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.

I went to my first spill today at Milne Point. A tank of heavy oil (oil and sand slurry) gave way, exceeded the containment under the tank, and spilled onto the surrounding ice and snow pad. By the time we arrived, much of the oil had already been recovered. What was left was under a building that was raised off the ground about 8 feet. The oil under it was too thick and cold to pump off. So I assisted 2 others in putting up a wall of plastic around the spill. With the bottom of the building serving as the ceiling to this tent, the oil spill crew will put heat into the tent to heat up the oil and melt the snow. Then, apparently they’ll add water to the oil so the mixture can then be sucked up into a tanker. Remaining stained snow will be recovered and put into a special unit to separate the snow from the oil.

The weather was pretty nice for the winter – about 10 degrees. But the winds kicked up about 6 pm, and it was a bear getting the last third of the walls tacked up with battens and a screw gun

We saw several caribou today, as well as fox. The caribou are either solitary or in pairs. You see them pawing the snow away to get at the tundra below. The real troopers are the foxes – both arctic and red. I don’t know what they find to eat this time of year, but obviously something sustains them, as they are a common sight along the roads, and look to be in good health.

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

Back up to Prudhoe Bay today. It was -25 degrees F. when I stepped off the plane about 11:15 am. We flew up from Anchorage, and it was clear most of the way. We had the sun at our tail for most of the way, and then it was gone – I guess right when we passed the Arctic Circle, as that’s part of the Circle’s definition.

When I got off the plane, the short walk to the airport somewhat took my breath away. By the time I’d walked the 30 yards, my jeans felt like they were freezing hard. I remember these characteristics from my days going to school at the U. of A. in Fairbanks.

Although there was no sun per se, it was light, and it looked like a sunset all day, with the moon also visible all day/night. Although it was -25, there was no wind, and after I got on some thermal underwear bottoms and a heavy coat and facemask, it was comfortable. So much so, I volunteered to shovel out a big snow drift in front of our shop door. My work partner reminded me we’d started our hitch on prime rib night, so I wanted to whet my appetite with some real work.

It’s been almost 3 months since I was here, and it felt good to be in what is becoming my home away from home. The north slope looks alot more populated in the winter. In the summer, there are no lights, since the sun never sets. In the winter, there are lights all the time, so a person can see every well-house pad, living quarters, etc., and it looks like industry all around.

It’s good to be back.

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