Most of my posts are about warm weather destinations but I do enjoy the cold as well. I lived in Alaska for about a year and explored as much as I could in my free time. One of the towns I went to is Barrow, which has now officially change to Utqiagvik. Utqiagvik is the northernmost city in the US and one of the northernmost communities in the world. I had the incredible opportunity to dog sled on the frozen Arctic Ocean, experience 24 hours of darkness, see wild polar bear tracks and watch the northern lights! This remote, yet incredible place had me marking plenty off my bucket list.
A bit about Barrow (Utqiagvik)
I flew from Anchorage and the plane landed on an icy frozen tundra, right in the middle of polar bear country, about 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It was clear I was going to a very remote location when everyone on the plane knew each other, except for me. The ‘airport’ was just a room next to a frozen field where they unloaded our luggage. The town is primarily Inupiat natives who’s families have lived here for thousands of years. During the summer months there is 24 hours of daylight for about 3 consecutive months. As it gets closer to fall, the daylight is less each day until the sun permanently sets for the entire winter! I got to watch the sun set for the last time and go into 24 hours of darkness. The town is then lit by street lights for the rest of the season. The natives who’ve lived here their whole life, don’t know any different.
Dog Sledding
Before the darkness set, my friend arranged for us to go dog sledding (or mushing). I was so impressed how loved and cared for these dogs are.
Each dog is strategically placed in order depending on their character and physical attributes. The sled was covered in caribou skins and held everything we needed for the day- including a shotgun to protect us from polar bears (as an extreme last resort).
Wildlife I did see was an arctic fox playing in the snow, and a snowy owl flying around town.
Polar Bear Tracks
We slid out of town and onto the frozen Arctic Ocean. We continued on the flat ice until it abruptly turned to rocky hills of frozen waves that were impossible to travel on. We stopped the dogs to walk around and discovered a fresh polar bear track in the snow. The foot print was about the size of my forearm! It was very intimidating to think he could be near. I tried to forget the fact that polar bears are the largest land predator in the world and will hunt humans for food.
Freezing Arctic Weather
The weather was minus 40 degrees F and windy. I was layered in the warmest, most expensive, winter jacket and gloves that REI sells. At this extreme temperature, I was absolutely freezing within 5 minutes. Luckily I was able to borrow a caribou skin parka and polar bear fur mittens to keep from freezing. Animal skins were the only thing that kept me warm enough in this brutal temperature. I was impressed by what a difference they made. I also wore a face mask and goggles so I didn’t have any skin exposed.
Northern Lights
Watching the northern lights was nature’s incredible dancing show in the sky! They come in many colors but the ones I saw were green. It started as a spec of green light. The spec gradually grew bigger before it started swirling in a circle. It kept getting faster and then it shot across the whole sky. There were waves of green lines dancing until it slowly disappeared. The sky was silent and a few minutes it started up again. It was similar to a a laser light show but way more extravagant since this is a natural phenomenon.
Food
I ate traditional Inuit food called Muktuk. It’s bowhead whale skin and blubber cut into slices and served raw. I have to say it tasted like burned rubber and the texture was rubbery and oily. I didn’t care forit it but the natives were raised on it and have acquired a taste for it.
Basic foods to a typical American, are considered luxury items in Barrow. All food is imported, so the prices of dairy, juice and meat were outrageously high. A lot of the natives hunt for their meat and fish but the rest of their food is either canned or frozen. Some examples of the inflated prices are: 1/2 gallon of milk $9.79, package of uncooked pasta $24.25, Tide laundry detergent $74.65, 8.5 lbs, roast $69.67, carton of Dreyers ice cream $10.99, a pack of m&ms $15.69, and Head and Shoulders shampoo $19.35.
Schools
I visited my friends elementary school and I was in awe of the differences from my childhood school. The school busdriver carries a shotgun just in case a polar bear tries to snatch a small child!
Also, every year the kids are allowed to take time off for survival training. In the Arctic these skills are cultural and absolutely necessary in this extreme environment.
Their crafts were true to their culture and lifestyle. At Barrow Elementary School, the March project was coloring paper seal skin canoes. One of the kids wrote a caption on the canoe saying, “March- time to sew the skins onto the boat frame so that they may dry and get bleached in the sun.”
Life in Barrow
It was incredible to see how the people of Barrow effectively harvest their hunt, finding purpose for every part of the animal. Everything from clothes, boots, sunglasses, baleen sleds, tools and canoes. Even crafts and utensils were made of animal parts so nothing goes wasted.
To this day, the natives in Barrow hunt whales with spears in hand-made seal skin canoes. They make a canoe frame out of wood, cover it with caribou skins and water proof the skins with seal oil. This somehow withstands the icy cold Arctic waters.
All the buildings in the town were built up on pilings (or stilts) because the ground is permanently frozen. The heat from the building would cause the ground to melt and sink so they keep them elevated. It was really incredible to see an entire high school on pilings considering the town’s pool is inside the school.
The winters in Barrow are so cold that their vehicles will freeze if they don’t plug them in to a heater or leave them running. A lot of people use a snow machine as their primary transportation. There is only 1 gas station in town that’s open limited hours and costs about $7 USD/gallon.
It was bizarre being in what felt like a completely other world with a different culture, yet it’s still the United States. Alaska is truly a special place with so many outdoor adventures to offer. I’ll be sure to post a list of my musts see/do in Alaska.