June 24, 2018
After our middle of the night sun spectacle, we drove down
from that mountain top experience back out to the beginning of the Steese
Highway 11 miles north of Fairbanks where it junctions with the beginning of
the northbound Dalton Highway. Turning right, we began the 200-mile drive north
to the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle of all places! I have to say, the
thought of going to the Arctic Circle was quite connected in my mind with gong
to the end of the Earth.
Turns out, the road that took us there is a lot like going
to the end of the Earth. The Dalton Highway is frost heaves, broken pavement
and pot holes. Parts of it were paved for a bit, like 10 miles, but those
stretches were patched and pot holey. The parts that were hard-packed pretty
smooth gravel were the easiest to drive – until a rough stretch appeared and
that could happen very quickly. The
further north the road went, the worse it got.
We ran alongside the Alaskan Pipeline the whole way. Sometimes it went further inland, one side of
the road or the other, so it wasn’t as visible, but often it snaked up hills and
down right beside the road.
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| A tor |
Talk about remote!! Along the Dalton Highway, The Hot Spot
Restaurant and Gift Shop were closed for remodeling. “No Trespassing” read the
sign. Before that in the “town” of Joy,
the Arctic Circle Gift Shop was also closed so, really, along the 200-mile
drive our only stop was for a homemade lunch at a turn-out at the beginning of
the Dalton Highway until we reached the BLM Wayside 15 miles south of the
Arctic Circle. That Wayside had a nice interpretive trail that led up a rise to
a gorgeous view of the vast Arctic valley, green with tundra mosses and lichens
and shrubs, above tree line, which at that northern latitude is 2000 feet.
Tors (a Cornish word meaning hill) rose abruptly from the surrounding slopes.
We spent the night at the nearby BLM campground which was “under
development” that is, mimimal. It consisted of “sites” amongst the small trees,
shrubby, mosquitoey and very muddy.
The next morning, having reached OUR most northern point
(even though the Dalton Highway continues north to Prudhoe Bay) we headed south
for just a few miles before stopping at the Kanuti River Bridge. Here was an
idyllic setting: morning sun, perfectly
calm water, and a yellow warbler singing in a shrub by the river.
Our next stop was for lunch 100 miles further south at the Yukon
River Camp restaurant. Across the road was the Yukon River Bridge Visitor’s
Center and Interpretive Trail. Turns out, the volunteer ranger minding the shop
was someone who owns property about 6 miles north of our house in northern
Michigan. He and his wife will soon build their retirement home there. We do
love those small world encounters when we travel!
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| Tundra |
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| Yellow warbler on the Kanuti River |
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| Kanuti River |
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| Lunch spot near the Yukon River |
Turns out, the road that took us there is a lot like going
to the end of the Earth. The Dalton Highway is frost heaves, broken pavement
and pot holes. Parts of it were paved for a bit, like 10 miles, but those
stretches were patched and pot holey. The parts that were hard-packed pretty
smooth gravel were the easiest to drive – until a rough stretch appeared and
that could happen very quickly. The
further north the road went, the worse it got. 
The next morning, having reached OUR most northern point
(even though the Dalton Highway continues north to Prudhoe Bay) we headed south
for just a few miles before stopping at the Kanuti River Bridge. Here was an
idyllic setting: morning sun, perfectly
calm water, and a yellow warbler singing in a shrub by the river. 
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