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NORTH...To Alaska!!!!

 

Dear Valued Client, Castlecrag, June 15th 1997

To those many clients unable to contact me in recent weeks - my sincere apologies. I was away from the office from Wednesday May 28th until Thursday June 12th. Being a strictly "One Man" business, this entire "Stevo's Philatelic Circus" grinds to a complete halt whilst I am gone, and the houseminder's simply collect mail and faxes and leave them in a big pile for processing when I return home.

This trip was planned at VERY short notice, so very few clients were even aware I was away. The main purpose for going was to attend "Pacific 97" in San Francisco - the last "Mega" stamp show to be held this Century. Attendance was around 165,000 people, and that is certainly "Mega". Well organised, and well run, something the Americans are specialists at.

Some of the stock on display for sale would simply blow your mind. The wealth in the USA is simply amazing. One dealer had on display dozens of singles and blocks of USA items priced up to $US275,000 a pop. I had never ever HEARD of this dealer before! He soon topped that one by showing me THREE mint blocks of four of the 1918 USA 24¢ "Inverted Jenny". Price was a cool $US 3 Million the trio, and he thought he already had found a possible buyer! Holding $A4 million of stamps in my hands was something I'll never forget! Another dealer had a block of 4, and another dealer had two singles, and there may well have been more - so much for "rarity" of this famous inverted stamp - they were "everywhere", despite a Scott catalogue per stamp of $US175,000! The bargain of the century must then be the NZ 1904 4d Lake Taupo, (SG #322c, Scott #113b) which also has an inverted centre. THAT stamp is unique, and has numerous expert Certificates, and at £50,000 is quite amazingly low priced. It is THE rarest 20th Century stamp from the entire Pacific region.

One UK dealer had a lovely lot of Aust. States, inc. a mint part sheet of 60 of the West.Australia "1d Black Swan" for a cool $US140,000. Some stands offered stamps, priced at nothing less than $US1000 each - and had mountains of such material on show. One evening auction, with NO single scarce stamps or sets, all just collection lots, in a catalogue with NO photos even, realised around $US 5 MILLION. (An excellent Auction result in Australia is about $A250,000.) And, every lot attracted a 15% "buyer's commission". So, take note, no reader better complain about MY stamp prices ever again!!

Before the show I flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, rented a car and drove 2000 km winding firstly up through Utah, then Omaha, then into Montana, and the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park. A fabulous place. There were large herds of Buffalo/Bison wandering across the roads, quite un-concerned about the car, and most with gangly calves, only a few days old. Despite the calendar approaching "Summer" it was anything but that in the higher reaches of Yellowstone: there were roadside snow drifts 10 feet deep, and totally frozen over lakes - very pretty. Watched the "Old Faithful" geyser erupt in spectacular fashion - park staff can predict to within 2 minutes when it will occur. Exiting Yellowstone Park to the East, I spent a night in CODY Wyoming, pop 6,000 (literally founded by Buffalo Bill) which claims to be "The Rodeo Capital Of The World".

The first Rodeo of the year was being held that very night, and what a hoot - most of Wyoming seemed to be there! A great experience for a city boy like Stevo. Talk about the "wild west" - the exclusive garb of males of all ages in this town was the big wide hat, huge brass oval belt buckle, Wrangler jeans (NO other brand) lairy shirts with twin pointed pocket flaps with pearl buttons, pointy toe boots with Cuban heels ∓c. Just like a movie set, and this is everyday wear. And they all seem to drive huge Ford or Chevvy pick-up trucks as well! Then drove to Thermopolis Wyoming, the largest thermal hot springs in the world. You bathe or swim outdoors in pools of sulphurous cloudy water, "cooled" to 107ºF, from the ground exit temp. of 140ºF. In mid-winter, at minus 30º with 10 foot of snow all around, you can still do this, swim in the permanent 107ºF water which must be quite an experience, to put it mildly!

Drove back down right through Wyoming into Salt Lake City, and attended a performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which was quite something. Just a few 100 ordinary folk like plumbers, typists, clerks or housewives who every Thursday evening pop in after work to give a public performance. Very talented stuff. Utah, with its heavy Mormon influence, has VERY strict liquor laws: you can not simply walk into a bar and order a beer or wine for 2 bucks - no way!

After "Pacific 97" I flew the long 4½ hour flight to Anchorage Alaska. I visited Alaska extensively a few years ago, and it is a superb tourist destination. In June-August the temperature in Anchorage or Fairbanks is often warmer than Sydney, which many would not believe. Example: catching a cab from Sydney airport today at dark, gloomy 6.30am, the roadside billboard temperature was 8º, and yesterday in Fairbanks it had been bright, sunny and nearly TWICE that temperature! (Yes, full sun at 6.30am). I flew the 3 hours north from Anchorage to BARROW Alaska, which is some 1200k by air, and is sited literally on the Arctic Ocean. Barrow is 600k north of the Arctic circle, and easily the farthest north I have ever travelled, and that includes some pretty desolate, chilly spots! Look it up on a map - it is on Latitude 71.17º, and is higher than ANY part of the land masses of Finland, Sweden, Norway, or even the most northern coast of Canada which is saying something!

I visited chilly, windy, Point Barrow, which is the most northerly point in the USA. Back in "town", had an expensive dinner at "Arctic Pizza" and shopped at the AK Supermarket ... both the world's northernmost, by far. The hotel was literally called "The Top Of The World Hotel"!! Quite nice standard - a far cry for the one I had in Greenland last year, which was "only" on the Arctic Circle. Yes, it WAS cold up in Barrow.

