Fairbanks to Deadhorse return - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 160

The climate here is cool, windy and foggy at the best of times. Summer temperatures are
in the 30s and 40s. That is Fahrenheit! We were warned that snow can occur at any time
but is a certainty by fall when the temperatures drop so steeply that vehicles are normally
left running 24 hours a day. Apparently fuel trucks drive around refilling vehicles as they
sit idling.
This far north the sun does not set between May 10 th and August 2 nd and never rises
between Nov 18 th and Jan 23 rd . It is strange indeed, to be in a land where you can sit and
read your book without a light at any time of the night. I never seem to feel tired. When I
look at my watch and realize it is past midnight I go to bed but it is not because I am tired.
The body just does not get it. Once I am lying down with an eye mask shutting out the light
I sleep with no problem, but up to that point the usual biophysical cues that tell me to go to
bed just aren't there.