Fox and the Bear

06/30/11 It proved to be a good day at work. Patroling my area on the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, I had the chance to observe these two charecters. Mama Fox was very concerned that the big guy was after her kits, but as it turned out he decided on the salad. He just chewed some grass up and then was chased off the foxes den hill.

It's Not the TSA, it's Your Fellow Passengers

All the hoopla over the TSA and their tactics is getting just a bit ridiculous. Do you really think these folks really want to touch your junk as many have put it? I for one have no problem with the procedures faced at the airports and I do make a lot of trips back and forth from Alaska to Portland. I realize that there are a number of people that do have a problem with it, including some of my friends and too them I offer a little bit of sympathy. My frustration derives from my fellow passengers and I would like to share a good example with you from my recent flight from or non flight as it turned out from Anchorage, AK to Prudhoe Bay, AK. As a North Slope worker I have to commute from Anchorage to Prudhoe Bay on a bi-weekly basis. The normal procedure on the current contract I work, is to board an Alaskan Airlines jet at the Ted Stevens Airport on a Monday morning at about 5:40, and shortly after 6:00 am we are usually in the air making a stop in Fairbanks, AK before flying on to Prudhoe. The aircraft is normally a (COMBI) which is a 737 with the front portion dedicated to freight and room for I suppose about 80 or so passengers to the rear of the plane. On Monday, the 22nd, at about 5:00 am I had found a seat near my gate and sized up some of the other folks in the boarding area. Who doesn’t people watch while waiting for a flight? Out of the corner of my left eye, I noticed a very large lady meaning tall and large in build as well. She emphasized her stature by choosing winter clothing that from a distance that made "yeti," come to mind. We're talking the tall fur hat that would make the royal guards in London jealous. The lady was pulling an airport cart with a number of items stacked haphazardly and yes the thought of homeless street yeti did pop into my head. I also believed that she must be traveling with someone because no one could possibly think they would be allowed to haul that much stuff onto an aircraft. I sat waiting for Mr. Yeti to show up anticipating what he might be wearing. The weather outside sucked, freezing rain had plagued much of the state but it looked as though it would not delay our departure. I somehow lost track and interest in the yeti and focused on the weather. The boarding process started and I was on my way to the tarmac. The thing about a COMBI aircraft is that you cannot board it using the normal covered means. You have to walk down a few flights of stairs and across the tarmac and board the aircraft just like they did in the 50's and 60's, by a portable stairway. This is where the flight turned on me. I made my way to the stairway and half way up the line came to a standstill. It wouldn't have been half bad had it not been for the freezing rain finding its way down the back of my neck. We all stood patiently on the ice covered stairway waiting for signs of life. After five minutes the line started to move and I approached my seat, 26D my usual isle seat on this flight. I stood in the isle looking for a spot in the overhead for my single carry on but there was no room. That conclusion came at the same time the once frozen rain, dripped of my head and off the end of my nose. It was now clear why most of us stood outside in the elements like milk cows heading to the milk barn. Seated in 26E, the middle seat next to me was none other than "the yeti lady" who had taken every available space in the overhead for her crap including her award winning hat, which actually took at least 1/4 of the space all by itself. Now understand that I am a large guy so I feel that I can say these kinds of things about others without feeling too guilty. Now seated in the window seat was another person that made Yeti and I look like a petite window models, so yeti lady was already crowed 1/4 of the way onto the area reserved for my butt. She looked up at me with those sorrowful yeti eyes and said, "Sorry the flight is full, I already asked." My comment back didn't seem to help matters at all. "Well maybe I can just sit on your lap" I said, while placing my bag into the next available overhead bin. Taking my seat, attempting to balance myself on my left cheek and looking like the logo from a Leaning Tree greeting card, I managed to get my seatbelt fastened and said, "Well this isn't too bad!" Yeti gave a half assed smile and said, "Would you mind, I forgot to turn off my phone, it's in one of my bags," pointing to the overhead. What came out of my mouth was nowhere near what I was thinking, which was, "While I'm up would you like me to find your yeti kibble as well?" I of course didn't say that but it crossed my mind. After digging through her stuff I found the little purse that contained her phone and handed it to her, then spent the next three minutes trying to put everything back. Taking my seat I once again do my balancing act and buckle up. From the back we probably looked like those Russian nesting dolls, you know, the hollow rounded dolls that fit one inside the other. The captain explains that due to the freezing rain, the aircraft had to be de-iced twice prior to take off and we slowly started to back into place for our hosing so to speak. We sit quietly waiting for the equipment to arrive to de-ice the plane. Yeti has her phone out and starts to look at weather and says, "Huh, I am surprised we are even going to Fairbanks, the weather there is really bad!" Shortly after she uttered those words she began to struggle a bit for air. The flight attendant just happened to be walking by and noticed. Yeti managed to hiss that she was having an asthma attack and couldn't breathe but assured us she would be OK if she could just get her battery powered nebulizer from the above storage. At the same time she turned on her light and for the first time I noticed that her black sweater was covered with animal hair. Hhmmmm, and on cue, I hear the sound of a distressed cat which I had not noticed before, peering at me from a small carrying case located at her owners feet. The flight attendant spends a good five minutes moving stuff around and manages to find a little inhaler as opposed to the nebulizer all the while I am thinking, "Are you kidding me, you have asthma and you have to take your cat with you on a trip?" Yeti decides that the little inhaler will offer up enough relief for the short flight to Fairbanks. I was so relieved, I was wondering how it would all play out when the order came to turn off all electrical devices. She took a couple of deep draws off the inhaler and mentioned to the flight attendant that the weather was turning bad in Fairbanks. Now I know why a yeti has never been captured before, they have smart phone technology that keeps them informed! "This is the captain, we will be returning to the gate due to worsening ice conditions in Fairbanks!" I wonder how long we will sit on the plane because to be honest, I am allergic to cats and I to start to feel discomfort in my chest as well as a little itchy thing going on which may have been psychosomatic but the urge to scream was not! Thoughts raced as I contemplated wrestling the inhaler from Yeti's large hands. Fifteen minutes after arriving back at the gate the announcement was made that they had cancelled the Fairbanks portion of the flight and they asked all Fairbanks passengers to disembark the aircraft. I jumped out of my seat and ran to the front portion of the passenger area to allow the two ladies in my row to make a clean exit. I didn't want to be anywhere near the lady as she blocked the isle getting her stuff out of her private overhead storage with disregard to the other passengers. At least this time they would be stuck behind her in a nice warm cabin as opposed to freezing rain. I stretched out in comfort in a row all to myself as I waited for the flight onto Prudhoe Bay direct, with no stop in Fairbanks or cats to get in the way. Life was good again right up to the point when the captain announced that the conditions at Prudhoe Bay had fallen below the minimum acceptable and we would be returning to the gate until further notice. Several hours later I did make it to Prudhoe in time to get one hour of work in at least. Like I said, the TSA is a piece of cake compared to some of your fellow passengers. Happy travel and have a great Thanksgiving!

