Early in the day, I got some better pictures of the musk oxen grazing along the river.
I also finally got some decent pictures of a trumpeter swan, which I was very excited about since all the others had been too far away.
Travel on the Dalton Highway is challenging and ripe with opportunities for disaster. The road was initially built entirely of gravel, and currently about 75 percent of it is still gravel, with small portions which have been paved. It was built as part of the Alaska Pipeline project, facilitating the construction of the pipeline and serving as the main supply route to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. As such, it sees heavy truck traffic, and the trucks have the right of way. When encountering oncoming tractor trailers, it is recommended to greatly reduce your speed and stay as far right as possible, without going too far onto the soft shoulders. There are some spots which require that you come to a stop on the shoulder ahead of time, such as narrow bridges, curves at the bottom of a hill, or any other place where a tractor trailer might need extra space. Not only does this make things safer for you and the other drivers, but it greatly lessens the risk of flying road debris damaging your vehicle or windshield. One of the times we had to pull over, we were behind a pilot car waiting to be led through a construction area. The flag lady walked over to us asking that we pull way over in order to make room for an extremely oversized load – she said it was 108 feet long and 21 feet wide! We gladly obliged, and it turned out to be a boat headed for Prudhoe Bay. I took video of it driving past us – check it out!
Due to the nature of the road surface, the climate and the heavy tractor trailer traffic, there are extensive and constant road repairs taking place on the Dalton throughout the summer months. The flagman we spoke with near Galbraith Lake said they were raising the road surface by three feet in this particular stretch. It’s a huge operation, and on our way south I took video of a short section of it.
One of the more notable sections along the Dalton Highway is Atigun Pass. It is certainly one of the most beautiful areas, with the rivers and streams cutting between its snow-capped mountains which are home to Dall Sheep and Arctic Ground Squirrels. Atigun Pass is one of the most dangerous areas too, with wet, slippery 12 percent grades winding through slide areas, and avalanche areas during the winter. We felt a little sorry for these guys on their bicycles about to make the climb.
I took a second video of this breathtaking scenery on our way south.
About 10 miles before reaching Coldfoot, the low tire indicator light came on. We pulled over and checked the tires, finding that one was low, but still able to be driven on. We drove to Coldfoot Camp for gas, and the tire pressure hadn’t changed much. We ate dinner there and went back up the road to Marion Creek Campground. The bear scat was still there to welcome us at the entrance, and the two piles of moose droppings had turned into three. Naturally we chose the exact same campsite we had stayed in the first time, and felt oddly at home! I got busy setting up the tent while Ken dug out our tire repair kit, which we purchased specifically to have with us on the Dalton. It proved to be worth its weight in gold and maybe more, saving us from having to pay for repair services in Coldfoot. The culprit was this piece of metal, which Ken pulled out and inserted a plug to seal the puncture.
After that tedious process was done, he re-inflated the tire and it was as good as new!
I saved the metal shard as a souvenir, and we relaxed in the company of mosquitoes for a while before retiring for the night.
Our sixth and final day on the Dalton Highway looked very much like our first day. It was overcast with patches of fog and rain, again inhibiting our view of much of the distant landscape.
We did at least manage to get pictures of each other at the Arctic Circle sign this time!
The next stop was at Yukon Crossing for gas, restrooms and a snack. I took these pictures of the bridge from a distance as we approached. It’s quite a structure, having a wood deck with a 6 percent grade.
After refueling, we stopped across the road at the visitor center. I had a nice conversation with the lady who was volunteering that day. She was clearly passionate about what she does, and travels up the Dalton herself every once in a while. She had also seen the white wolf near Galbraith Lake a couple of years ago, and he was alone at that time as well. She was a wealth of information and a pleasure to talk to, and was very interested in hearing about what we had seen on our journey. She gave me Arctic Circle Crossing Certificates for Ken and I, and with that we were on our way again.
We didn’t stop again until we reached Fairbanks, where we got food and a hotel room at the place we stayed before. Upon inquiring about the nearest car wash, the girl at the desk was nice enough to give us a couple of washcloths and let us use their hose to spray down the Jeep on the other side of the building. We got a lot of the heavy stuff off, but it was nowhere near clean!
Later in the hotel parking lot, I encountered a guy looking studiously at the back of our Jeep, which by now has become very common. He turned out to be the owner of the truck camper we saw broken down on our first day on the Dalton Highway. He said it cost him $1200 to have it towed back to Fairbanks, and was planning on the repairs to cost another $1400! On top of that, the poor guy had been stuck in this hotel for close to a week waiting for the repairs, and with 4th of July weekend approaching, he was concerned he might not be able to leave until the following week.
We were certainly glad we didn’t encounter any major problems on this portion of our trip. From Fairbanks to Deadhorse and back, we drove 1,000 miles round trip; 800 of those miles were on one of the most remote and dangerous roads in the country, with the longest stretch of road without services (240 miles) in North America. That means no gas, no hotels, no food and no cell phone service – truly one of the wildest areas accessible by car in Alaska, which is pretty wild to begin with.
We took a couple of days to regroup, stock up on supplies, and give the Jeep a good bath before setting out for Denali National Park. The rest of the photos for our final two days on the Dalton Highway are in this photo album.
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