Barrow, Alaska - historic landmark, last frontier, western ultima thule

Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in Alaska, and the northernmost city in the United States, 550 km north of the arctic circle.

Barrow is located in a lowland tundra coastal area among lagoons, and has been flooded recently by the arctic ocean rising levels.

Coordinates: 71°17′ N, 156°45′ W

pop. ~ 4600

Barrow is roughly 2100 km south of the North Pole.

Welcome to Barrow (in inupiaq, Ukpeagvik = "place where owls are hunted")

The town center, with the sign post, the visitor center and the Airport Inn lodge.

Free coffee for tourists! :)

Better in summer...

Nearby, at 14 km to the northeast, Point Barrow is the nation's northernmost point.

Point Barrow is also an important geographical landmark, marking the limit between two marginal seas of the Arctic, the Chukchi Sea on its western side and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern, both delimited to the North by the edge of the map.

The sea water around is normally ice-free for only two or three months a year.

Barrow’s local economy is based on oil but is supplemented by tourism, with visitors arriving during the summer season to enjoy the midnight sun.

Average daylight:

24h in summer months, zero in winter...

The King Eider Inn, in the town center, under twilight moon.

The fur shop and Iñupiat cleaning facility

The Town Hall in the arctic night

Iñupiat whalers launching the umiak at the Chukchi sea

Hunting and fishing are still important for subsistence. Many residents rely upon subsistence food sources: whale, seal, polar bear, walrus, waterfowl, caribou, ducks and fish are harvested from the coast or nearby rivers and lakes.

A house in Barrow after a snow storm

The houses have to be built on stilts to isolate from the frozen permafrost soil of the tundra. The heat from the house would melt it and the house would then sink.

Colourful houses bring some joy to the grey days

The historical town center

Oldest house in Barrow

The main presbyterian church, Utqiagviq

Barrow schools:

The elementary...

...and the secondary school.

The Post office

One of the best buildings in town

Old postage from the "top of the world".

The Iñupiat Heritage Center

A museum with many fascinating Iñupiat displays and artifacts.

Ivory bear and cubs

Ivory kayak

The Iñupiat Heritage Center celebrates Eskimo contributions to whaling.

Local inupiat drummers

HISTORY:

Archaeological evidence dates human habitation (by Inupiat Eskimos) in the area from about 500 A.D.

The small town was named in 1826 by british explorer Frederick William Beechey, for Sir John Barrow, geographer of the British Admiralty.

In command the HMS Blossom, Beechey explored the Bering Strait in concert with Franklin and Parry expedition operating from the east. In July 1826, he named the three islands in the Bering Strait. Two were the Diomede Islands. Later in the summer of 1826, he passed the strait. Sailing north, the expedition then reached Point Barrow, hoping to meet somewhere around with Parry. But that meeting would fail for a 5 days (300 km) gap.

Shopping

Stuaqpak AC Center: everything you need in an all purpose supermarket and supply store with deli.

Restaurants:

Brower's Café

Occupies the most historic building in town, the 19th-century whaling station and store built by Charles Brower, who introduced a new whaling technique to the Iñupiat.

Big windows look out on the beach and a famous whalebone arch is just outside.

Northern Lights

Their menu starts with the owner's own Chinese food, plus deli selections and burgers, and great pizza.

Pepe's North of the Border

The most famous place in town thanks to an appearance. Crowded sometimes.

Mexican food, steak, and seafood.

The King Eider Inn

Airport

Barrow is connected with Anchorage and Fairbanks by regular air service.

Alaska 55 for Anchorage

The Alaska Airlines terminal

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Visitors to Point Barrow receive a certificate as they were at the "land's end".

Driftwood from an umiak at the beach as the sun sets

Midnight sun dims the arctic ocean, through the arched whalebones, Barrow's logo..

The magic of Arctic Summer

Ice and flowers, sea and moss:

Ilulissat, Greenland

source: http://mvfram.blogspot.pt/

Franz Joseph Land : strange islands lost in the Barents sea

Franz Josef Land archipelago is the closest land to the North Pole in the eastern hemisphere (about 870 km to the North Pole).

It has been discovered in 1873 by the Austrian - Hungarian "Tegetthoff" expedition, under the leadership of Carl Weyprecht, who named the islands after Emperor Franz Joseph I.

The extremely northern position of the islands attracted expeditions of the pioneer age (late 19th - early 20th century), which usually saw Franz Josef Land as a useful advanced base for attempts to reach the North Pole.

The archipelago was more fully explored by expeditions such as one led by Nansen (who spent the winter of 1895–96 in Franz Josef Land).

Flat tabletop mountains are characteristic of Franz Joseph islands.

In 1926 the islands were taken over by the Soviet Union, for research and military purposes; many of the Russian Polar stations are now abandoned, and the whole archipelago is given back to the wildlife. Polar Bears, walruses, arctic foxes, belugas and whales, and lots of Arctic birds.

Polar bears at Rudolf Island

Nowadays it is one of rare 'wild' places left on Earth - it is unpopulated except for one permanent Russian base.


The archipelago consists of 191 islands, mostly covered with a permanent ice cap. Islands of volcanic origin, including Alexandra Land, Prince George Land, Bell Island, Hooker Island, Prince Rudolf Island, Hall island...


