28 May 2008 -- Fairbanks to Coldfoot

We set off fairly early this morning. After some time waiting in the cold (30s) our bus came around. There were 22 of us "tourists", our driver / guide (Greg) and a trainee driver (Mike). The trainee wasn't learning to drive, he was learning about the route. We had little idea what was in store, but it appeared that all 22 were ready to go since we could have waited inside the hotel. Almost as soon as we got under way, the driver had us singing a rousing rendition of "Off We Go Like a Herd of Turtles". It was a good way to break the ice (so to speak) and get everyone in a good mood. We drove through Fairbanks and saw a lot of the affects of permafrost on buildings roads and bike paths. This was our first introduction to the need to deal with permafrost in the northern areas of Alaska. Just outside of Fairbanks we stopped at a visitor's center for the pipeline. This was our first close up look at the pipeline. Greg gave us some background and facts and we took a lot of pictures. One of the interesting facts about the pipeline is that the oil in it is under considerable pressure and is fairly hot. It comes out of the ground at about 180° and travels through the pipeline at about 120°. Where there are concerns about the permafrost, the pipeline is raised above the ground and the supports sport heat exchangers to prevent the heat from the pipeline from melting the permafrost. Of course the pipeline is also insulated, so when we touched it, it was not really hot. If you take a look at my Picasa pictures, be sure to take note of the warning label on the pipeline. One of the indications of a problem with the pipeline is the presence of fire. Duh!

From there we continued on north away from Fairbanks on Alaska Highway 2 (Elliot Highway). As we went along, we saw less signs of population and the traffic decreased significantly. Mostly what we were seeing along the way now were road houses and a few rustic looking houses.

Our first rest stop (mid-morning) of the day was at the Wildwood General Store. The store is a combination snack shop, gift shop, rest stop (with old fashioned out houses) and glimpse of true Alaskan living. The proprietor and his wife raised 23 kids -- mostly adopted native Alaskans. The story is that the state requires at 10 children of school age in order to provide a school building and teacher. When they started, there were only two families in the area and they had only about 6 kids between them. So this guy adopted enough to meet the state requirement. As his kids graduated from high school, more were adopted. I enjoyed a very interesting chat with the man. As you can imagine, they have a very close family unit.

Shortly after our rest stop, we were on the Dalton Highway (AK 11). The Dalton Highway (also known as the "Haul Road") was built to provide an overland route to supply the North Slope oil fields (Prudhoe Bay). The road is primarily gravel surfaced, but is built on a very thick layer of stone and even Styrofoam to protect the permafrost. If the permafrost were exposed by the road's surface, it would melt in the warm months (month?) and the road would be impassible due to the mud. Once we were on the Dalton Hwy. we were clearly heading into the land less traveled. Traffic was rare and the only structures we saw were generally road houses / truck stops. This section of the highway from Fairbanks to Coldfoot passes through boreal forest. Mostly boreal forest comprises tall trees (aspens, pines, spruces, birch) . The scenery was mostly hilly and wooded, and we did not see much in the way of wildlife except what might be close by on the shoulder.

As we traveled on up the road, we passed through areas where gold was mined during the gold rush days. Most of the mining was done by strip mining and the landscape was greatly affected by the process to the extent that some of the existing ridges are all that remains of what were once vast valleys. Some gold mining still goes on, and we passed one "mom and pop" operaton with lots of old equipment that looked like it was barely operable that was used to scoop material out of a river bottom.

As we continued north, the trees tended to get smaller as the permafrost got closer to the surface. As a result, we could see further and we began to see a lot more fantastic scenary. We often could see great distances to far off mountains, often with rain / snow storms passing by. At some point I asked Mary how many pictures I should take of the mountains. It seemed like every curve in the road brought scenary in view that was more beautiful than anything we had yet seen.

At milepost 56 we crossed the Yukon River. The bridge over the river is wood decked and has a pretty good grade. No stopping is allowed on the bridge which is constantly monitored by video cameras. Huge speakers are used to communicate with people on the bridge if necessary (for instance to tell them to get moving). The bridge also carries the pipeline. The Yukon River is a river very much like the Mississippi in size (big!) and fairly fast flowing. It runs about 2000 miles from Canada to the Bering Sea. It is used in the winter time as a main transportation route using snow machines. The E. L. Patton bridge at Yukon Crossing is the only bridge across the river.

Just a few miles further up the road, we stopped for lunch at another road house. This one is named The Hot Spot and was started many years ago by the wife of a Haul Road truck driver. The place was another Alaskan marvel. Lots of interesting features and signs. The food operation was pretty informal. You just walked by where the owner was cooking up hamburgers told her what you wanted, and she served it to you on a paper plate. Then you went to the seating area (picnic tables) grabbing whatever additonal items (potato chips, cookies, drinks) you wanted on the way. When it was time to pay up, you went to the cashier and told her what you had. The food was great!

Soon, we were on our way again and headed up to MP 86 overlook. To get to this point, we actually left the highway and followed a road up to an active rock quarry. It was quite a steep climb, but our trusty bus made it fine. From up at the quarry, we could look out over the Yukon Flats which is a huge valley with lots of water ways flowing through it. The result is a very nutrient rich area with lots of wildlife. In fact, many of the migratory water fowl that winter in the lower 48 spend the summer in the Yukon Flats.

We made another stop at the Finger Rocks area (MP 98) where we got more fantastic views and lots of pictures. At this point, it was starting to look more like the arctic. Lots of patches of snow on the ground and the wind was getting a bit cold.

At mile 115, we stopped at the marker for the Arctic Circle. It's quite an experience to actually be standing at 66° 33' (I checked it with my GPS, of course :) ). We took family and group pictures and enjoyed a brief chat by Greg about the significance of the Circle in terms of 24 hours of sunlight / darkness. Since the summer solstice had not yet arrived, the 24 hour daylight event had not yet happened at the Arctic Circle, but we could look forward to it further north.

We arrived at Coldfoot (MP 175) at about 6:30 PM with bright, beautiful skies and the temperature in the mid 40s. Coldfoot lies in the foot hills of the Brooks Range, so we got a glimpse of the type of scenery to come. The truck stop there was built as a camp for the pipeline workers and is now an inn and restaurant for Dalton Highway travelers. The inn is comprised of trailers (like mobile homes or construction trailers) all joined together to form one complex of rooms. The rooms were just large enough for two twin beds, a wash basin and a plywood box in the corner that contained a shower and toilet. Our driver Greg had asked us on the way what we expected to find at Coldfoot. When we assured him we did not have high expectations, he said we should lower them. :) After checking in, we headed over to the restaurant which served buffett style. We sat at a table with some of the Australians who had been on the Princess bus ahead of us all day. We enjoyed chatting with them and the food was great. It would be very easy to over do it with all the good choices of main dishes and fantastic deserts. After dinner, Mary and I walked over to the Arctic Interagency Visitor's Center. We watched a brief movie there and checked out all their exhibits. We also picked up a nice certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle. After that, we walked over toward the town of Coldfoot. We wandered through the old cemetery where a lot of gold seekers were buried in the days of the gold rush. We also began to encounter Alaska's famous mosquitos. They were some big dudes! Fortunately, you could feel them land on you before they had a chance to get down to business. We also saw some robins that were about twice as big as the robins we are used to seeing back home. After we started wandering back toward the inn, we realized it was after 10:00 PM. The sun was still high above the mountains and did not look like it had any intention of setting. We decided we needed to go get to bed since we were going to be getting up fairly early the next morning. Although it was quite bright outside, the room was well darkened by curtains, the beds were comfortable and we were sound asleep by 11:00 PM.