The tour started at the famed Alaska, actually called Alyeska Pipeline. The pipeline is 800 mi long from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, 48 in diameter, it crosses 3 mountain ranges and over 500 rivers and streams. Part of it is above ground and that portion is positioned to float through 8.9 earthquakes, having survived a 7.9 in Denali a number of years ago. It is also in a zig zag shape to allow expansion and contraction.The part underground is held in place by cement barriers to prevent floating. Construction began in 1975 and started pumping oil in 1977. At its peak in 1988 2M barrels/day were pumped, this year only ~500K/per day.
We learned about the "pigs" that are used to scrape the inside to remove residue like scraping cake batter in a bowl. It sounds like pigs squealing, thus the coined name!
Our conductor was a talented guy who used to play with Johnny Cash and Don Ho!
While our guide was an old miner herself!
I took away just how hard these people worked, slicing through the ground 8-10 hrs a day was hard labor and required some ingenuity to develop the machinery
Once we arrived at camp they taught us how to pan...
Wayne was very intent on finding his fortune while I sloshed around and had fun!
Together we found $16 worth, some couples found $100, we better keep those govt pay checks!
We went on to tour the drdege interior and went to work...
We said goodbye to all the young people that did a great job on the tour...
And some fine fiddling on the way back!
It was another well done tour!
This evening we went out to Pioneer Park for a Salmon Bake. We had low expectations, I though Bush Gardens food, we were so pleasantly surprised, it was delicious!
And once again, Wayne was wearing VaTech gear and learned the Chef was from Richmond, VA!
We walked off a wonderful dinner of salmon, cod, and prime rib with a tour of Pioneer Park.
Ride 'em...salmon??
With full tummies we headed for home, tomorrow we have a long drive to the Arctic Circle!
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