Arctic Circle Adventure Part 1

On Tuesday morning, July 13, we planned to leave to drive up to the Arctic Circle, then return to Fairbanks that night, just so we could say we'd been to the Arctic Circle. We had seen signs that said 156 miles from Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle so we didn't think it would be too strenuous for a day trip. We got a later start than we intended (big surprise there!), and then after we were on our way, we saw signs that indicated it was farther than we thought. So I looked in some of the guide books and discovered that it was more like 200 miles each way between Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle. The scenery was spectacular, and as we left Fairbanks behind, it was a relief to be out in the wilderness again after having done all the "touristy" things in Fairbanks for several days. About 80-some miles north of Fairbanks, we picked up the Dalton Highway, also called the "Haul Road," and described as "one of Alaska's most remote and challenging roads." It connects Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay and was built for the Trans Alaskan Pipeline and follows the pipeline all the way to Prudhoe Bay. It didn't open to the public until 1978. We had talked about driving all the way to Deadhorse (about 8 miles from the Arctic Ocean--as far as an individual can drive without being part of a commercial tour group) but decided it was too far (1000 miles round trip from Fairbanks). The guide books we had that described the Dalton Highway warned that it has few services (in only three places along the entire 415 mile span), no emergency services, and road conditions are severe . . . one description said, "On some gravel sections of road, the washboard can be so severe your teeth rattle." It was pretty rough, but it was definitely wilderness, and we could really get a sense of Alaska's immensity and wildness.

One of the smoother sections of gravel road

A view of the road with the pipeline snaking through the wilderness beside it . . . we followed the pipeline for hundreds of miles.
Some of the scenery along the way

A little pond we happened upon along the road . . . gorgeous and peaceful! Joanne in front of the pond

Trying out the new tripod we bought and the timer on the camera

The first view of the Yukon River

The Yukon River from the bridge. The Yukon River Camp is the first stop for services on the Dalton Highway, but we didn't stop since we had a full gas tank when we left.

Dalton Highway or "Haul Road"

A field of wildflowers

The wilderness just stretches for miles and miles, as far as we could see

"Finger Mountain," a landmark for years and years

Terrain around Finger Mountain

A panoramic shot of the terrain

Dalton Highway and the pipeline headed north

Made it to the Arctic Circle!

By the time we got to the Arctic Circle, we had decided we would either have to go on to Coldfoot, 60 miles north, for fuel, or go back to Yukon Camp for fuel. But Yukon didn't have a campground there or south of there until almost Fairbanks. So we decided to go see what Coldfoot was like, since they had a campground.

One of the first views of the Brooks Mountain Range, which runs east to west across Alaska

Some more views on the way to Coldfoot

A view of the Trans Alaskan Pipeline winding its way through Alaska 's wilderness

Grayling Lake

We arrived in Coldfoot between 9 and 10 pm, fueled up (at $4.50/gal.!) and ate dinner in the restaurant there. Coldfoot was originally a gold-mining camp and made a resurgence as a camp for pipeline construction crews. Now it's a service stop on the Dalton Highway, catering mostly to truckers driving the highway to supply the oil industry at Prudhoe Bay. While waiting we talked with some other travelers . . . a woman and her friend and their kids who we had seen earlier at a few pull-offs along the way. It turns out that a few years ago, before she had kids, she had worked as a tour guide taking groups from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay. When we told her we planned to return to Fairbanks the next day, she said, "Oh, no, you have to at least go on to Atigun Pass; that's the most beautiful scenery of the trip!" She also told us we'd be much more likely to see wildlife there. So we studied the map and decided to take her advice and go that far the next day.

View from our campsite at Coldfoot Camp just before we went to bed at 11:30

The truck in front of the restaurant in Coldfoot Wednesday morning before we left. Ernie had decided by this time that we should not only take the tour guide's advice and drive on to the Atigun Pass, but since we were that far into it, we might as well go all the way to Deadhorse on Prudhoe Bay! I wasn't 100 percent convinced that was a good idea, but we were so close and would never have another chance to drive as far north in Alaska as possible. So off we went to continue our adventure! I made some sandwiches to eat for lunch

on the way, since we knew there were no services anywhere before Deadhorse--240 miles away!

After leaving the Coldfoot Camp, we went across the road to visit the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center, a beautiful facility run by the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service . . . extremely informative about the Arctic region of Alaska. They even have a summer volunteer from Anderson--student at Ball State--but she wasn't there that day :( They loan out binoculars, so we borrowed a pair for our trip north since we had sadly forgotten to take ours.

The tour guide lady had told us about the village of Wiseman north of Coldfoot, a few miles off the highway and one of her favorite spots . . . in fact, she loved it so much, she chose to get married there. So we decided to take her advice and check it out. It's pretty much out in the wilderness and not much there, but on a river in a beautiful setting. The Boreal Lodge was the only obvious place of business, with a lodge and gift shop. When we drove up, we spotted two labs lying in front, who immediately jumped up to greet us. The black lab grabbed a stick and ran toward us, and the white lab grabbed a ball and was obviously eager to play! I just had to laugh . . . they reminded me so much of Carter, Jesse and Amber's lab! The white one, Reload, is just begging Ernie to play ball with him!

Reload and Bogie in front of their Boreal Lodge in Wiseman

The gates to Boreal Lodge in Wiseman

Sukakpak Mountain as we drove into the Brooks Mountain Range

The last spruce tree along the northbound Dalton Highway, which was killed by vandals in 2003 but is still standing. The terrain changes in this area. . . few trees of any kind

Driving into the Brooks Mountain Range

A good view of the Brooks Mountains with the hovering clouds, the pipeline, and the road

Approaching the Atigun pass with snow on the windshield. The Atigun Pass is the highest highway pass in Alaska and the Continental Divide, dividing rivers running north to the Arctic Ocean and south to the Pacific Ocean

The road up the mountain

A musk ox on the side of the mountain--too far away to get a good shot. With the binoculars he was quite impressive!

An example of the condition of the road much of the time

We arrived in Deadhorse a little after 11:00 pm. At that location, the sun never sets between May 13 and August 13, so it still seemed like daylight to us. But there wasn't too much activity at that time of night, so we didn't feel like we were in the way when driving around looking at the sights. My impression of Deadhorse was that it looked like dozens of construction sites in one place--all the buildings are the metal buildings that are usually on construction sites, lots of trucks and lots of machinery. It all looks very industrial--everything there supports the oil fields and industry. We couldn't drive out to Prudhoe Bay, where the oil fields are--individuals aren't permitted beyond Deadhorse, which is about 7-8 miles from Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean. The only way to go is with a commercial tour group, and we didn't really want to do that, so we settled for going as far as Deadhorse and seeing as much there as we could.

A few sights around Deadhorse . . .

We gassed up at a self-service gas pump, one of only two places to get gas there, and located the "campground." The only camping permitted in Deadhorse is in the parking lot of the Arctic Caribou Inn--which is not like any hotel I've ever seen before--or any campground, either! There were no hook-ups, no services--we could use the restroom inside, but that was about it. So about midnight we set up the camper, ate the remainder of our sandwiches we hadn't finished at lunch, and tried to get some sleep after a very long, hard day!

See "Arctic Circle Adventure Part 2" for the return trip back to Fairbanks.