We got to Fairbanks late Saturday afternoon. We stayed at Chena River Wayside State Recreation area for one night. We were tired and hungry and decided to grab a quick bite to eat. We picked an Alehouse, of course, and sat at the bar. We started chatting with Marshall, a biker who was sitting next to us, who had ridden from Texas. He was riding with two others and they hoped to make it up to the Arctic Circle. It was fun talking to the him and hearing what their challenges are and how they deal with weather and packing all their stuff. As we were talking with him, I turned and saw Ronnie.
We met Ronnie in Chicken and hung out with him in the Saloon. He is a biker from North Carolina and was going to drive the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle as well. He’s a really cool guy and we had a great time with him. We had exchanged emails and said we’d look him up if we made it his way. We were happy to see him again in Fairbanks. We chatted with him and Marshall and had a fun night.
We decided to move our camp to the Wal-Mart. Yes, it still feels weird and we don’t particularly like it but the store was clean and there were plenty of other RVs there. We had to get a tire fixed and get an oil change, so we knew we’d be in town a couple of days. After getting that stuff done, and dealing with the traffic noise at Wal-Mart, we decided we should get out of town for the 4th. We wanted to drive the Dalton Highway anyway so we repacked the truck, secured the trailer and took off Tuesday morning.
The Dalton Highway aka The Haul Road is 415 miles of 25% paved and 75% gravel road. It follows the Trans-Alaska pipeline up and down hills, through valleys, over the Brooks Range at Atigun Pass and across the North Slope to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay.
Much like the Dempster Highway, the road has really nice smooth sections and then it has horrible potholes and frost heaved sections. The first 115 miles to the Arctic Circle wasn’t too bad at all. We continued north and were in awe of the beauty as you approach the Brooks Range and climbed Atigun Pass. It was so cool to see the pipeline winding next to the road and pretty awesome to think of the installation and how much work it took.
We stopped at Coldfoot for fuel and had to have a beer at the furthest north watering hold in the United States. It was pretty empty and we were on our way pretty quickly.
We found a free campground at Galbraith Lake. It was 2 miles off the highway and absolutely gorgeous. Mountains all around, a river running through it. We could drive away from the main area of the campground and get away from the other campers. The only problem was once again the Arctic mosquitoes. Once they figure out you are there, they are relentless. We warmed up some more meat & potatoes (thanks again Mom!) in the camper and called it a night.
Wednesday morning we got up and had breakfast just as the rain came. And it rained all.day.long. It was cold and windy and all the rain made for a seriously muddy road. As we passed semis the mud would splash all over the truck. Everything was a mess. We only saw one musk ox on the way and one Arctic Fox on the way back. Otherwise no awesome wildlife, no beautiful scenery. It was overcast and gloomy.
We made it to Deadhorse and saw on the hotel sign that said it was 37 degrees. Happy 4th of July! We chuckled and couldn’t decide if the cold rainy, biting 37 degrees was worse than the 96 degrees we were hearing about at home. Considering we were more north than we had ever been before and that only 1% of the population will ever travel here, we’ll take the 37 degrees.
Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay is not a traditional town. It’s there because of the oil fields. It is very industrial and supports the oil workers. There is nothing there for tourists short of a general store, hotel and an opportunity to book a tour to see the Arctic Ocean. Since we’ve already camped on the Arctic Ocean we did not do the tour. We took a look around and were only in town for about an hour and then headed back south.
As it continued to rain, we decided we were going to drive until we felt like stopping. We pulled back into the Galbraith Lake campground for a potty stop and to put some fuel in the truck (it was expensive in Deadhorse and we had two 5 gallon cans).
The rain at this point was coming down sideways. We headed back out to the highway and we heard a weird noise. We thought it was the fuel cans Craig put back on top of the truck but unfortunately, it was another flat tire. Craig got it changed but not before he was soaked to the bone. What is it about flat tires happening in the rain? At this point, we were really frustrated so we decided to drive as far as we could. After we went back over Atigun pass, the weather cleared up and it was actually nice. We made it back to the Arctic Circle where there is also a BLM campground and stayed for the night.
Thankfully the drive home Thursday was nice and sunny and we had no issues. We did stop for a truck that was having tire issues as well. It was a young couple and his dad and they had broken their jack when trying to change the tire. The standard “where are you from question” was exchanged and it turns out the dad and son are from Michigan. Then I realized the dad was wearing a Wyoming Fire & Rescue T-shirt. We confirmed it was the Wyoming by us which it was. Again, such a small world.
We got back to Fairbanks happy to see our trailer still intact. Craig was able to plug the tire and get that back on the truck. We headed to Silver Gulch Brewery, which is America’s most North Brewery. We sat at the bar again because this is where we have found we will be able to talk with the locals or the bartender and learn more about the area. And so this is how we met a very nice guy that works for the State of Alaska, let’s call him “Paul Schmitt”. He began to tell us about a few, cool off the beaten path, trails we could take with the Jeep. He even offered to have us stop in at his office and he would show us on a map and be sure we knew where to go. So we stopped in Friday morning and he gave us an hour of his time. We are really excited to go out and explore in the Jeep. This is what we’ve been looking for and are looking forward to seeing Alaska this way.
We are struggling trying to balance being frugal so we can travel longer with going to places and meeting people. We have met so many great people when we go to the local pub or brewery that have added so much to our trip. We have a handful of new friends that we are going to visit as we pass through their towns. It’s only been 45 days, we’re still figuring it all out.
Off to explore…