The Dalton Hwy or "Haul Road" carries you as far north as you can go by road -- period. It has been featured on Ice Road Truckers during winter when it is covered with snow and ice. The summer finds it a mix of some fairly decent pavement, but most of it is rough sections of rock, mud and gravel. Driving is further complicated by ongoing road work during the summer season. My overall impression of the road is when it is good it is very very good, but when it is bad it is horrid. I have Ann to thank for discouraging me from driving too far up on my own.
It is 500 miles from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay which lies 300 miles above the arctic circle on the shore of the arctic ocean. You cross the mighty Yukon River, pass through the stunning Brooks Range, and continue on across the vast north slope on arctic tundra (adjectives fail here). Always in close proximity to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one is ever mindful of the strange interface between technology and wilderness. Surprisingly (although I am sure many would violently disagree) I found a certain beauty in this silver ribbon snaking along the road through some of the most pristine country known to man. I know, I know, get to the photos ...
The Arctic Caribou Inn is the high end of accommodation in Deadhorse -- described in the Lonely Planet Guide on Alaska as a "dystopia". No one actually lives in Deadhorse permanently. Laborers work two weeks on, 7 days a week, alternating with two weeks off. It is difficult to convey the ambience.
This sign was taped on the back door entrance near my room. I must admit to a certain uneasiness when I went out at 4:00 am the next morning to "look around"
This is the back door entrance to the corridor on which my room was located. The hotel is quite pricey but given the remoteness of the location and the extreme climatic conditions, you come to think of it as a bargain -- at least it has hot showers. I will mention, however, that the only news station available on cable TV here is FOX.
There is currently a lot of roadwork being carried out on the Dalton. By chance, I was lucky to have chosen the 4th of July weekend to go up as most of the workers were off and there were no major delays.
Every summer there are extensive fires along the road. This hillside is covered with fireweed -- the first plant to return after a fire. Although the photo came out somewhat pale, the entire landscape is a vibrant fuchsia.
At Mile 56 on the Dalton, a 2290ft. wooden bridge spans the Yukon River. Here you see the barge docked alongside the bridge. The barge delivers supplies to villages along the river.
This is Yukon Camp, one of the few places you can sleep and/or eat on the road. The young man smiling in the foreground was our amazing driver -- and a safer driver I have never ridden with. There were only two of us in the van on the way up. My fellow passenger was a researcher from California heading up to spend 2 weeks at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, research station at Toolik Lake.
A moose the likes of which are not commonly observed on Willow Run.
The pipeline snakes though the wilderness alongside the road. In the few places where it doesn't threaten the permafrost it is buried underground.
The road passes through Atigun Canyon and follows the Atigun River on its way to Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range. Here you see the pipeline parallel to the road looking down into the canyon.
The views on the road through Atigun pass defy description. I have selected just a sampling of photos from this area of the trip.
Here, again, you can see the pink tapestry of fireweed on the slope.
The mountains of the Brooks Range were partially covered in low cloud -- enhancing their mystical appearance.
The Franklin Bluffs
These bluffs, pingos, ice wedges, and other features found on the arctic tundra are described in great technical detail in a series of Guidebooks produced by the International Conference on Permafrost. http://www.geobotany.uaf.edu/nicop/docs/gb009.PDF is a link to one produced in 2009. The photos in the book are so similar to many of mine it is almost scary. On this section of road we saw a herd of 8 musk oxen, tundra swans, orange-footed geese, more caribou, and a guy with a donkey (?). I wish the photo of the musk oxen would have come out better but even with a telephoto they were pretty far away.
The road heading across the north slope toward Deadhorse
Wildlife seems to have reached some kind of accommodation with the industrial activity in Deadhorse. Here you see caribou relaxed in close proximity to aluminum clad warehouses.
These vehicles, called rollagons, are used on the tundra to avoid damaging the surface. The following link provides information on how they work: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gentle+yellow+giants:+prowl+the+Arctic:+CATCOs:+truly+a+cat+for+all...-a0122407776
Deadhorse is centered around Lake Colleen. I found it not without a kind of austere appeal -- even if it is a dystopia. The building across the lake is one of the newer "units".
More wildlife in Prudhoe Bay. This is the closest I have ever been to caribou
... up close and personal.
Apparently these sand dunes on the edge of the ocean become dens for grizzlies during the winter
The Beaufort Sea, at last ...
One guy went swimming. I didn't...
It may seem strange, but I would be happy to repeat this trip with our driver, tomorrow. As luck would have it, I ran into someone I know from Fairbanks in Coldfoot Camp who got the name of a trucker who would be willing to take me up to Deadhorse in winter. I can't wait...
