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Originally Posted by tjandre3
I'd really appreciate it if anyone could chime in on how they would spend a weekend in Barrow if they had never been anywhere near there before.
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If you are arriving in the morning on Friday, make sure you go to the Inupiat Heritage Center that day, because they will other wise be closed during your entire stay. It's worth seeing, and I think Friday will be your only chance. I might be wrong about Saturday though, so if you do miss it Friday, do check on Saturday and see if they are open.
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but were hoping to find a way to catch a glimpse of polar bears and other wildlife, if they're around (if not, well, bummer - better luck next time).
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That's hard to predict. There might be a slim chance of seeing a polar bear at Point Barrow.
Right now the only access to anywhere is pretty much restricted to snowmachines or other tracked vehicles. That may change a little by this weekend.
If you are into birding in any way, it might be interesting by this weekend. Right now there are a few snowy owls and massive flocks of ducks. Very soon there will be swans, geese, and cranes.
Otherwise, your chances of seeing wildlife at this time of year are slim.
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Otherwise, we'd appreciate any suggestions regarding what to see and do, and what to avoid, etc.
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One thing you
absolutely want to see is Joe's Museum, which is owned by Joe The Waterman (Joe Shultz). He's the short wirey non-Mexican guy at Pepe's North of the Border Mexican Restaurant. Ask him about a tour, which would be about 10:00 PM right after he closes Pepe's for the night.
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Also, what should we wear? Looks like the weather will be 25-35 or so, which is tolerable - but what about footwear? It gets pretty muddy, right? What do the locals wear?
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It isn't ever actually very muddy around here! A little bit though, and a lot of water; and you are definitely going to be seeing that! Rubber boots that can handle walking in 3-4 inches of water would be good if you want to do any walking.
The 5 day weather forecast right now is saying lows of 20 degrees and highs of 40 degrees during your stay. They only predict winds for 3 days out, but that looks to be pretty normal (10-15 MPH from the east).
What it looks like you are going to see is "break up". The roads around town today are about half cleared of snow, with the busy places down to dirt and other places not. By this time next week I doubt that any road will have packed snow on it! Also every place that can trap water, is going to be full of water. There will be lakes that exist only during the spring. There will be running water in "rivers" that exist only while the snow is melting.
Because it will be freezing at night it might be possible to go to at least a few places out on the tundra via 4w ATV. Right now we can't because the snow is too soft, but yesterday it was freezing rain and mist all day, so there might be enough of a crust on everything to make it possible.
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Also, I know there are some why-would-you-go-there voices out there. Thanks in advance for your opinion, but we've done plenty of research and we've already decided we DO want to go, so please feel no need to save us from ourselves.
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We have a contingent of 3 or 4 folks who found they were unable to hack it in Barrow. It's a very harsh climate (and sometimes that's more than just the weather!). The bitterness of defeat...
The most significant things you'll be able to do this weekend will all be cultural. I would highly recommend going to church on Sunday! (Not for religion, but for the cultural aspects, which will be huge.) Also it is possible there will be ceremonies going on to remove umiaq skin boats from the ice. Right now there are a dozen or so boats on the ice in front of town, and when they are brought on shore there is a ceremony. It's not really for tourists, but since you'd be the only ones they won't mind. You'd be fed too! (Whale meat!)
On Saturday at 1:30 PM there is an Outreach presentation at the Barrow Arctic Research Center (out of town about 5 miles, but you can catch a bus that will pick you up at the Library, next to the Heritage Center, at 1:00PM). I don't remember what this week's presentation is, but they are always interesting and you don't want to miss it.
Otherwise, check out three places to eat: Arctic Pizza, Pepe's, and Osaka. You might also want to eat one meal at Brower's Cafe (the building is a National Monument, which makes it worth doing). Ideally you'll run into local people who take a shine to you and will keep you entertained, one way or another, for hours!
Look me up in the phone book and leave a message on my answering machine. We can get together for a chat.
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I have read before that it was totally illegal there.
