Aishani who did not want to be superseded by his brother’s knowledge, now exclaimed, “hey do you know this road is often called the Haul Road because it’s mostly used by truckers moving cargo between the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and Fairbanks. It is considered dangerous because of the fast trucks and potholes. And by the way, Prudhoe Bay is at the Arctic Ocean about 240 miles north.” Soon we stopped at the remarkable Trans-Alaska Pipeline. This is an engineering feat. Trans-Alaska Pipeline connects the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska, with the harbor at Valdez, 800 miles to the south and has a diameter of 48 inches. It is the world's largest privately funded construction project built at a cost of $8 billion. It was built between 1975 and 1977, after the 1973 oil crisis when members of OPEC proclaimed an oil embargo for nations perceived as supporting Israel. We reached the Arctic Circle in ceremonious fashion and received an official Arctic Circle Adventure Certificate. This was at 66 degrees 33 minutes latitude. There was a signpost proclaiming the remarkable location, but it seemed rather mundane in this warm weather. Our next stop was at the shores of the mighty Yukon River, where we had burger and fries. After a brief halt, we drove down to a city called Joy near the Arctic Circle Trading Post. This is a designated spot for scanning the darkened skies for the Aurora. The location is 60 miles north of Fairbanks. Jit was quick to set up his fancy Nikon camera on a tripod outside the log hut where we stopped. The hut had wood burning fireplace and a variety pf warm drinks like coffee and cider. Soon we saw that a dozen other travelers had set up their cameras and were gazing through their lenses at the dark Alaskan sky. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast with clouds and not a single star could be seen. We waited a couple of hours, but no aurora display was visible. With a heavy heart we started back towards Fairbanks UPAHAAR 2021 উপহার ১৪২৮ 23 Yukon River in Arctic area
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