My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Thank you John and I'm happy to share......

So we've very much enjoyed our stay in Fairbanks, Alaska but we will be leaving in the morning for Deadhorse, Alaska. I purchased a bus ticket to take us the last (7) miles since you can't drive it for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. So we're on a schedule now. I finally told the dogs that they get to swim in the Arctic Ocean and they're both pretty stoked about it......



I started yesterday with getting the Jeep into the Walmart garage and getting an oil change and lube (since the last one was 10/13) and I had the tires rotated as well.



I collected some cardboard to make protectors for my windshield but when I slid the cardboard across the windshield I noticed that it already had (4) rock chips and (3) cracks. I couldn't believe it. It really hasn't seen that much bad road so I guess this is just some bad luck along the way. One of my bike tires has a hole in the sidewall of the tire too. Hmmmm.....



Other than that just a bunch of small errands plus explored the town. Today we took the Jeep up to Murphy Dome. That's a small mountain about an hour's drive west of Fairbanks. The views up there were never ending. To the southwest you could see Denali and the snow covered range. You actually have 360 degree views for miles in every direction. After checking out the views we descended from the summit just a little bit and took a somewhat 4 wheel drive trail into the bush. I had hoped it was a little more challenging but nothing like what the Wyoming / South Dakota guys got me into last summer. Anyhow it was a nice break to get out of the city for half a day and goof around in the Jeep.....





Here's a picture of a cool rig from Germany that's been here since I got here......



These guys just pulled into town and were setting up as I walking to the Barnes and Noble to post up. They're XP members traveling from Illinois, been on the road a few months. I stopped by and we chatted a bit. Nice guys with an awesome rig for sure.....



And I borrowed this map off the internet to show our route for the next few days.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Currently camping about (10) miles south of the Arctic Ocean....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

So we finally made it to the Arctic Ocean after one month of traveling. Last night we arrived back in Fairbanks. And here's my trip report for the last (5) days......

We left Fairbanks right around noon after doing our final preparations for the Dalton Highway. The first stretch of road, which is actually the first half of the Elliot Highway, is paved but for the most part it's still a fairly rough road. After about (80) miles on the Elliot Highway, you begin the Dalton Highway, (414) miles to Deadhorse, Alaska....



Our first stop for the day was at Yukon Camp at Mile Post 60. I topped off the tank with diesel here since there's no fuel until Coldfoot, another (115) miles up the road. In Fairbanks I paid $3.40 for a gallon of diesel but here it shot up to $5.29 per gallon. We made a stop at the BLM Visitor's Center located across the street form the service center and got lots of great information. I was also awarded a certificate for driving to the Arctic Circle (even though I hadn't done it yet). Below is a picture of Yukon Camp and the bridge that crosses the enormous Yukon River.....



We left Yukon Camp and continued north up the highway. The road was really bad sometimes and not so bad at other times. It was always changing from asphalt to gravel to dirt, and sometimes mud (usually associated with construction work). At Mile Post 98 we stopped at Finger Mountain and did a little hiking. Finger Mountain is an area where lots of rock formations shoot straight up into the air. The weather was perfect all day so we stopped often to take pictures along the way. Here's a few.....







We arrived at the Arctic Circle at Mile Post 115 in the late evening so I decided to take advantage of the free campground that the BLM offers. Typically I don't stay at campgrounds but this one was remote, my spot was away from the others, and it was free, plus there were only a few campers staying there anyhow. I spent the remainder of the evening chatting with the other campers.....one couple from Mississippi in a semi, one couple from Colorado pulling a travel trailer, and another couple from California also pulling a travel trailer. We were all headed for Deadhorse the following day (as it turned out only the couple with the semi made it all the way.....the road was too much for the travel trailers)......