Its Official

It is official indeed. Winter has arrived on the North Slope. Our first good dusting of snow is on the ground and temperatures are dropping. The kicker for the change in season was the large flock of Tundra Swans flying over at about 10:15 a.m. I have to admit that I just wasn't ready for the shot. My camera was tucked away in it's bag. The photo sucks because of the distance. When I realized that they were swans, it was just to late. Anyway, to those in North Carolina and Chesapeake Bay area, heads-up. They are on there way. You should see them in early November. The Swan is the last migrating bird to leave the slope. It is a struggle at times watching a handful of parent swans trying to encourage their young to reach goals set by mother nature. When the time comes, and the young for what ever reason has not met those goals, they are left behind as food for the hungry fox. That is what nature is all about.

Sunset 9/15/2009

Image by Randy J. Cole


Sept 15th @8:25 p.m. Interesting shot from the east shore of Lake Coleen, Deadhorse Alaska. This is right outside my current camp, actually more than a camp. It is a very nice hotel that was constructed this year. I am lucky enough to be housed there.

9-11-09 Sunrise Deadhorse AK

Parka Squirrel

Parka Squirrel stops by for some sun! Prudhoe Bay Alaska 08/22/09. Considered a wonderful snack by the local brown bears and just cute by us humans.

Prophet Of Point Hope?

