endless white Earth that surrounds Prudhoe Bay.
In just under 3 hours I board a Twin Otter and head to Alpine. It will be pitch black by the time I land, and I’m not sure about my Internet access.
Off we go.
Posted by skooter at 1:16 PM
This entry is filed under Travel.
This entry is tagged: Alaska, Coffee, Oil