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We arrived in Coldfoot at Mile Post 115 the following afternoon. The weather continued to be great so we continued to stop often and take in the sights. Just as we were entering Coldfoot we saw our first wildlife on the Dalton Highway.....a large cow moose. In Coldfoot we stopped at yet another BLM Visitor's Center, where we watched a short film on the highway, then headed over to the fuel pumps across the street. I had been tracking my mileage since leaving Fairbanks and I was getting just over (10) miles per gallon. It was (239) miles to Deadhorse, then another maybe (3) miles to the fuel pumps in Prudhoe Bay. My truck has a (25) gallon tank so this was really cutting it close. Anyhow I filled it to the brim and north we went......

We made a very long, steep ascent (there are tons of these in the Brooks Range) at Antigun Pass (4,739') at Mile Post 244. Antigun Pass is along the Continental Divide in Alaska....one direction flows south to either the Bering Sea or the Pacific Ocean, and the other direction flows to the Arctic Ocean. For me, this was the beginning of the best part of the Dalton Highway. I loved it from the top of the pass to about (50) miles south of Deadhorse. The scenery is amazing, in my opinion.....







At one point we had a long stop for construction so here we are hanging out along the highway talking with the flagman and several archaeologists. Man what a cool job these archaeologist have......If I could only have one more life to live......



Anyhow we drove into the evening, saw one musk ox along the highway, and surprised myself by almost making it to Deadhorse, camping about (10) miles south of town. The weather had really changed now as it was cloudy, foggy and cold.....I think around 40 degrees. I set up camp along the Saganvanirktuk River and spent the evening talking with fishermen that worked at the Prudhoe Bay oilfields......



That night I fired up the heater as the low temperature for the night was 34 degrees.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

CThe following morning we were up early and we went for a really long walk along the river bank walkikng in the tundra. It was so cold this morning but the dogs still went for a swim. Arctic birds were attacking us from all angles as we walked. I found the skull of an arctic fox (which I kept), a large ball of white fur (hmmmm.....not sure what that was), and one large egg white in color (later my guide tells me it's probably a swan egg). I had booked our guide (required) for Prudhoe Bay for 3:30 p.m. You must book at least (24) hours in advance to get clearance from Homeland Security to enter Prudhoe Bay which is gated with a security guard in attendance. Anyhow I showed up at 8:00 a.m. and fortunately I was able to go on the 8:30 a.m. tour (but the dogs couldn't board the bus). Our tour guide was a good guy, very knowledgeable about the wildlife and the oil fields. I found Prudhoe Bay to be a total ******** hole. I was glad that I made the drive there, but I'd never do it again. Once was definitely plenty.

I missed out on seeing most of the wildlife that lives in this area or that visits this area. Our guide (who had worked there for 10 years) had amazing videos of the Porcupine Herd of caribou, they number in the thousands. He also great videos of polar bears with cubs and grizzlies which seemed to be everywhere. I was told that a grizzly stalking caribou was spotted where I camped (2) nights before. And the night before an 8' grizzly was in camp trying to steal food. And lastly, while on our tour we could hear over the guide's radio that they were dealing with a problem grizzly on the other side of camp. Here's pictures of grizzly prints along the shore of the Arctic Ocean.....



And last, here's a picture of the first well drilled in Prudhoe Bay. Our guide was very excited to show us this and I'm really not sure why. He said that he very rarely takes clients to see this. I didn't notice anything special about us (there was 3 of us)....we weren't particularly interesting, funny, or good looking so I have no idea why we were so lucky. I acted very excited to see this and took several pictures, and thanked him several times for our special treat (I wished I could have seen the polar bears, grizzlies and the caribou but whatever....).......



After our (3) hour tour of Prudhoe Bay, I returned to the truck and my dogs, and we left promptly. Like I said, I thought Prudhoe Bay was a ******** hole so no reason to hang around. We filled our tank to the brim once again at a cost of $5.49 per gallon and quickly departed for my favorite part of the Dalton highway....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Our first day traveling south was fairly uneventful but the scenery, as I said earlier, was outstanding. Once again I missed the herds of musk ox and caribou......just not lucky on this part of the trip I guess.....