The average daily temperature whilst I was there was about 30ºF, or a tad below freezing, or for those who only think metric, below 0ºc. Could have been worse - the day before I arrived, it had been 20º below Zero, and snowing. And this is their SUMMER remember! BARROW is a tiny INUPIAT Eskimo settlement of about 3000 people. They are 600km from the nearest road, which starts at oil-rich Prudhoe Bay, and even that is only a graded track south that passes through towns like "Coldfoot" . one wonders how that town name was chosen!!?? All Barrow buildings are on raised wood stilts. Being 100% permafrost, house heat otherwise melts it, and the building will sink.

My hotel overlooked the Arctic Ocean, which was frozen totally solid for 3 miles out. (Remember this is almost Summer.) The village had just caught a large Bowhead whale. This is a BIG deal, and the family responsible flies a special flag from their "house" roof. The whale is hunted via a skin covered Umiak canoe, cut up on edge of the ice, the offal sinking when the outer ice melts. Meat is then towed from the edge of pack ice into town, and distributed via a strict pecking order system, based on age and social standing.

Many houses had wooden sleds outside crammed with large, disgusting hunks of bloody "muktuk" whale meat and vile looking blubber a foot thick. Each Bowhead has about 600 plates of hard black baleen, up to 12 foot long which is etched by Eskimo with designs, not unlike the scrimshaw technique. No flies or heat problems out here to worry about with meat in the open. I was astounded in this "Americanized" age that such kills would take place, but they most certainly do, and I have photos of these sleds. They have a maximum catch of 20 per season. They still wear hand made "mukluk" boots of bearded seal bases/soles and caribou fur uppers etc in winter, and which last for 4 or 5 years.

Barrow has a unique distinction in that the sun does NOT set for 84 days, between May 10th to August 2nd. It is bright - I needed sunglasses most of the time. I set the alarm for 3am one morning, as being a natural cynic, could not comprehend full sun at 3am. WRONG! It was as bright then as it was at noon - a phenomenon I will never forget. In contrast, the sun does not RISE for 67 days from November to January. It is pitch black - locals told me house lights, street lights, car lights are on all the time. It is often 60º below , just to add to the fun! (Lowest Alaska temp on record was 110 degrees BELOW in 1971.)

Costs of living in Barrow are terrifying. There are two (2) weeks a year when the pack ice cracks to (maybe) allow a barge/s to beach itself onto the gravel. (there is no jetty) Even then, these need to commence the journey at Seattle or Vancouver - look up that distance and routing on a map! The nearest road is 600k away, so EVERYTHING else is flown in. Petrol, all food, clothing, building materials, machinery, vehicles, etc. The very cheapest plane ticket from Anchorage was $US500, so imagine the cost of air freight on a bed, a bulldozer, or a generator ∓c. My hotel literally had 56 different channels on TV, 24 hours a day, so the satellites must be a boom for such remote communities. All alcohol is strictly prohibited, even in hotel rooms, (as it is in Prudhoe Bay) and possessing or drinking grog, even beer, is a Federal offence with a $5000 fine and jail term. A bottle of Scotch sells for $US300 "if you know the right people". Winter must be a great time. No booze, no sun, and 60º below! Even WATER costs residents 9¢ a gallon, as it must be desalinated. A morning shower costs the locals $US5.

All in all, a very interesting visit to a culture and a place that only a handful of tourists will ever reach. Back to "civilization" in Anchorage, for a day of trophy fishing on the famous Kenai Peninsula, a 3½ hr drive from Anchorage. The salmon had just started "running". At sea for years, they navigate back 1000's of miles to the exact creek they were hatched, and then spawn and die. The creek banks I passed were covered in countless 1000's of smelly rotting carcasses from last year, recently thawed out. The "sockeye" salmon were running in their millions. A largish fish, they typically are about 10kg, and are what you usually buy in cans at supermarkets here. The local sport fishermen totally ignore these, as they are so plentiful one only needs to net them. The one they prize is the KING SALMON, for which the Kenai River is a legendary source it is the official State fish for Alaska. Catching these is very serious business. Official licenses and permits are required. Then, out in a small Aluminum boat with 3 others to try one's luck, and that is all it is - NO real skill needed!

You need a graphite rod, 30lb line, and not even any bait just a colourful lure with hook, which skips along the river bottom as the boat drifts. We snagged large rainbow trout that were thrown back as the "season" didn't start for another week! Then as the day wore on and became chilly, BINGO, a large "KING" was hooked. Fully a metre long, that I could barely lift - it weighed 35 pounds, or about 16kg. After much excited taking of photos etc, the fish is gutted and filleted before your eyes. It yielded 20 pounds of fresh orange meat, that retails even in Alaska at $US150. The quoted cost to "stuff and mount" the fish was $US1,000 with the waiting time "about 12 months" for delivery! Later in the season (July) they are far more plentiful and fish twice this size (70 lbs) are not uncommon. The record weight is just short of 100 pounds, caught a few years back.

Back on the long flight Anchorage to San Francisco, then the 14 hour flight to Sydney, to face the mountain of letters, phone messages, e-mail messages, and faxes etc. I purchased some terrific material at the big show in SFO, some of it is included in the attached list number "JY-7", with more to come next month. Please spend recklessly - the "Arctic Pizza" account has already turned up on my Visa Card statement, among a few 100 other things I'm fairly positive I never purchased/flew in/ate/ drank/ slept in! All the best for now - some mail to open up!! Cheers, GLEN STEPHENS