Arctic Circle Adventure Part 2

Since we spent the night in the parking lot of the "hotel," it really wasn't a very restful night. Trucks and people seemed to be coming and going most of the night and very early in the morning. Thursday morning we went in to the Arctic Caribou Inn, paid $10 for parking in their parking lot (no amenities--we could have paid another $12 each for a shower, comparable to a truck stop shower--maybe not quite as nice--but we decided not to take advantage of that service). I did brush my teeth in the restroom though, since we couldn't drain the camper sink in their parking lot. The only choice for food (other than a bowl of cereal in the camper) was the breakfast buffet at the "hotel" for all we could eat at $15 each. We joined the oil field guys in their Carhartts and work boots and a few other tourists for breakfast--I felt quite out of place (I think I saw two or three other women), but after 30+ years of working on construction sites, Ernie felt right at home :) By the time we finished breakfast and headed south, I was more than ready to say goodbye to Deadhorse and feeling like I really wasn't sure it was worth the time and effort we had expended to go to the end of Alaska :) But again the beauty of nature on the drive back won me over, and by the time we got back to Fairbanks, I was glad we had made the trip. Ernie never had any doubts--he was enthusiastic about the entire adventure. We can say now that we conquered the entire (almost) 1000 miles of the Dalton Highway and made it safely back (thanks to our good driver!), and we've gone as far north in Alaska as we could go on our own. It's kind of fitting that on the one-month anniversary of leaving home, we were at our farthest point north!

The weather on the way back for the most part was about the same as the trip north--cloudy with periods of light showers--but even that couldn't diminish the beauty of the wilderness.

From atop a hill, a view of some of the Arctic landscape. We learned that the Alaska Arctic region gets less rain and mountain run-off than Arizona per year. But the temperature never gets warm enough for the water to evaporate, and the permafrost doesn't permit it to soak into the soil, so the little water that does fall doesn't have any place to go--it just sits on top of the soil. Therefore, it provides plenty of breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which are horrendous! Even though they swarmed around us every time we opened the truck door and flew into the truck in hordes, we never got bitten! We did spend lots of time killing them in the truck, though! With no trees, we could see for miles!Nearing the Atigun Pass again--this time it was snowing even harder than earlier! Notice the snow on the ground on the north side of the mountain. The splotches are snowflakes on the windshield! You can see the road we'll travel going up to the mountain.Going through the Atigun Pass in the snow . . . on JULY 15!! Finally starting to see some blue skies up ahead . . . view of the mountains and trees
Sukakpak Mountain, finally with the sun shining for a short period

We made a brief stop in Coldfoot to fuel up again and stop at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center to return the binoculars.

As we were driving south, Ernie spotted a moose with her calf in the field right beside the road, but he couldn't stop in time to get pictures. So we turned around and went back to get some shots. Her baby disappeared into the brush, and we never saw it again.

Mama Moose out in the field, maybe looking around for her baby . . . or maybe just waiting for us to leave so she could get back to business

We turned around again to head back south and Mama Moose had returned to munching on the bushes right beside the road, so we were able to get another, better picture of her.

We passed out of the Arctic Circle Thursday evening--our Arctic Circle Adventure is almost over, but we're still on the Dalton Highway and have a ways to go to get back to Fairbanks--almost 200 more miles, in fact. (I had a picture here of the Arctic Circle sign again on our way back but accidentally deleted it and can't get it back in the right place.)

We stayed in a campground south of the Arctic Circle Thursday night, run by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management)--free but no services. I cooked dinner on the stove in the camper, and we had everything we needed--except a shower!! We decided not to use the shower in the camper Friday morning since it's too cumbersome to set up, and we'd be back in Fairbanks by afternoon. Beautiful setting and very peaceful! I've found I enjoy the campgrounds most that are out of the mainstream and in more natural settings, but I do miss the amenities that the bigger campgrounds near towns provide--especially showers!

Yukon River Camp--the first place with services (gas, food, rooms) on the Dalton Highway when driving north. Rooms here are $199/night! Food was OK, but nothing special--but expensive. Next services north are in Coldfoot, 120 miles away. Camping is not permitted here, but the campground where we stayed is about five miles north.

The Yukon River

Almost at the end of the round trip up the Dalton Highway and back again--well documented by mud and crud!

The truck and camper in the wilderness at Sukakpak Mountain on the way back to Fairbanks

The new camper is obviously broken in now! Ernie had to clean the mud off the back window in order to see out and clean off the license to be legal.

Near the end of our trip--a very muddy truck and camper with a proud but tired driver!! The road was as rough in places as we'd read (about 75% unpaved), and even though the posted speed limit was 50, we rarely went over 40. Trucks have the right of way on the Dalton Hwy., so every time we met one or one came up behind us, Ernie had to pull over to let them pass (they certainly didn't slow down--they had goods to deliver!) It beat us to death and used and abused the truck, but the scenery and the challenge was worth it! We were glad we hadn't taken the advice of a fellow camper who told us to turn around and come back as soon as we crossed the Arctic Circle--there was nothing to see beyond that. He was definitely wrong!

When we got back to Fairbanks, we decided to use up some Priority Club points and spend the night in a Holiday Inn Express as a reward for surviving the rigors of the Dalton Highway! That was a very welcome luxury--and one of the best showers ever!!