Winter weeks in Barrow

A week ago I was packing for my journey to Barrow, Alaska. I made it to Barrow and not only am I excited to be with Caleb, but I've enjoyed my first impressions of Barrow 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Sunrise out of Denver

I started my travels with the sunrise as I took off from the Denver airport, and very fittingly I ended my day of travels with the sky full of colors from a sunset over the frozen Arctic tundra. I didn't see the sun actually set because it doesn't come above the horizon for these couple months in the winter. But the colors given off from the sun hiding below the horizon somewhere was beautiful.

The flight from Anchorage to Barrow did not have many passengers on it. The picture shows the sunset colors in the windows and how I had an exit row to myself and there was only one person across the aisle in the exit row. Many rows had all 3 seats empty.

I felt a mix of feelings as the plane was circling to descend for our landing into Barrow. It was ones of nervousness, excitement, curiosity, intrigue, and wonder. This small town lit up against the dark sky on the edge of Alaska. The edge of the country. The edge of the continent on the Arctic Ocean. The lights showed the small area the town encompasses. This town is home for thousands of people. This is home and heritage of the Inupiat.

I feel honored to be here as a witness to this Arctic way of life, and I am thankful for the opportunity to be here even for a short time.

The airport ground was covered in snow where the airplane and when the plane landed on the runway snow flew up around the wings and sparkled in the reflecting flashing lights from the plane. I knew it would not take long to get off the plane because of how few of us were on it so I quickly started adding on my layers - hat, scarves, gloves, zipped up my coat ready to step off the plane. After carefully making my way down the icy snow covered metal steps, I paused to turn around and grab a picture finalizing my journey to get to Barrow. 

Spotting my favorite person only took a few seconds and that hug made all of the long travels worth every second! It's so good to be in Alaska again with Caleb. I will be staying in Barrow the remaining four weeks of his contract. Caleb took me on a walk around town for a couple hours. He showed me the sights. The Arctic Ocean frozen solid. The "beach" covered in feet of snow and large snow drifts as tall as houses. We walked to the hospital and he introduced me to some of the staff he works with in the ER. I kept looking up to find auroras amongst the thin cloud coverage. AND we found some Northern Lights. They were faint but the green bands could be seen in the break in the clouds against the dark night sky. 

As we ended our walk, I saw what I most wanted to see in Barrow. The sparkling ice glitter in the air. Cloud/fog particles freeze in the air in a suspended manner. The best way I can think to describe it is like this. 

Imagine holding a handful of clear glitter. When you toss it up into the air, it spreads out and is suspended in a slow motion state. Your eye catches glimpses of it when the light hits each little piece to reflect back a glittery/sparkly shine. It doesn't fall to the ground like snow does. It is always there slowly reflecting its beauty as you stand amazed watching. I don't think a camera or video could capture this, but I will soak in its beauty each time I can. 

Another thing the regular town lights do some times are shoot up into the sky. Caleb calls these crystal lights. They were doing this the night I landed in Barrow and the next night on our walk. I think it is because of the fog/cloud particles in the air it is reflecting into. 

I love the sparkle and glow of the snow and the lights. In the winter it is always a snow day in Barrow.