Home Folks (Report 10)

Frannie at Atigun Pass

Lianne at

 Roche Montanee

One of the reasons I haven’t blogged for a month is I was blessed with visits from a number of friends.  Frannie Christensen, a friend from last year at Denali, came for a couple of nights.  We drove up and over Atigun Pass, stopping to walk in a few places, and enjoying the sunshine on the hills.

Les on the Deitrich

My niece, Lianne, and her friend, Les, from Texas also fearlessly drove the ancient Subaru from Fairbanks.  It was a memory trip for Les because he had come up to be a welder’s help with the Oklahoma 798 Union in the mid 70s.  He pointed out many interesting places:  where he found a whole truck load of stolen frozen steaks (pilfering was endemic) and where the an alligator was buried by a full entourage from Galbraith camp after they managed to overdose it on pot and coke.  The three of us drove the pipeline from Coldfoot to Deadhorse.  Discouraged by a wandering grizzly from camping outside Deadhorse,  we stayed at the Prudhoe Bay Hotel, another set of quiet, double-wide trailers designed for oil workers:   tons of washing machines, mandatory booties, enough food for threshers, an elaborate exercise room but otherwise very unpretentious.  Buildings in Deadhorse either need to be elevated to prevent the permafrost from melting or have ground freezers to keep it from thawing.  

Frost polygons

Pingo

Rock on the Sag

Sagavanurktok River

Caribou season just opened so there was more traffic than usual on the road, i.e., another vehicle every ten miles with hunting camps at every turnoff.  We watched as three different groups of  bow hunters all went after the same cow.  She was moving fast!  The Sagavanirktok River had white-caps and there was still aufeis on Franklin Bluffs.

Becky at Marion Creek

Becky on ridge above Marion Creek

L & L left and Becky and Paul, neighbors from Helena and their friend, Robert from Anchorage, appeared at Marion Camp.  The table laughter with them the first night had me laughing harder than I had all summer.  They are such witty storytellers!  Paul and Robert took off north while Becky and I spent a day exploring Coldfoot and biking home to Marion Creek together in full daylight at 10:30 pm.  Her second day we hiked up Marion Creek and climbed the side of one of the ridges, up past a pretty waterfall and over the lacey, white reindeer lichen.  The blueberries, crowberries and cranberries begged to be picked so we took pity and accommodated them.  While hiking home we found the Marion Creek crossing to be very cool and clean and refreshing to our feet which were not as bouncy as when we started.

Gary, Meadow and Charlotte at Wiseman

Gary and Meadow at Coldfoot Airport

The day Becky and Paul left, Gary and Meadow flew in to Coldfoot for an evening’s jaunt to Wiseman.