DANGEROUS TRIP FROM THE NORTHWEST TO BARROW

Two of my clients last week were teenagers in need of immunizations in order to begin school in Barrow.  Their grandmother was acting as their temporary guardian until their mother arrived, hopefully sometime in the next several weeks. 

While talking with the teenagers, I learned that unfortunately, their father was incarcerated somewhere in the Northwest.  The grandmother shared that she has lived in Barrow for several years and knowing that her daughter and her grandchildren needed a safe haven and a new start, invited them to come to Barrow to live with her. 

The two oldest children flew up on their own while their mother plans to drive up the Alcan Highway to Alaska and on the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Deadhorse.  The only way from Deadhorse to Barrow is on the ice road from there to the village of Nuiqsut and then by having two snow machines pulling one’s vehicle on large sleds to Barrow.  There were several startling bits of information in hearing her plan…she has never been to Alaska, she has two preschoolers and a three month old infant with her and I knew that driving the Dalton Highway can be treacherous with extremely dangerous conditions and that the ice road is beginning to shift with the changes in temperature causing buckling, sinking and instability.

The grandmother shared that the cost of barging a vehicle up to Barrow was very expensive and even to have one back hauled from Prudhoe Bay was close to $5,000.  It would cost more than that, it sounds like, to have one shipped on the barge that travels up the Western coast of Alaska, arriving in Barrow in July or August.  Still, there must be a safer way to bring a vehicle and a family to Barrow or to appropriate something to drive after arriving.  It's difficult to imagine the logistics of driving three young children alone on a long distance drive, and even more so for this young woman and the route she's planning.  While taking the teens' height and weight, one of them got a text message from her that she had just pulled out and was beginning her journey.

I stepped out of the exam room to draw up the immunizations and was grateful to find Michelle and Bertrand in the hallway talking about a recent shipment of vaccinations.  As I expressed my concerns to them, Michelle’s mouth dropped open and Bertrand looked as though he was sure he hadn’t heard me right.  Having lived in the Arctic longer, they were even more alarmed than I was.  Michelle talked about a doctor from the hospital who several years ago about this time, decided to ride a snow machine to one of the villages and was cautioned against it by the people here.  He affirmed that he would be fine and left alone on his journey.  His snow machine was found several years later in a deep crevice, but there has never been a trace of his body seen. 

Michelle suggested that I advise the Grandmother to have her daughter try to find several other people driving vehicles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and to try to form a caravan with emergency supplies, extra gas, food and communication equipment.  Being stranded alone on the highway would most likely prove to be fatal to her and her children.  The other vehicles that might be seen on the highway are large semi’s, driving at high speeds, spraying snow, ice and rocks along their path, giving sometimes zero visibility to other vehicles on the road.  It is recommended that only four wheel drive vehicles be driven and that one should expect theirs to be pretty battered along the way.  

We all collectively thought that maybe by the time the woman reached Fairbanks that she would have a change of heart.  She would have come a very long distance by then with the most difficult leg of her journey still ahead of her.  Storing her car in Fairbanks until someone with experience could drive it up next winter when the ice road is stable occurred to all of us as well as selling it and replacing it with one of the cars that are for sale in Barrow. 

I was grateful for Michelle and Bertrand’s knowledge and input and felt as if I was an emissary, slipping back into the exam room, charged by them both with expressing all that we had discussed.   Talking with the grandmother in a way that wouldn’t put her on the defensive took a bit of thought and I was conscious of needing to balance this with wanting to be effective in what I was sharing.  Sometimes, once a decision has been made, the mind is not open to a change in plans, even if wisdom calls.  The grandmother thanked me for the concerns and ideas, but affirmed that her daughter would be alright.  She did talk about suggesting to her that she and the children fly from Prudhoe Bay to Barrow and either find someone willing to bring the vehicle over the unstable ice road or see if storing it in Prudhoe Bay was an option.  It might not be and asking anyone to navigate the ice road this time of year would be asking someone to risk their life. 

I’m hoping to report by this time next month that the woman has arrived, that her children have all received their immunizations and however they come to Barrow, that their journey was a safe one.  Sending up some prayers…