Economy down south apparently bites, but things are happening here on the north slope, at least for the next few months. We’re getting extra work as the company is stretched thin. I’m going to be working 2 on/1 off till about May (I hope). I like working on the drilling rig. Days are getting longer in a big hurry here above the arctic circle. I saw the first sunrise a month ago, and we’re already up to about 12 hours of daylight. It was above zero today, too, which is almost too warm for the clothes I’m used to wearing. But not to worry, as it should be colder the next few days. Although there are a few fox tracks around, I have not seen an animal of any sort – bird or mammal – since I’ve been here. Only a few more “get-ups” as the rig hands say here, and back to Juneau on Tuesday for what will now be a short stay.

My shift started out at 48 below, and now it’s about 44 below here about 40 miles west of Umiat, near Wolf Creek. As long as I’m working away shoveling snow, my face seems to stay warm for quite awhile. However, when I was chipping up some ice and not working as hard, I could feel my face start to freeze, so would get into the warm truck before I did damage. Which, incidently, is what we’re supposed to do. Nobody wants anyone to get hurt working up here in the oil field.

A rig hand showed us some snippets of a documentary he’s got done and which I expect will soon be out and seen on places perhaps like the Discovery Channel or PBS. From what I saw of it, it was great. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone actually get to a rig and show the care that companies have to take, by law, of the environment so that when they pull up this rig and take it back down the ice road, no one will be able to tell we’ve been here when the snow thaws.

I think the series will definitely be a hit, although I suspect that some environmental groups whose membership has never been up to a rig will find things to attack in his video. I sure wish some of the groups would come up here and see for themselves, and I’m sure they would come away with a better understanding and appreciation for Alaska’s north slope oilfield, as I surely have since working up here.

–
Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

Got called back to work on Sunday, flew to Anchorage on Monday night, and on to the slope on Tuesday. It was about 30 degrees when I left Juneau, about zero in Anchorage, and -32 when I got off the plane in Umiat on a clear, sunny, windless day. We flew directly from Anchorage to Umiat on a twin prop, 30 seat plane. We had to stop about half way in Anchorage to refuel.

Umiat is located on the banks of the Colville River in the National Petroleum Reserve, or NPR-A. Can’t remember what the “A” stands for. Umiat is inland, and so much hillier terrain than up on the coast of the Arctic Ocean where I worked all my previous hitches.

The flight into Umiat was as it must look like flying over the Sahara. Wind-blown snow that covers everything in white. I saw the first sunrise here about 3 weeks ago, and already there are some 6 hours of daylight now. The sunset at 4 pmish today was again spectacular, and similar to desert or ocean sunsets.

Only half of us could fly on to our work site at a time, and so I was in the second group. By now, my feet were getting cold. We were told to go wait in “ the tower”, which is a plywood shack that handles air traffic logistics through Umiat. The shack had two Laser 56 model heaters on the lower floor where we were waiting. This model is exactly that of our house in Juneau. Each heater was set to heat to it’s max (85 degrees), but could only manage to get the room temperature to 37 degrees. Still, that’s 65 degrees colder than the outside temp., so not too bad. Still, my feet grew colder.

From Umiat, we flew in a smaller double prop plane (twin otter) to the WolfCreek #4 drilling site of Anadarko. They are drilling a test gas well here. We landed on the snow landing strip, then a 5 mile bus ride to the rig. By now, the toes of my right foot were getting numb. We arrived at our site, offloaded our gear, and it was a welcome condition to get into the warm living quarters.

I was to work the night shift on the rig. The “day man” looked all too relieved to see me, as he rarely slept all night as he would be awakened to do fuel transfers from tanker trucks to the onsite fuel tanks. These tanks fuel everything from the generators to heating the camp, and are filled daily. He gave me a tour of the place, and as he headed to bed for what may be his first good sleep in several weeks, I was left to figure out my first night of work. Staying awake will be the toughest part, since I came in and would need to stay up my first night and then hopefully get on a regular day sleep schedule tomorrow.

Unlike working near Prudhoe Bay and Deadhorse, first Umiat, then this site are in the wilderness, by themselves, with nothing but snow covered hills around. A welcome change and new adventure, and a sense of really being “out there” in the bush

–
Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

President O’Bama just couldn’t believe that the money he and John McCain voted to give to Wall Street firms without strings – firms who had already spent themselves so unwisely they were on the verge (supposedly) of bankruptcy – was handed out to employees instead of for loans, credit, or to shore up the industry shows just how much money controls Washington. Then why did he vote to give them this money in the first place with no strings? What was he thinking?

Nothing has changed in this regard with the change in president. Bush asked for it, and O’Bama and McCain couldn’t vote yes fast enough to give our money away with no strings to banking and investment sector to keep their campaign money flowing in. Showing surprise and disdain now is disingenuous at best. Like feeding your kid ice cream for breakfast then complaining at lunch how overweight they are.

–
Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

Sunrises and sunset here is about an hour apart. But the just before to just after are a dazzling sight. Like the best sunset you’ve ever seen on any beach in the world. Imagine the sun rising due south by a hair east of you, with nothing in between. Just flat, open sand, water or in our case, tundra. The dawn sky fades from blue to fire-orange and then there it is, just peeking over the horizon. A short while later, the full sun is a few degrees over the horizon, due south, and then starts to set again just a hair to the west of south, followed by a prolonged sunset of fire-orange sky.

I was in a dry-docked boat working under the dash today, retrieving an electronics component. It seemed pretty warm today, and I was guessing it was about zero or even above zero. However, my quickly freezing exposed skin on my cheeks told me it was probably still below zero. When I got into the wheelhouse of the boat, and closed the door, the sunlight slightly warmed the room, along with my exercise of moving around, and it was not unpleasant working there for three quarters of an hour.

This new sun of ’09 is definitely uplifting for the spirit.

–

Mark at Prudhoe Bay

First view of the sun here in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 2

months!!!  First sunrise was the 17th, but the sun was

obscured by clouds until today.