Hall Island (Ostrov Gallya)

80°05′ N, 58°01′ E

A medium size island, mostly under ice cap, Hall island was discovered on 1873 by the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition led by Weyprecht.


Later, in 1898-99 a small camp was built at Cape Tegetthoff, one of the most spectacular views on the islands, and the best known landmark (figuring on the logo).


Cape Tegetthoff was named after the main ship of the Austro-Hungarian explorers.


On the southern coast of the island sights are very impressive: huge cliffs resembling dorsal fins of gigantic sharks submerge into the depths.


This chain of spectacular rock towers, terminating in two pointed rock needles just off the coast, are one of the most fantastic sceneries of the whole archipelago.


Some remains of the stations built by polar expeditions can still be observed at cape Tegetthoff.

The "Tegetthoff" leaving.

The remains of the wooden structures built later by the Wellman's expedition (1898-1899), which failed to reach the north pole, are better preserved, and ad further drama to the landscape:

Wellman's octogonal wintering hut remains.


Northbrook island (Ostrov Nortbruk)
79.9° N, 50.9° E

One of the most accessible locations in the island group, it often served as a base for polar expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Cape Flora

Cape Flora, located in an unglacierized area in the Southwest of Northbrook Island camp, is historically significant.

Lee Smith 's expedition in 1880 shipwrecked here:

The "Eira" sinking

Ben Lee Smith's "Eira" unexpectedly turned out to be between two icebergs in sight of Cape Flora . The ship sank in a matter of hours. The crew escaped and managed to get ashore.

Many years later, in 1896, a chance encounter between explorers Nansen and Jackson took place here. Jackson was based at Cape Flora, when this meeting occurred. A memorial was built:



Bell Island
81°09′ N, 64°17′ E

The landscape of Bell Island is majestic: the cliffs and ice-capped mountains are the highest on the archipelago.


Bell island is famous for its tabular mountain shape and easy to visit (there is a helicopter landing site)

Eira Lodge, built in 1881 by the british Leigh Smith's expedition on Bell Island (named after the shape of the mountain), is the oldest building 1n the archipelago.

View of the Bell island's flat top shape from Eira lodge cabin.

Champ Island
80.67°N, 56.23°E

The main features of this rocky island are its geological spheric stone balls, up to 3 m in diameter.

These stones of spherical shape are called geodes.


Hooker Island (Ostrov Gukera)
80.23° N, 53.02° E.

Mount Churlyanisa, Hooker Island

One of the most important islands, with an old russian polar station (now abandoned) on the western shore of Tikhaya Bay, in an unglaciated area.

The famous Rubini Rock, a huge basaltic cliff in the bay, is the shelter for thousands of cliff-nesting sea birds.

Mighty basaltic Rubini Rock protrudes into Tikhaya Bay.

In 1929, the first Soviet research station was established in Tikhaya Bay. Tikhaya station is remarkably well preserved.

Prince George Land (Zemlya Georga)

80°26′ N, 49°00′ E

This is both the biggest and the longest (115 km) island in Franz-Josef-Land.

Cape Grant

As typical for most parts of the archipelago, it consists of extensive complexes of tabular mountains, which are mostly covered under ice caps, a few steep rock capes peek out of the ice along the coastlines.

Waterfall at Cape Desires


Alexandra Island (Zemlya Aleksandry)

and Nagurskoye

80° 48′ N, 47° 36′ E

The most western island of the archipelago, Alexandra Island is mainly the location of the main populated settlement in the archipelago: the russian base Nagurskoye.


An extremely remote Arctic base, Nagurskoye was built in 1950 for military purposes, and after a long decay is now modernised and converted to arctic studies.

The base has served as an important weather station in the archipelago during the Cold War. It's also the world's northernmost border post - of the Russian northern frontier.

Saint Nicholas Church, a pre-built wooden church for the lonesome crew.

Hayes island (Ostrov Heiss)
80°37′ N, 58°03′ E

Small, mostly flat and low, Hayes or Heiss island is almost unglacierized, having only a small ice-cap off its centre by its northern shore.

On the northeastern tip of the island, there is a shallow old meteorite crater filled with fresh water. There the buildings of the old russian Krenkel Station line up on its low rim.

An almost surrealistic picture: station buildings around the crater

A new, clean and much smaller modern station made of prefabricated modules was set up between the old buildings since 2004, and is operational all-year round with a small team of about 5 persons.

The northernmost post office in the world is located here on Heiss Island, at Krenkel station:

Russian Post, station nº 163100


Prince Rudolf Land

81.76° N, 58.56° E

This is the northermost island, permanently ice-covered and close to the north pole. Rudolf Island is almost completely glaciated.

Edge of the Ice Cap, Rudolf Island

Because of its location, the island has served as a staging area for numerous polar expeditions.

The ship America in Teplitz Bay - the expedition failed to reach the pole (1904)


Cape Fligely, located on Rudolf Island's northern shore, is the northernmost point of Europe and Russia.

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Austrian postage stamp celebrating the discovery of Franz Josef Land

The Nansen and Johansen voyage through the archipelago, 1895-1896.

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Further reading:

• http://www.awesomeislands.com/2011/12/franz-josef-land.html
• http://explow.com/Franz_Josef_Land
• http://www.franz-josef-land.info/index.php?id=195&L=5