Dalton Highway – Day 1

I got packed up early at GoNorth and headed over to the motorcycle dealer to get my new chain and tires. While there I met Dave on a BMW 1200GS (the crème de la crème of dual sport bikes) who had the same plan as me: get new tires and head up the Dalton. We were both alone so we decided to ride together.

I got my chain, tires, and did a little frontier fixin’ in the parking lot. Look, it’s a pirate bike, it has a wooden peg leg!

They don’t mess around in Alaska, this thing definitely sets a new standard for ATV.

I noticed I could use some new front brake pads, but there weren’t any in Fairbanks. They had enough life left for the next few days, so I just lived with them.

Dave and I head out of Fairbanks towards the start of the Dalton Highway. There is definitely a different kind of breed of people up here, they have to be tough to live in this environment. This sign actually reminded me of something I’d see in Texas though.

You can see the Trans-Alaska pipeline, sticks out like a sore thumb.

Here we finally start the Dalton Highway.

Most of the Dalton is unpaved, with a few random stretches that are paved. Most of the unpaved part is packed dirt, but some is loose gravel and even mud.

Here is a close-up of the pipeline. There were several places when we were even closer to the pipeline, driving under or over it.

10 seconds after this was taken, we were shoo’ed away by security. Yeah, 100 miles from the nearest town, security and maintenance crews patrol the pipeline constantly. The 800 miles of 4 foot diameter pipe pumps oil continuously, and is heated to keep it moving through this cold environment. It is a true engineering marvel, and for more info you can check out the Wikipedia article.

Throughout Alaska, British Columbia, and Yukon there are many forest fires raging. We passed this one that was very close to the road, and the pipeline. I’m only and Electrical Engineer, but having a forest fire anywhere near a pipeline full of hot oil seems like a bad idea. I have no idea how they deal with the constant threat of wildfire, but apparently it’s under control.

On the way up, we meet some bikers on their way down. They have gotten halfway up and had to turn back. Even though it is clear weather here, up in the mountains there is a blizzard. The mountain pass is reported to be horrible, two of the bikers said they were sliding backwards, and trucks were advised to use chains. Not a good sign.

But we press on, weather can change fast in the mountains, and we didn’t come all this way to turn back after hearing some rumors.

After a few hours, we reach the Article Circle!!!

The views are spectacular, the weather is great, it was definitely a high moment. We even had a celebratory beer.

Here we are, North of the Arctic Circle, stuck at a stop light, and there’s not even an intersection. WTF?

There was construction ahead, but there were no lanes blocked, no workers, and the light was stuck at red pretty much forever. So we ran it. Mail me a ticket.

We made it to Coldfoot Camp, which consists of a motel made of prefab shipping container units, two gas pumps, and a surprisingly well equipped restaurant. I’m sure they named it “Coldfoot” for a good reason, and I think the reason is that the post master wouldn’t let them use “S--t Hole.” We split a 8’ X 10’ hotel room for $200 a night (monopoly, baby) and I learned that Dave was an investment banker who had a BMW, Harley, cigarette boat, and one of the stars of American Pie as an investment client. Why he was hanging around with unemployed riff-raff like me, I’ll never know.

One guy we met at the restaurant was an equipment salesman who had driven the Dalton dozens of times. He sais the secret to getting over the mountain pass in the ice is to get a running start, and not stop for anything. Hmmm…

Odometer reading: 11,118

Elapsed Miles: 7,927