A Touchdown in Coldfoot, Central Alaska

Posted by dj.tigersprout (New York City, United States) on 15 October 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

a 40 minute flight south and slightly east of Anaktuvuk lies the small trucker hub of Coldfoot. my only visit to this fascinatingly isolated region was during a 'touchdown' to pick up a pack of successful caribou hunters returning, like myself to Fairbanks, in central Alaska. Coldfoot lies along the path of the government maintained oil pipeline that travels thousands and thousands of lonely miles from the windy, icy shores of Prudhoe Bay at the very top of Alaska across the barren tundra and down to some 'unknown' place in the lower 48 states before being barreled and shipped throughout the country. the men and women that work tirelessly on keeping this pipeline in flawless condition all year round are heroic indeed spending long days and nights and sometime months in near isolation in some of the worst of climate conditions to ensure that the USA has plenty of precious oil to feed the amazingly massive matrix that it is our country. it was an interesting contrast for me to see this amazing and yet so controversial pipeline stretch through endless miles of pristine wilderness. a battle of man vs nature, and a work of art in its own right -- and such a valuable modern treasure, i couldn't help but find myself torn between seeing the pipeline as some sort of a harbinger of 'evil' and at the same time, a giver of 'light' & 'hope' to so many hundreds of millions of people. it added a rather poignant aspect to the trip and brought up the conflicted issue of preservation vs. manifest destination... not to get too much into this messy debate -- however i truly believe only one of these opposing ideologies can win... and i don't think conservation / preservation is winning! :(

although i have many many more shots of Alaska, i am officially ending this long running series for the time being in order to mix it up a bit... there are shots i would like to work on locally as well as some others i have yet to post from other locations that haven't seen the light of day and that i want to bring out now as i gear up for my forthcoming trip to the semi arctic regions of Iceland and Norway next month!! (the arctic again you say? yeah i know -- i am fascinated!!!)

thanks to all of you for tuning in over the past month and for your continually wonderful visits and comments! i hope you have enjoyed these rural views from the top of the world and literally the edge of the northern most frontier of this continent!!

p.s. regarding the panorama that i posted last week, i have a much larger version suitable for email which will at least give you a much better impression of the expansiveness and detail of the terrain. for those of you that asked to see it larger in your comment, i have already sent out a copy to you! for those of you that would also like to see a larger size please let me know and i will also forward you the same copy!! sincere thanks again!!!

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