Alaska 2011: In search of the Arctic

Oops, I forgot to show you our route on the last blog post. So, here you go...green marks our route from the Yukon into Alaska.

Next up: north!

Day 12: Fairbanks to Coldfoot
Sunday, July 17
After being disappointed in our attempt on the Dempster Highway, we decided to try the Dalton Highway, the 414-mile haul road that follows the Alaskan pipeline up to Deadhorse. This road takes you as far north as you can drive on a public road.

We'd heard lots of horror stories about this road. Like the Dempster, when the weather turns pear shaped, so do the driving conditions. We were all pleased the sun was shining.

The road was lined by spectacular patches of fireweed...

As we moved towards the Arctic, the vegetation became more sparse and stunted. We began to fondly call these trees "asparagus trees." They had a certain Dr Seuss-like quality to them.

The road accompanies the oil pipeline the whole way. The sight of the shiny tube snaking its way along the road became strangely comforting.

The sky got bigger and bigger the farther north we rode.

And then before we knew it we were at the Artic Circle!

It was clear that the road had a bit of a reputation...

But we made it without incident to our first stop, pitched our tents at the Marion Creek Campground, and settled in for a good night's sleep before we tackled the next leg of the highway.

Day 13: Coldfoot to Deadhorse to Coldfoot
Monday, July 18
By 10am, we were back on the road, which stretched on for miles and miles ahead of us (240 miles, actually). The ride north was long and meandering for the most part, with the exception of Atigun Pass, a steep windy climb followed by an equally steep and windy descent.

Here we had our only bike incident of the day. Coming down from the pass is one of the very few and very short sections of paved road, and after all the miles of slippery tricky gravel, it was here that Mike managed to find a pothole nearing big enough to swallow his bike. He got the front wheel clear but the rear rim got a little bruised.

The Dalton brought some of the most breathtaking scenery we'd seen yet....

Fifty miles from Deadhorse, the road tested our resolve to make it to the end. Apparently to keep dust down, they regularly put down calcium chloride, which when wet turns to something like Vaseline. Not only had they just put down this lovely road-conditioning material, but they had sprayed the road with water, just to test us! It was more than an hour of white knuckle riding, making arrival all the sweeter!

This is as close as we could get to the Arctic Ocean—short of paying a bundle each to go on a "tour" with a token 20 minutes to dip our toes in the ocean. We settled for the river that flows to it.

It was about 6pm when we arrived. We gorged at an all-you-can-eat buffet and then turned our bikes around, to take in the scenery all over again.

We stopped to check out a herd of muskox...

And then again to explore the tundra...

And then again to pose with our bikes as the sun started to set...

And the sun kept setting....

And setting....

And setting some more...

Until we realized it was probably rising by now...

We stopped briefly at a campsite partway back, at about 3am...

And we were without a doubt pretty sleepy...

But it was just too beautiful to stop.

And then it was back through Atigun Pass, where we were swallowed up by heavy fog.

And finally, at 5:30am, we rolled back into Marion Creek Campground. Not quite 24 hours of riding (and stopping for photos). Exhausted, we were asleep within minutes of the tents going up.

Day 14: Coldfoot to Fairbanks
Tuesday, July 19
After a few hours of sleep, we were back on the road.

It was time to say goodbye to the pipeline...

And return to Fairbanks. First priority? Washing off the mud!

If there was any one part of this trip that topped the rest, the Dalton was it. It was a magical, breathtaking, surreal experience.