Deadhorse, Alaska is a town right outside the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. It’s the only connection to the outside world most of the oil workers have while they’re on the North Slope. I worked at the hotel right outside of town that housed mostly seismic workers, equipment rental employees, any tourist traveling up the Dalton Highway for a tour of the oil field, and the few employees that work at the camp. A lot of the employees work there year-round, giving them a great rapport with the town. Here’s my 20 of Deadhorse Camp!
1. The first sight of Deadhorse was in the worst storm they had of the season while I climbed out of the plane.
2. My first night at Deadhorse filled my room with a small pile of snow, still being the worst weather I’ve ever been in.
3. Having complete freedom with what I was able to cook for the residence of Deadhorse Camp.
4. Getting off work and watching the entire series of Entourage and House with my fellow coworkers
5. Driving down the Dalton Highway a few miles just to watch the ice break up in the Sagavanirktok River.
6. Going to the Deadhorse “mall” to aimlessly walk around and finally settle on buying a pad of paper.
7. Driving into town on my day off to grab a hot coffee from the Prudhoe Bay Hotel’s coffee shop.
8. Walking aimlessly through the hotels the oil companies employ to house all their extra employees.
9. Watching the big oil rigs driving down the road, effectively cutting off any kind of transportation in the town.
10. Having documentary and smoothie night every Friday night.
11. Waking up early to go to the gym, mostly for something to do.
12. Watching the BBC Crew’s adventure in trying to film the Arctic Fox on the tundra over a couple week period.
13. Making a snow man in a blizzard with thick, windproof clothes on. Think of Ralph’s little brother in The Christmas Story. That’s what I looked like.
14. Getting geared up in my winter clothes to chase the Aurora Borealis around the camp to get a better view.
15. Getting yelled at by the equipment operators for wandering around the camp in the middle of the night to get a better view of the Aurora Borealis.
16. Trudging through mud and snow melt every night just to get to my room.
17. Becoming a master of adjusting between two or three space heaters in my room to keep it a cool F60 degrees in my room while it’s F-70 degrees outside.
18. Having to tell tourists driving 500 miles up the Dalton Highway that the tours to the Arctic Ocean don’t start for another few months.
19. Laughing at tourists that just drove 500 miles up the Dalton Highway to get a tour to the Arctic Ocean without checking if they’re open yet.
20. Meeting new people that will likely be life-long friends after spending 6 months on the Arctic Coast with them.
Beardly Adventures of KC 