Made it!
I will have to come back and do another post on the Arctic Circle since I don't have the time to tell the whole story. The 197 mile, one way trip, took me 6 hours on the way up, and 4 on the way back. There are 414 miles (666 km) of "unpaved road", and let me tell ya, if you don't know it... Be Careful! Dips, swells, 20 mile patches of shale and gravel acting like the roughest grit sandpaper, and all sorts of pot holes, washboard moguls, sharp turns, dust, and oncoming hardcore industrial truckers. You don't want to make a mistake up here. Dante hit a set of dips and swells at 65 mph (15 over posted limit), and got all 4 wheels at least an inch off the ground. What a rush! I'm just glad it wasn't in a turn, or I would have been done for the day. This is No Man's Land, and it was a beautiful day. Only regret is that it was a bone chilling 60 degrees at the arctic circle marker... I jest of course, it was PERFECT! I arrived just after 4:20pm, and had a little celebration. just over 8,300 miles to get to this point. It is peak season up here with swarms of mosquitoes that have no equal, wondrous vistas accentuated by large fields of purple blooms, and an overwhelming sense of being alone in the WILD. The people that set up the trans alaskan pipeline do their best to keep the road up, but no one lingers up here. There is an outpost at Yukon River, which is probably one of the only places to get gas on the whole stretch; and I would not want to be the one to hold down that fort! I can't imagine being STUCK there during the winter. I can't even fathom trying to navigate that stretch with any kind of snow or ice in any vehicle ever manufactured. TOO many possibilities of something going wrong. In fact, I don't think even the best mushers could get from Fairbanks to Deadhorse in dead of winter. Ignoring the fact that record low is set at 128 below (with wind chill), the road between point A and B is BRUTAL.To be continued... enjoy the pics
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