Above the Arctic Circle

[pagamony]

Our scout troop thought this was a good idea.



494 miles of road separate Fairbanks from Prudhoe Bay. The Dalton Highway was built to service the pipeline that was built by the big oil companies who turned the road over to the state several years later. Thus, it is now open to flatbed trucks, tourist cars, iron-butt motorcyclists on KLR 600s, and even the truly nutty bicyclists.



This is the starting point. The first 20 miles might be the worst road, perhaps to warn off casual tourists. After that, much of the road is good pavement, but much is horrible pavement and much is still dirt in sections where pavement would not last. Much of the time, the dirt road is better than the frost heaved pavement.







This is a very, very dusty road.





with the beauty of fireweed next to the pipeline. There doesn't appear to be a lot of pipeline security along the way, but I imagine there must be more than meets the eye.





Eventually you come to the visitor center at the Yukon River crossing - notice the solar panels and tomatoes plants- two common sites up here.





and if you put kids by the river, they are going to throw rocks:





Finally, the arctic circle. It's deceptive in summer, no sign of snow or ice or even tundra. It was hot, dry, and about as remote as you can get. This was July 5, but don't get used to it, average first freeze is in mid August.





This is a renowned area for birding, and this is a Ptarmigan, something you don't see around here.





Just past the Arctic Visitor Center, which is a really great place, you find the town of Wiseman, with wandering horses and a population of about 15. You can read alot about Wiseman on web sites such as Wikipedia.





This is probably the most relaxed place I have been. Several homes this one





and this one are scattered about.





Wiseman is home of some of the most gracious people I have ever met. They were cooking their July 4 leftovers (not a lot of refrigeration up there), and they invited all nineteen of us for dinner. We had a fantastic time with some really interesting and quite independent folks. This is why you travel.





The entertainment was superb.





We stayed for a few hours and even hiked the mountain to the town cemetery to pay our respects to the graves of their two veterans, before dashing back down the hill ahead of the storm of mosquitoes. That was a good time to say adieu and head on up into the Brooks Range. The road is wet due to the calcium chloride they spray on the road to keep down the dust - you better have rust proofing if you live up here.

.



The Brooks Range is rugged, pristine, primeval-looking, with numerous snow filled cirques among the higher 6000'+ peaks. Eventually they gave out to the midnight sun.





and we found this lovely campground. Well, its more of a flat place above the boggy river delta that provides the water that fuels the incredible birth rate of the state bird - the mosquito - which produce a unique torture as you fill a cat hole under the midnight sun without a tree to hide behind.





Finally, you come to Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay, and oil rigs in the distance.





Where you might stop for supplies at the local True Value (they really are everywhere).





before venturing onto the tourist center.





Where the prices are reasonable.





This is an interesting place. A very small amount of the area is driveable while most of the area including all the shoreline is behind private security gates. At this point, you need to pay to join a tour bus which gives you a decidedly industrial viewpoint of the area. From the numerous five +/- acre drill pads, they can farm some many square miles of oil deposits. The operation is 24/7/365 until they reach phase 3 weather, 75F below zero, in which case all outdoor activity stops. Vehicles are not only plugged into the usual block heaters, but also left running through the cold winter. That is a relatively small inefficiency. When you drill for oil, you also get natural gas. They have limited options for what to do with this byproduct, so much of it just burns off year round. This is lost money, so there is the big effort to build a pipeline though Canada down to the US. The whole place is an ugly site, but a small blip in an otherwise enormously vast landscape.



Once on the tour, you will also find lots of these Caribou strolling by the sand hills where bears make their winter dens.





And finally you reach the Arctic Ocean shoreline.





Where you can prove your manhood by swimming in the ocean. It is cold, but considerably warmer than the water in Glacier National Park.





And that is it. The drive back to Fairbanks is long but uneventful. Mosquitoes, trucks, mud, and mountains - which is a pretty good description of Alaska in summer. I recommend it.

[swamphox]

so yall didnt need any security passes at all? thats something Id always heard about that area around deadhorse and prudhoe bay. that and alcohol is illegal.



very cool tr

[KneeDeep]

That's bad ***.

[Zeus]

Wow. May be the Best Summer TR this year.

[Ski Bunny]

What an awesome experience! Great TR!

[SKISC]

I have alway wanted to drive that road. Nice picures

[wolfpack02]

Very cool thanks,

So did you guys drive a bus all the way from Durham, that's nuts

[IMASKIER]

Killer TR. Ive been following this season of Ice Road Truckers which is running the Dalton. Its a cool switch to see these pictures after seeing it covered in snow/ice.

[pagamony]

Yes we drove the bus (and a Toyota) from durham to prudhoe. It's actually the third time the bus has done that trip. Many interesting stops along the way of course. I'll may put up some more trip reports.



Walker and I did not drive back to Durham. I have relatives around Anchorage so we dropped off the trip and spend a few days near there, including Girdwood, before flying home. I love frequent flyer miles.

[marzski]

@Zeus 181033 wrote:Wow. May be the Best Summer TR this year.



+1