Point Barrow

Grace and greetings.

Against my better judgment, I am posting a picture of the three of us on the web. We are out on "the Point"; Point Barrow, the farthest northern piece of land in the United States. It is about a six mile drive out to the Point, three miles of road, (I always thought it was farther out), then another three miles off road. The vehicles require four wheel drive, plus larger tires. The gravel/sand is very loose and very deep, and it is easy to get stuck out there. But for all of the family members who have been wanting a picture of us, here you go.

One of the joys of the trip out there is what we got to see. Usually when people go out to the Point, they are looking for Polar Bears, and usually they are very disappointed. In fact, most residents will tell you that you can go out there, but you will not get to see a bear. Fortunately, our tour guide for the five of us, (a couple from New York and ourselves), spotted something moving out on the ice. The people we were with was able to get a picture of the bear on the ice and sent us a copy of the picture; and I get to share with you the picture on the right. There are other pictures, but it probably not come out nearly as clearly as this picture did. Of course it was good that he has a zoom lens on his camera to be able to get the picture, otherwise it would just look like a part of the ice from where we were. While we watched the bear, he turned and watched/smelled us, even though he was a good way out on the ice. To tell you how rare it is to see a bear, our guide called another guide who was on his way out about the sighting.

Well it is time to head home. I hope you enjoy the pictures that are posted, giving you an idea of what Barrow is like.

Peace and blessings to all.