After Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, we stopped at Fairbanks for two days, visiting UAF's museum and large animal research station. It was fun. Our next goal is to drive north to Prudhoe Bay through Dalton Highway if possible.
Dalton Highway, also known as the Haul Road, begins 84 miles north of Fairbanks, ends 414 miles later in Deadhorse. The road was built between 1974 and 1977 to support oil development at Prudhoe Bay. In 1994, the entire length of the road was open to the public for the first time. Most rental car companies prohibit driving on Dalton Highway. Tire/Vehicle repair services are only available at Yukon Crossing (MP 56), Coldfoot (MP 175), and Deadhorse (MP 414). Any break downs can be very expansive to fix. Towing is extremely expansive. Staff at Fairbanks Visitor Center clearly discouraged us from driving the road ourselves, she suggested we took a tour. I never liked tour group, so we decided to take our chance. Our plan: Drive as far as we feel comfortable, head back if things are getting bad.
It turns out Dalton Highway is not too bad, overall it is better than McCarthy and Nabesna Roads. Our average speed was ~40 mph. The beginning of the Dalton Highway is very rough, after Yukon Crossing, it gets better. Sections of the road are paved, but it can be worse than gravel, because there are so many potholes, it is impossible to avoid them sometimes. Also need to watch out for dips, bumps, sharp rocks and trucks. They can be everywhere. Pretty much the driver has to concentrate on the road the whole time. Any distraction can have severe consequence. One time, we were driving on a paved section that was relative smooth, Dave looked at the view for just one second, we hit a dip so bad our 30" suitcase in the back went flying in the air. Good thing we rent a high clearance SUV, if it was a car, I am not sure we'll make it.
We made it to Coldfoot in early afternoon, and stayed there for the night. Coldfoot (population 13), located about halfway between Fairbanks and Deadhorse, was originally a gold rush town. It got its name in 1900 when early prospectors reportedly got "cold feet" and left before winter set in.
Met two interesting people here: One is a guy from Michigan, about 20 years old. He somehow found on the internet that Coldfoot Camp (the only service provider in Coldfoot) needs to hire helpers a week ago, so he gave them a call, got here two days later. He already climbed nearby mountains on his off time. He plans to stay another two months before going home (The Camp will pay for the return ticket too). What a way to travel! The other is a girl, local Alaskan, in her late 20s. She worked in McMurdo, the American base in Antarctica, for the summer as a loader (load/unload supply planes). It was her first time working there. She took lots of photos, documenting her life in Antarctica. It was very interesting. She said she got the job because: 1. she has a friend who had worked there for years referred her; 2. A lot of heavy equipment operators quit their Antarctica jobs to work in Iraq, created new openings. I can't believe there is people choosing Iraq over Antarctica. Of course, not everyone is like that. She said she met PhD took dishwashing job just to be there.
(To be continued)
1. Dalton Highway with Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline along the way.
2. Along Dalton Highway.
3. Near Wiseman, another old mining community (population 21), located 17 miles north of Coldfoot.
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