Mr. Nashapuk, who's grandfather told of his prophecy. It seems like such a long time ago since I was a police officer in the village of Point Hope, Alaska. It was an interesting time in my life. Being a police officer in a very remote village will teach you a few things about life and about yourself. Some of those things you might not want to know. The village is home to just under a thousand people and is the largest remote village in the North Slope Borough. Barrow Alaska is the equivalent of a county seat. Barrow being the farthest northern community in the United States. The only way to get to Point Hope is by aircraft or across the tundra by snow machine when there is snow, and of course by boat. Point Hope is said to be one of the longest continually occupied areas in North America. It is the site where the land bridge extended from what is now known as Russia.
Point Hope is made up of 98% Inupiaq natives. The rest are a mix of folks who have moved to Point Hope for various reasons. If you live there one thing is for sure, you better be tough, and when I lived there be ready to pay over $6.00 for a gallon of milk. That was back in 2001. There were supposed to be three police officers in the village but it was just another officer and myself while I was there. I will save those stories for my “Life In A Sandbox” tales to be continued at some point in time. For now I will just cover some interesting people and places as well as non related law enforcement tales about Point Hope. One such tale is about the gentleman in the photo. I actually cannot remember his first name but I will never forget his last name, Nashapuk. The name is important to me because of his brother Henry, but that is a different story. The gentleman in the photo is holding a handcrafted baleen basket. It is small but expensive. I bought one like it for my then wife Julie. They are weaved from baleen which is the inner upper portion of a bowhead whales mouth. These can range in size from 2ft to as much as 12ft in length. The baleen is used to separate sea water and food in the whales mouth. The whale will take krill or maybe small fish into its mouth. The whale then forces the water out using the baleen as a strainer. Once the water is ejected, the whale will swallow the food left behind. In the early days of whaling until the early 1900’s, baleen was used to create things such as corsets for woman because of its flexibility and strength. As its use dwindled as a result of new manmade materials, the natives began to improvise turning it into art work that could be traded and sold. The little basket in Mr. Nashapuk’s hand would be valued between $200.00 and $400.00. The small white piece at the top is ivory. The top is usually carved into shapes such as whale tales, polar bears, seals and such. I love talking to people and Mr. Nashapuk was no exception. He offered up a story about his grandfather that made wonder about the future. It was shortly after Sept. 11th, 2001. I stopped at his house to tell him I was leaving Point Hope to work on the Prudhoe Bay oil field. We sat in his living room and 9/11 attack was the topic of conversation. He relayed a story about his grandfather some sixty years prior, standing outside staring to the south. He said that his grandfather spoke slowly as he described his prophecy. He said that he could see thousands of people moving across the tundra heading north trying to escape the great fire! With the attacks on our country so fresh we pondered the possible scenarios. Did his grandfather see a nuclear war, or perhaps climate change? Maybe a celestial object such as a meteor striking the land to the south. What ever the case it was chilling.

Polar Bear in the Cotton

I am ashamed of myself for not posting this photo earlier. It is one of my favorites. I took this back in 2004 I think, in September. One of our functions as security is to monitor bear activity and report to the feds. We are also all trained and certified by the Department of Wildlife to haze both brown and polar bears on the Prudhoe Bay oil field. By hazing I don’t mean getting them drunk and making them pick up marshmallows with their butt cheeks. By hazing I mean making them change direction by honking a horn, a short blast on the siren and at times cracker shells. These are launched in the direction of the bears from a shotgun and a small explosion occurs letting them know they need to go the other way. This is a last resort especially with the polar bear. As a rule they will visit the field and just rest in a location for a day or two then move on usually back to thee ocean. For all of us that have been assigned to sit and keep an eye on polar bears, I can tell you it is a privilege to see these beautiful creatures up close, (but not too close) in their natural surroundings. The oil companies go to great lengths to avoid disturbing them. An example would be the ice roads that are built every winter cannot be within a one mile distance of a den containing a female bear and her cubs. The pregnant female dens in the winter on shore to give birth.
The bear is the photo was a female approximately three years old. Most likely just kicked out on her own by her mother. I was observing this bear and while doing so, I was listening to Bruce Hornsby’s CD, Halacon Days,” which had just been released. The music was great and I sent a note with the photo to his web site and explained the circumstances. I never thought I would hear back from him but I received a note via e-mail, “I didn’t know I was writing polar bear sound track music, but I love it!” The photo and our exchanged was on the front page of his web site for a year. A short time after this happened I saw Bruce in concert in Baltimore, while taking a vacation on the east coast.

No Thanks

One can never be surprised by what you will see on the North Slope. These photos were taken on Sept. 27th 2007. The Ranger is equipped with a water tank and a very long boom with a nozzle attached. It is controlled by a door operator. It is used to clean power line insulators to help prevent shorts in the lines. If it looks like a dangerous job I can tell you that it is. This very Helicopter crashed on the oil field about two weeks after I took these photos. The pilot was seriously injured and the doorman suffered some injuries as well. This particular process was developed for use on the slope but can now be seen being used all over the world.

Jeff Foxworthy, Eat Your Heart Out

Jeff Foxworthy, eat your heart out!
OK, this not really a redneck mansion. It is a rig camp on the North Slope used to house workers for its assigned rig. The rigs are moved from one location to the next for exploration or reworking old well sites. They move often and when they do the workers follow them with these self contained camps. It is interesting to note that while these camps are on the move, either the night or day shift workers will in fact be on board sleeping.

RJ Cole

Just Another Alaska Sunrise

This photo was taken today at about 09:23. The temp was a muggy minus 30. This time of year we see this almost daily and the sunsets can be pretty spectacular as well.

Image by Randy J. Cole

Arctic Cotton

September of 2003, the sun is just right while I was on patrol. The Arctic Cotton which grows on the tundra during the summer, glows like gold as it bathes in the final days of sunlight.

