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Alaska – Winter

December 30, 2010

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Remoteness
Alaska is truly one of the more unique spots in the United States. It also is one of the most remote, with the lowest population density of the country. In 2010, if every man woman and child in the State were given an equal share of land, each would be sitting on almost a square mile of land. Compare that with New York State, where 413 people would
be sharing each square mile. With a little over 1,000 miles of highways covering it 663,300 square miles, much of Alaska’s wilderness is untouched because it is so inaccessible.

History
Alaska was part of the Bering land bridge which allowed paleolithic man to cross over from Asia around 14K BC. The separation of the two continents occured millennia ago geographically, but only 150 years ago politically, when the U.S. purchased the territory from Russia in 1867. Though the decision to purchase Alaska for $7.2 was derided at the time as (Secretary of State William) Seward’s Folly, or Seward’s Icebox, the opposition subsided 30 years later when gold was discovered.

Two “different” Alaska experiences
Not all of what Alaska has to offer can be experienced in one trip. Not just because of it’s vastness, but because there are “two” Alaska’s separated by the time of year and a layer of snow. To see both, one has to travel there twice; once to see the beauty of the exposed nature, and once to experience it’s beauty shrouded in snow and silence.

For New Years’ 2010, I traveled to Alaska to experience the Artic Circle it all of it’s chilly beauty. I coordinated my trip through the Northern Alaska Tour Company, who handled all of the details. The trip included round-trip arrangements from Fairbanks up to Coldfoot, a refueling point on the Dalton Highway on the way to Purdue Bay. The trip was booked to fly one way and drive the other, but unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and the weather required us to drive both ways. Fortunately, mother nature made up for it with two nights of front row seats to her spectacular Northern Light show.

Northern Lights
The Aurora Borealis is a remarkable display of dancing lights in the sky caused by disturbances of solar wind in the magnetosphere. Pictures don’t do it justice, as the lights “dance” across the sky, changing patterns and colors as they streak across the heavens.

If you are interested in seeing the Aurora, then you will want to check one or more of the websites that try to predict them, including:

Why go?

Alaska in the winter is a totally different experience than in the summer. The wilderness is blanketed in a cover of snow giving the natural features a solemn look and dampening most noises to create an eerie silence.
The Northern Lights are an almost indescribably experience. Pictures do not do them justice, any more than a photograph of Fred Astaire could try to demonstrate the experience of watching him dance.

What you need to know:

Coldfoot is literally a truck stop. Accomodations are rudamentary, but warm and clean. I stayed for just three nights. Much more than that would have been tiresome; especially if you don’t luck out with the Northern Lights.
Accomodations are at the Slate Creek Inn, made up of trailers used to house workers who traveled to Alaska to build the pipeline. Though they’ve been refurbished and redecorated, they’re still rustic.
The Northern Lights are not predictable. Sometimes they show, sometimes they don’t.
Weather in general in Alaska is not predictable. Change happens, and you have to be prepared for it. We were not able to fly either way to Coldfoot, and instead had to drive six hours each way. However, this gave us the opportunity to experience the Dalton Highway during both daylight and nighttime.
The Dalton Highway is mainly a two lane commuting route for trucks. Due to their size, they have the right of way.
There is not much to do in Coldfoot except wait for the evening and hope for lights. Our tour included an evening with a local trapper, who invited us into his home and shared his knowledge. I was expecting it to be a “throw away” experience, but was pleasently surprised to find it entertaining and enlightening.
Bring an appropriate camera. I purchased a Canon camera before coming on this trip specifically because it had a long exposure settings. This blurs the image a bit, but allows for enough light to enter to capture the Northern Lights.
Bring a flashlight. You will need it to get back and forth to your accomodations in Coldfoot, and I also used it to light up some pine trees in the foreground while using the 15 second exposure on my camera on the Northern Lights.
Make sure to stop off where the Dalton Highway crosses the Arctic Circle, for a great picture opportunity.
Coldfoot is still far enough south that it does get some daylight, even in the middle of winter. For a couple of hours during the middle of the day, expect to see some sun as the light reflects above the horizon. Traveling further north, you would receive no daylight at all, only civil twilight.

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge it.

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Why go?

What you need to know:

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