Day 32- Today Was The Day

Both Carl and I are having trouble falling asleep because it never gets dark. I’ve been covering the windows with heavy towels and putting a velour throw over the window in the door. It has helped some but there’s an opaque air vent right over our bed. Have to figure out some way to cover that over. Anyway, it was a pleasure to see the sky with large patches of blue mixed in with those clouds. We have the last of the Dempster multigrain bagels and a quick cup of coffee, I throw a lunch together and we hit the road. Several miles before we hit the Dalton, our forward progress is halted. We’re flying down a hill and around a corner to confront a cow moose standing on the yellow line. Carl notices she has more than four legs and by now I’ve got the camera focused on her and notice her calf standing very close. We’re held up about 10 minutes but we don’t mind. The Dalton Highway is 73 miles north of Fairbanks. We are prepared for the worst conditions imaginable and the Dalton doesn’t disappoint, for the first 20 or so miles. It’s a roughest, dustiest and most potholed stretch of road I’ve been on in quite some time. Then, out of no where and in the middle of no where for no particular reason, there is asphalt. It isn’t much smoother though because there are this massive dips, sometimes pitching you to the left, sometimes to the right and sometimes in both directions almost at the same time. Sometimes there is even a warning, other times, not so much. We planned to drive to the Arctic Circle which is 116 miles from the beginning of the road. Some people may already know the road was built to aid in the construction of the Alaska pipeline which brings crude oil from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks. The Dalton Highway or Haul Road as most people around here call it is about 440 miles while the pipeline runs for 1399 miles. This is due to construction issues, weaving around natural obstacles, lifted high over caribou migratory routes and a good part of the time, the pipeline even goes underground. The oil travels at 3.7 miles per hour and takes approximately 11 days to make it’s trip. The oil goes in hot and comes out warm, never freezing due to the friction on the pipe. At 56 miles in, we cross the Yukon River and notice the Yukon River Camp on the left who boast they are the last gas for more than 200 miles plus they offer a motel and restaurant. We pass on all services because we are not towing our camper. I am in awe of the fireweed as we travel along. It seems to blanket very large areas in even off in the distance, we see a pink purple hue to the landscape. Carl starts chugging right along, feeling the rhythm of the road which quickly changes back and forth between gravel, mud and asphalt when out of the corner of my eye, I spy a grizzly munching on some sweet looking sedge grass. As soon as I get the camera focused on the bear, it stands up and looks in my direction. So cool!! Anyone who watched Ice Road Truckers last season may remember when Alex parked his truck at Finger Mountain and took a short hike up to the 40 foot tall finger shaped rock jutting out of the tundra. Well, we didn’t hike out to it but we did stop and walk a short self guided path with signs along the way describing different types of flora and fauna that inhabits this arctic habitat. Eventually, we arrive at the signpost announcing we have arrived at the Arctic Circle. It’s probably the furthest north I will ever get although I would love to visit Churchill, Manitoba for the Polar Bears. Obligatory photo in front of the sign is taken and we decide to have lunch in the truck instead of the picnic area because the mosquitoes are very hungry in spite of the steady stream of visitors arriving in the area. Our trip back takes less time since I’m not yelling “stop” much of the time. That is, until we round a corner and there is a very large cow moose munching on the side of the road. She was very cooperative while I took a few photos and then we were gone again. We’re gone 10 hours, traveled approximately 400 miles and we are spent. Strangely, the road was the absolute worse for that first 20 miles and did get better as we traveled due to some fresh grading. I would have loved to go all the way to Coldfoot and had lunch where the drivers all stop but I knew it would be too much. For those of you who come this way, you will be pounded, your vehicle will end up filthy and when you need to buy gas ( and you will ) it will be more than a dollar more than in the city. Okay, that’s the down side. On the plus side, you have the opportunity to see some amazing countryside, view up close and personal, one of the engineering marvels of the 20th century and boast the claim that you drove the Dalton…