Barrow, Alaska - Brrrrrrr

Caleb arrived in Barrow, Alaska Friday night. He enjoyed views of the snow capped mountains across Canada and Alaska during his flight to layover in Anchorage. Today, November 18th, the sun rose for 50 minutes and then set. It will not rise above the horizon again in Barrow until January 22nd. Caleb walked to the ocean side of the town to see the sun, but it was a cloudy overcast day so he wasn't able to see any actual sunshine. He reports that it was light enough to walk outside and see around perfectly fine.

Caleb has a "happy light" for light therapy these months without sunshine. The light is supposed to help with your mood and ward off seasonal affective disorder (the winter blues). He is also taking a vitamin D supplement since he won't be getting any from the sun.

I will be heading to Barrow for a couple weeks in January to experience the culture and area as well as the no sunshine. I may be there the first day the sun comes above the horizon again in January.

Picture taken from Caleb's plane window in Anchorage heading to Barrow. 

Buying anything in Barrow is very expensive. No roads lead into Barrow. All items either have to be flown in on a plane or shipped on a barge in the summer time. Since items are so expensive to buy in town, people often buy things when they make a trip to Anchorage. Then they check the boxes on the plane. For example you can see in Caleb's picture boxes of diapers, toiler paper, and paper towels to take back to Barrow. 

The town of Barrow is shown below. It is the northern most town in the USA. It is in the part of Alaska which is known as the North Slope Borough. Barrow's population is around 4,000 people and there are another about 5000 people spread throughout the North Slope. This picture below is obviously a summer time picture and not taken in the winter. 

photo credit: http://ultima0thule.blogspot.com/2012_07_08_archive.html

The ocean hasn't frozen solid yet. But it will soon. Now that the sun has set the temperatures will continue to  drop quite a bit over the next weeks. It looks like the high temps for the days are hanging in the teens. And on the windy days with Arctic winds at 30+mph it feels much colder. 

Today Caleb bundled up and went for a walk to the whale bone arch in town. He said there are whale bones in lots of yards around town. More to come on Caleb's Arctic Adventures in Alaska. He is working in the emergency room at the hospital in town -Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital. The ER has 4 rooms in it. There are ten inpatient rooms including 2 labor and delivery rooms. 

The doctors and RNs will see anything and everything in the ER because it is the only place to go since there are no roads which leave town. This hospital also receives patients from throughout the North Slope area. Critical or life-threatening patients have to be medevaced by plane to Anchorage or Fairbanks. Caleb and the other staff will stabilize those patients and prepare them for a flight to get emergent help in the city. 

I'm proud of Caleb following his dream of working in Barrow. It's a harsh extreme climate and culture, but his first impressions of the area have been great.