North Slope

Do you know what the North Slope is?
Hint: I'm not referring to a clothing company...

I'm talking about THE North Slope, the most Northern coast of Alaska. This is a map of the North Slope Oil Fields:

 

Can you see where the map says "Milne Point"? That's where I was for the past week. See where the map says "Prudhoe Bay"? That's where Ross was last week. 

Here's the room I stayed in. 2 rooms are connected to a shared bathroom. I had to share with a guy, but he was a day sleeper so on the opposite schedule. Wasn't too bad.

Another room shot.

Milne Point Operations Center.

Another shot of the facility. The Central Processing Plant is located in the back of the sleeping quarters.

It's so cold that people leave their trucks on all day. For overnights, there's plugs in the front grill to plug in the engine block heaters. See the cords hanging down in front of the trucks?

There is a full-time round the clock crew to keep the roads clear. Some of the huge equipment I've only seen on "Build it Bigger" on TV.  The orange "delineators" are road markers that help keep people on the road during extreme storms.

It was -27 degrees. Coldest weather I've ever been in. It actually hurts your throat to breathe.

All bundled up. Let's go make some oil!

Daytime Moon.

 

Sunset Pipeline.

Caribou feeding on tundra.

Another caribou.

It is so desolate out there! It's such a strange feeling being in such a remote place. At certain times of day you can't tell where the sky meets the horizon because they're the same color. The North Slope is basically just a snowy desert, so the air sucks the moisture from you. Lotion and water are crucial.

It was a great getaway from the office for a couple days, but I'm not going to be trying to make a habit of rotating up there every 2 weeks :)