Day 78 - Friday August 4/17

(Posted on Thursday August 31st at Battleford, SK)

Today, Friday August 4, we made the decision to drive to the Arctic Circle and sleep over there. Back in February while planning in the comfort of our dining room we had wanted to visit the Arctic Circle, but the description of the road made us leery. So we had taken a cautious approach and thought we would either drive up with the truck alone, or take a bus tour. However now that we are “road savvy travellers” and wild adventurers, and after encouragement from some folks who live in Alaska whom we met on at a campground, we threw the dining room caution to the wind and decided to both drive there and take Roscanante.(map)

We left Fairbanks in rain and 16 degree temperature. Nancy did the first stint of driving on better, paved roads. However we quickly learned that pavement is subject to greater frost heaving. So although there may be pavement, much of it is rolling, with many dips and much surface breakage, and this does not make for fast travel or safe vehicle handling.

We turned onto the Dalton Highway about noon. To quote our Alaska travel ‘bible’ The Milepost, “The Dalton Highway is unique in its scenic beauty, wildlife and recreational opportunities, but it is also one of Alaska’s most remote, dangerous and challenging roads.” With Michael behind the wheel we set off for the Arctic Circle. 

Although the road was not paved it was, for the most part, actually better than the paved highway we had just left.  The rain had stopped and the vistas and wildness as seen from the steep rising and falling of the road were magnificent. (Some hills had as much as 13% grade.) We stopped for lunch at the Yukon River Bridge in the now bright sunshine. (photos) 

Approaching the Yukon River

Yukon River Crossing Tourist Info centre, just under the pipeline
(and, we suspect, in part at least, funded by the pipeline!)

We picked up our certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle from a very friendly woman named Audrey who worked in the Visitor’s Centre near the Bridge. 

We also discovered that we were now ‘one percenters’ - travellers in Alaska who travel north of Fairbanks!

At the entrance to the Visitor's Centre was a quote from Robert Service's poem "The Spell of the Yukon", which had been quoted in part by the Park Ranger on our bus tour in Denali. Once again we found that through our own travels we could resonate with the words:

The Dalton Highway was originally built in 1974 to facilitate the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and for that reason the pipeline is clearly visible for most of the route. Today the road is mainly used by trucks carrying supplies to workers in the Prudhoe Bay oilfields.  These rigs travel fast and we learned to pull over and get out of their way.

We were initially skeptical in our opinion of the pipeline, but as we read the information posters at various points along the way we began to have a more open mind. We were particularly relieved to note that the pipeline was required to incorporate pathways for migrating wildlife at strategic locations along its route. We saw locations where the pipeline was elevated and other places where it was buried. Mostly however it is supported between pylons about 1 metre above the ground. It is heavily insulated and there are numerous stations that monitor pressure and flow.

Shortly before we reached our destination we encountered a cyclist standing at the top of a long grade heading in the opposite direction from us. We slowed to see if he needed help. He gave us the thumbs up and so we drove on but met a woman walking her bike up the huge hill. We stopped to ask her if she needed assistance. She informed us that in fact she and the man we had seen were travelling from the Arctic Ocean (at the end of the Dalton Hwy) to Argentina by bike. They plan to take two years to do the trip. We had met them on their second or third day out. The world is full of interesting people.

We got to the Arctic Circle about 4:30. How wonderful to have the signpost and information kiosk marking 66 degrees of latitude all to ourselves. We enjoyed the views that seemed to go on forever. 

We are at the 'star', bottom centre-left (the other mark, bottom centre-right, is just peeling paint!)

On the trip up the rain-soaked, dirt-surfaced Dalton Highway, Rocinante and Ram picked up a few pounds of dirt!!!:

Then we headed on to the free campground just behind the site. We had full choice of campsites. We selected a treed pull-through site with lots of privacy. 

We celebrated our arrival at this furthest point in our journey with a glass of wine. After Michael did some minor repairs to the trailer we had a nap.  It was 7:30 when we woke up. We ate dinner outdoors at 8:45. At 10:15 we were sitting outdoors writing blogs. Michael built a fire and we toasted marshmallows after 11:00 and it was still light out! 

Just before we went to bed in the midnight twilight we checked the firepit and discovered a snowshoe hare sitting in the fire pit and seemingly eating ashes and coals. It continued to enjoy this strange meal even though we were only a few feet away. 

The Arctic Circle has its mysteries and this is one.