We saw the Alaska Pipeline just north of Fairbanks at Mile Post 450.  It was Miriam's first viewing,  but I had seen it in Prudhoe Bay (Mile Post 0) in 1978 just after it was completed and I was working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In spite of the original controversy over its construction and still over its operation, the pipeline is an engineering wonder that most of the time protects the fragile Alaskan environment and provides billions of barrels of oil for the fossil-fuel-hungry American public.  It takes four-and-a-half days for barrel of oil to make the 800-mile trip thru the pipeline from the wells in Prudhoe Bay to the storage facilities and tanker ships in Valdez, but about 25% of America's oil production makes that trip on its way to consumers.  Without the Alaska Pipeline we would be much more reliant on foreign oil suppliers.
	These two pictures, that I took in 1978, show Mile Post 0 (left) where the oil starts its journey in Prudhoe Bay and Mile Post 800 (right) where it ends its journey at the terminal at Valdez.   Below left, we're at Mile Post 450 and right, I'm taking a rest inside a piece of the pipeline.
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