There are places where the sea ice stretches to the horizon, broken only by the occasional, trapped iceberg. Here you can find polar bears in increasing numbers. Elsewhere, there are stunning, mountain ranges with trees and rivers, home to caribou, wolves and the occasional musk ox. It is also a region that produces about a million barrels of oil a day. Prudhoe Bay is a network of gravel roads, production plants and drilling derricks.
Gas flares line the horizon.
Many still live in tiny, remote settlements along the north coast. They described themselves to me as Eskimos - even though many such groups elsewhere object to the term. The strongest voices against, came from the Gwich'en Indians further south, who feared the impact on Caribou herds. Over the course of 11 days, we travelled to Barrow, Prudhoe Bay, the Inupiat village of Kaktovic and Arctic Village, home of the Grich'en people. We flew in small propeller planes to landing strips often longer than the villages themselves.