Tag Archives: jack jessee

Pump stations, Brooks Range, & a raven

Days are getting longer and brighter around here now, but we’ve still got tons of great footage from the dimmer days of winter. Here’s our current favorite.

Over the course of about 2 hours after leaving Prudhoe Bay, Jack drives by Pump Station 3 on the Dalton Highway, then heads down into the foothills of the Brooks Range with Galbraith Airport and Pump 4 in the distance. After communing a few moments with a curious raven, he goes up and over Atigun Pass then down The Shelf, passing Chandalar state camp near the end.

Snow Phenomenon

Below you can see the unique snow phenomenon that Jack saw on the Dalton when he came over the top of Gobbler’s Knob a few weeks ago. The first video shows him seeing it and the low sun casting alpenglow into his cab. The second is a compilation of clips of it with real audio of he and another driver discussing it and other things. The third (at double speed) is coming up and under it and the blowing snow on the road. And the fourth is later that day, just a beautiful drive going south at 4x speed.

Jack believes the snow phenomenon was a localized wind storm that kicked up snow into what looked like a cloud or even a mountain from far away. It was a windy day overall.

The Dalton Highway in September

Last fall we took a camping/hunting trip up the Dalton.  We were lucky to get tons of beautiful weather.  Only a little rain.  Summer is almost here!

This old bridge had a few holes in it...
This old bridge had a few holes in it…
It's unbelievable how long this partially burnt/cured wood burned in the camp fire!
It’s unbelievable how long this partially burnt/cured wood burned in the camp fire!
Judy found some orange lichen.
Judy found some orange lichen.
There are tons of awesome trails along the pipeline.
There are tons of awesome trails along the pipeline.
Those are people over there!
Those are people over there!
Red-tipped lichen.
Red-tipped lichen.
Checking out rocks.
Checking out rocks.
That's the Dalton way over there.
That’s the Dalton way over there.
Zoomed in.
Zoomed in.
Weathered rocks.
Weathered rocks.
We heard a gun shot while we were here so someone must have gotten a moose.
We heard a gun shot while we were here so someone must have gotten a moose.
Cool old abandoned car.
Cool old abandoned car.
Owl pellet....?
Owl pellet….?
Gray Jay
Gray Jay
Bird of prey nest on pipeline machinery.
Bird of prey nest on pipeline machinery.
Jack's creative square fire.
Jack’s creative square fire.

Minus 57 degrees!

Happy 2020!  Jack has been seeing very cold temperatures up on the Dalton.  It’s been as cold as 40 below around Fairbanks but closer to 60 below up north.  Here are some photos from the recent weeks.  Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and has a terrific 2020!

Click here to go to the Anchorage Daily News and find out what happens at these cold temperatures.

 

Joy Wiebe Memorial Convoy “Joy Ride”

Jack participated in the Joy Wiebe Memorial Truck Convoy last Saturday that started at the Colville yard (Joy worked for Colville) on Van Horn Way and ended in Fox for a gathering.  There are 4 videos here with the 1st, 2nd and 4th being sped up versions of the convoy, as viewed from the dash cam in Jack’s truck.  The 3rd video in the sequence is “Joy’s Last Call” and comments from truckers over the radio, then the convoy goes by the pipeline viewing station where many onlookers are gathered and Jack lays on the horn like he was told to do.  There were 70-80 trucks in the convoy.

Below are the videos of the Memorial “Joy Ride” and here are a few photos Jack took of the procession and gathering.  If you aren’t interested in the sped up versions of the convoy and just want to see the real time comments on the radio just watch video #3.

From Brandilyn Mehrer/Facebook

 

Joy’s GoFundMe Page

 

 

 

Huge natural gas tank being built

Jack’s been doing a little bit of heavy haul this past week.  He took a 95 foot cement panel from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  The panel was just one small part of a natural gas tank that is being built in south Fairbanks, as you can see in the below photos.  It was about a foot of cement poured on a thick metal sheet that is slightly curved.  We stood on it to take photos.

Jack Jessee, just hauled a cement panel to Fairbanks for the new LNG tank.
LNG tank at Fairbanks Natural Gas under construction. The large crane on the far right picks up the panels first.
Two cranes and multiple man lifts, moving in coordination to place a panel (on the right).
The yellow strongback is being attached to the cement panel on the back of Jack’s truck.
Picking up the panel.
The strongback prevents it from cracking when they pick the cement panel up.
One cement panel is 95 feet long and 8 feet wide and it runs the full height of the tank.
A cement panel is being secured.
A crane and parts of Jack’s truck are in front of the inside of the tank.
The panels are held in place by 4 temporary supports (2 on top and 2 in the middle).

Chucky’s Corner

Here’s two 2-minute clips of a section of the road that is about 130+ miles from Fairbanks.  At the beginning, Jack passes by Chucky’s Corner on the right.  Chucky was a trucker who lost his life on that corner and it’s memorialized with the name, and the cross.

Welcome to the Dalton

Jack welcomes you to the Dalton, but kind of in the wrong order.  Instead of just getting on the Dalton, he’s just leaving it.  At the very end you can see the Elliot Highway to the right where it continues on to Manley, and at that point he has left the Dalton and is on the Elliot.  It’s a lot simpler than it sounds.  The Elliot Highway was finished in 1959, goes north from Fairbanks and turns west toward Manley, a town a few miles from the Tanana River.  The Dalton Highway was built in the 1970s to supply and access the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and starts where the Elliot turns west to Manley.  If Jack could, he’d redo this video so it goes the right away, welcoming you to the Dalton at it’s beginning.  But it’s such a beautiful day!