Deadhorse may be rugged but it certainly maintains its own character. We camped on a gravel pullout by the river on solid (frozen) ground, apparently at an inappropriate angle given our early morning aches. The fog rolled in very thick overnight and persisted through midday.

Our scheduled 2 pm departure on the Arctic Caribou Inn tour bus was delayed because a tour group arriving via aircraft was unable to land as scheduled in the fog. Not to fear, after a short delay the four small planes were cleared for landing at the Deadhorse airport so we boarded the bus with our tour guide/security guard to meet the arriving group. The two hour tour was scheduled to include a thirty minute video about energy in the north but given our delayed schedule, we missed the video and subsequently the opportunity to pay for the tour. The bus took us out through some of the drilling operations and ultimately culminated in a stop at the Arctic Ocean. There was a female polar bear in the area so the possibility of exiting the bus and actually touching the Arctic was in question. However, our driver very kindly contacted additional security to keep an eye out for polar bears so we could exit the bus. We were thrilled with the opportunity to dip our extremities in the frigid waters of the Arctic. We were equally thrilled, and a bit relieved, to actually see the northern terminus of land as the vastness and seemingly infinite nature of the arctic had us wondering if there really was an edge of this magnificent space.