Alaska Destinations

Prudhoe Bay:
When I worked on the trans-Alaska pipeline back in the 70's I never would have thought that Prudhoe Bay would end up a "destination", but it has for a select few.  Once again Holland America is the only major tour company that will take you there.  We are escorting a tour there in the summer of 2008 that will land us in Prudhoe Bay on the 23rd of June, the day after the longest day of the year.  We plan to watch the sun "not set" over the Arctic ocean before we begin our two day coach ride down the "haul road" to Fairbanks.  I'll have much better info on what Prudhoe is like after that since I haven't really been there in over 20 years!

What I do remember about Prudhoe  and the drive south to Coldfoot is miles and miles of miles and miles… Space… More nesting birds in the summer than I've ever seen anywhere, caribou by the thousands, moose, grizzly and black bears… The scenery in Prudhoe and south past Franklin Bluffs is nothing to brag about on a grand scale, but on a micro scale the tundra is beautiful and fascinating.  One square foot of tundra could have a thousand tiny flowers on it!

Once we get down to Atigun Pass and start up and over the Brooks Range, the vistas once again get breathtaking.  This is wilderness.  If you were to go ¼ mile off the road you would at times again be in absolute virgin wilderness.