Image by RJ Cole

Northern Lights in Prudhoe

This is a photo I took back in 2003. The Northern Lights are not an easy subject to photograph. The ones that appear this far north do not have the wide range of colors and as a rule are pretty much green most of the time. But still fascinating to watch and seem to be alive.

Undaunted

Tundra grass gone to seed, drifting in the wind like a long lost lover,
roots buried deep in the arctic soil, holds them steadfast, no need for cover.

They hold on tight to the soil, even as the cold snaps to 60 below,
wind bends them to the breaking point, frozen and covered in snow.

Spring comes in June; the seeds that stayed dormant will spread,
creation of a green homeland, for the feathered ones that nature has led.

What lessons can we find in the tundra grass that grows in a hostile land unwanted,
from this simple plant that overcomes the harsh, and continues life, undaunted.

Words and Images by Randy J. Cole
Photo location: Sand dunes near arctic ocean, Prudhoe Bay Oil Field

Camp????

Images by Randy J. Cole / Random Stone Productions 3/2003

Some of you might wonder what I am referring to when I mention the camp that I live in on the North Slope. This is the BOC (Base Operations Camp) on the west side of the Prudhoe Bay oil field complex. It is more like living in a cruise ship than a camp. The rooms are comfortable warm and nice. This camp has around four hundred or so beds and most of them are private rooms but you share a bathroom with the room next to you as well as the shower. There are three main camps on this field but more are being built. The BOC actually has a swimming pool that doubles as a source of water for fire protection. The workout areas are pretty nice as well. This camp has an upper level work out area that includes volley ball court and top of the line tread mill, rowing, free weights and so on. It also has an indoor running track. The food is remarkable as well. Sunday is prime rib night, and Tuesday is steak night. It gets pretty easy to become used to working in this kind of environment. Of course if you have a job that takes you outside you quickly find that the companies have to provide nice services to compensate for the 70 below weather that we will be having soon.

Randy

Karate Swan Meets Arctic Fox

Mama doesn’t want any part of the young arctic fox who is courting the young swan at the left. The fox knows well the damage that can be inflicted by those giant wings. He gave up and left after some thought.

Image by Randy J. Cole
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Sept 9, 2004

Drill

Image by Randy J. Cole Sept. 29th 2003,
Random Stone Productions

People ask me often, "so what do you think about drilling?" My answer is always the same, "why not?" It is clear that we need to find away to create newer and cleaner energy but, until we do, we need to still be tapping into our natural resources.Unless politicians get off their asses, and say yes to more drilling, this country will have more than just financial failure to worry about. You cannot simply shut off our oil supply and expect everyone to go out and buy a new bike or hybrid auto. People who work for a living cannot afford that, it is just that simple. Nor can we all afford to run out and buy new heating systems for our homes.
As far as the animals go, They will do just fine if we drill in ANWAR. I was watching the History channel the other day and they had a show about Alaska. They mentioned ANWAR and the potential damage that could be done while showing video of mountains and beautiful mountain lakes and even Eagles. Excuse me, I said excuse me, but that is not the ANWAR that the drilling will take place in. Imagine if you will the ugliest part of North Dakota, no offense ND but it is just for comparisons. There are no mountains, there is most likely small bodies of water but certainly no mountain lakes. I am also sure that there are no Eagles in the area where drilling will take place.
I love animals especially the ones up here. There are a large number of them to see on the North Slope most of which take refuge on the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. They are protected here, there is no hunting allowed and no weapons except by the security officers and North Slope police officers as well as other law enforcement officers.
It is time to start working toward the new energy sources all right but if you think the current economic problems are bad your gonna love whats coming unless we fill the gap between petroleum and new energy in a responsible manner.

Randy

Heart Songs

"Day dreams are but the silent songs of ones heart and soul"

This is one of the first photos I used for a poster and is one of the first posters I sold. One of them hangs in the hallway next to the window where it was taken. The girl remains unidentified today. She was with a group of health professionals that were on the slope for a health fair. She managed to squeeze herself onto this little window ledge that is in a hall way that leads to my office. I asked her if she would mind if I snapped her photo and she agreed. She seemed a bit put out when I asked her not to look at the camera. The photo was taken 11/05/2004.

Muskox

Today was a good day! The elusive Muskox were pretty close to the road and didn't seem to mind having a photo taken. This small heard was between the Prudhoe Oil Field and the Kuparuk Oil Field. This summer the bears were pretty hard on the herds. These ones are pretty healthy and content.

Images by Randy j. Cole

Crapper in a Wrapper

About four years ago I snapped this shot of a porta-potty that had been delivered to the Central Check Point on Prudhoe Bay. The toilet inside the check point was in-op at the time. So, the mystery is solved about where one might do a nature call in 60 below zero weather in the Arctic.