That evening we pulled into what appeared to be the remains of a quarry. It was far enough off the road to provide us with plenty of privacy and it was nice to spend another night in the wild.....



The next morning we continued south and made a short (3) mile detour off the Dalton Highway to the Town of Wiseman. This town isn't much.....it was established in 1907 and consists of a bunch of cabins and a small grass airstrip. It's located at Mile Post 189 so it's just a short drive into Coldfoot at Mile Post 175 for fuel and limited supplies. We parked at the far end of town near the airport and spent an hour walking around and taking pictures here and there. I did meet one resident that told me that he's been living on an isolated lake for the past (35) years and that he had recently moved into Wiseman because the lake where he was living was being developed since the state had divided some lake front property and sold lots.





Of course we stopped in Coldfoot to fill up with diesel and then I decided to stop by the BLM Visitor's Center again and walk throughout their interpretive trails in the forest. Then we walked down to the Coldfoot Airport and checked out the fat tire airplanes. I wondered if this where they got the idea for the fat tire bikes that are becoming so popular these days. We had lunch in Coldfoot and our next stop for the day was Greyling Lake (Mile Post 150) to do some paddling in the kayak. I launched the kayak and hadn't paddled more than (50) yards from shore when a cow moose and (2) calves walked out onto the boat launch where I stood just a few minutes before. It was awesome to sit out in the lake and watch them eat from the lake bottom. After a bit I decided to paddle around the lake and check things out. It was wonderful.....so peaceful and calm....all alone. I kept an eye on the moose family and they continued to eat and watch me. Eventually I was ready to return to the truck but they weren't ready to leave quite yet. I whistled and yelled but they only looked at me. I slammed my paddle on the bow of the kayak repeatedly and still nothing. I was hesitant to get too close but I needed to move on so I inched forward so slowly and so loudly. Finally after at least (15) minutes of harassing them they decided to leave. And we were southbound again.....







As it turned out that evening we were close to the Arctic Circle Campground so I decided to spend the night there once again. It was there that I met the mean lady from Florida that was so upset that my dogs weren't on a leash. We slept well and were on the road early.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The next day the weather changed for the worse and we drove through rain for a good portion of the trip. We finally made it back to Fairbanks and completed our trip to Deadhorse and the Arctic Ocean.....





As usual I took pictures of cool rigs that I saw along the way. The Rover was seen at the Coldfoot Airport and the other was seen at the Arctic Circle Campground.....



Now it's time for us to wander around Alaska. I have no destinations or real plans.....just a few sights that I'd like to see.....

 

[parkkitchings]

Jerry....I'll be at Laird Hot Springs tomorrow and still working my way north. I've been screwing around quite a bit coming up and am not as far north as planned. After a night or two at the hot springs I'm planning on doing the Campbell Hwy up to Ross River and possibly the Canol as far as I can go. Hopefully we'll run into each other while up here.

 

[fisher205]

Park,
stop in Faro. It's worth it, a modern ghost town. The few residents there are really friendly, and a great public campground.

Jerry,
sorry for trampling your thread. But wash your truck real good. The heavy use of mag water on the haul road will eat your truck up.

Man, I wish I was back north with you guys we're leaving for the Crazy Mtns tomorrow for a week, then maybe down into the Gallatins.

Have a good trip.

Brad

 

[b63215b]

Great stuff don't think I have the guts to sell all but I do dream of it often. Subscribed.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I'll respond and update as soon as I get a good connection and free time. Everything is going great !

 

[unkamonkey]

I'll respond and update as soon as I get a good connection and free time. Everything is going great !

View attachment 297492

Yeah, that looks great. Might be a bit fun to get it fixed up there

 

[ClayH]

Long time without an update... I hope all is going as well as it can. From that last pic, I can see you might be dealing with a lot of frustration.

 

[Ostap]

We met Jerry in Denali, right after he's got the radiator smashed; he was in good spirit and moving on. Really amazing fellow and was good to meet in person.

 

[ClayH]

Hey Jerry, how about an update? Everything good?