I worked up in Alaska for a little over a year back in 2007-2008,
on a rotational commuting basis 2weeks on, 2weeks off.
Actually was working on the North Slope Prudhoe Bay area.
Way up there it is not quite so majestic and beautiful
mostly just flat and barren except for the tundra.
Here are a couple photos from around July August
when a herd of caribou came thru camp and also the midnite sun during summer.

40380bee95764ff81e1b249bde9659b04740fff7 (resized).jpg

528f5d6cf9a4743412e351b6f94b5347942c8bd2 (resized).jpg

e7600599ddad0261564862ba103ba8f389b47e2d (resized).jpg

The flip side in winter is that there is 24hrs of no sun
and -20'F to- 40'F for a lot of that time.
Ironically not a lot of snow,
just the same few inches of snow being blown around everywhere and back.

I was fortunate that my job had me working inside most of the time, during the winter, i rarely left the office/barracks/workshops.
Though there were guys on our work crews that did have to go outside to work in the freezing cold on a regular basis.

This photo is not mine, but it is fairly iconic of Alaska.
It was published in the Anchorage Daily News in the winter of 2007
when I work working on the north slope
and I remember it getting emailed around.
It is hard to believe that it is real.
It is a once in a lifetime photo.
Taken just outside Nome, while the musher and team
were on a training session in prep for the Iditarod.

FYI: the encounter turned out OK in the end without anyone getting hurt.

AGczHypdOZLeMAW-800x450-noPad (resized).jpg

Wonder if one of these ever made it to Alaska?

pasted_image (resized).png