Barrow and back

As part of the media, I got the opportunity to fly up to Barrow (the northern-most city in Alaska) with the Coastguard. We followed Alaska's northern coast to arrive at Barrow with the idea of getting a look at the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

In terms of getting a quality story, not a lot came out of the day. First, we (nearly 30 reporters and photogs) were in a C-130 (a cargo plane with very few windows), so at certain points you had to basically shove to get anywhere near a window. Second, Coastguard has only been in Barrow for a couple of weeks and at this point doesn't have specific answers about much of anything. And it sounds like things are pretty unorganized, at least right now.

(The Coastguard brought some personnel and equipment into the area to determine what it would take to fully patrol the Arctic Ocean. As ice recedes and the possibility of a northern passage becomes ever so slight, several northern nations are jockeying for position. Also, cruise ships have started to sail into the Arctic Ocean.)

We never got to go into the town of Barrow -- just stayed at the airport for the hour we were on the ground. So the highlight of the trip on a personal level was circling close to the peak of Denali on the way home. What an incredible, impressive mountain! We were so close, I felt like I could reach out and touch the top. Unfortunately my photos didn't come out super well. In large part due to the "paparazzi" around the sole larger window.