July 1, 2003 - Day 4

Happy Valley Creek is only 80 miles away from Deadhorse, so our trip this day was pretty short. On our way there we tried to fish in some of the numerous lakes along the highway, with no success. Most of these lakes are shallow and freeze to the bottom during the winter, so there are no fish there.

We arrived in Deadhorse around 1 pm. To our surprise, the 240 mile drive from Coldfoot had used less than half a tank of gas. Originally we had planned to be there the next day, so we had made a reservation in the Arctic Caribou Inn for July 2. We also had an oil field tour reservation for the next day*. We had no problems, however. We easily got a room, and reserved a tour for the same day, although this reservation must normally be made at least 24 hours in advance. Even though the hotel was pretty busy (the Princess Tour bus brought about 40 people) - they still had plenty of rooms available.

Arctic Caribou Inn is the only hotel in Deadhorse for visitors. is the only hotel in Deadhorse for visitors. A room costs $125 per night. It was nice and clean, with shower and bathroom, and this was all we needed (of course, don't expect to find the Hilton in Deadhorse!). The food at the buffet was excellent.

The oil fields tour costs $37 per person, and it definitely worth it. Although we didn't come to Prudhoe Bay to learn about oil production, it was very interesting. Besides, this was the only way to get to the Arctic Ocean, since all unauthorized traffic (including pedestrians) is strictly prohibited beyond Deadhorse (by the way, don't forget your ID!).

But the most interesting for us was the wildlife in the oil fields. We saw more animals there than during our whole trip on the Dalton! In Prudhoe Bay the tundra turns into the arctic desert with scarce vegetation, sand dunes and numerous small lakes. On these lakes we saw hundreds of ducks, geese, swans and sandpipers. Caribou were all over - we saw hundreds of them. There are no mosquitoes there due to the strong winds, and this attracts caribou to this area during the breeding season (mosquitoes can easily kill babies caribou). 

After about a two-hour tour we visited a local gift shop and returned to the hotel.

* You can make hotel and the oil field tour reservations by calling the Arctic Caribou Inn (877) 659-2368 at any time after the end of May.