DrewE's Alaska Trip Travelogue
I returned about a week ago from a marvelous ten-week trip to and through Alaska (and back) with my dear mother. I went in a 32' class C, actually about 35' overall with a bicycle rack on the back, w...
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August 2nd -- We traveled on to Deadhorse. Deadhorse is basically a company town for oil workers and support people; there are a few thousand or so in town at any given time, generally with a two-week on, two-week off rotation. The number of permanent residents in Deadhorse or Prudhoe Bay is vanishingly small. (The difference between Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay is basically which side of the security gates you're on. Deadhorse is the unrestricted area.) Partly because of this, and partly because of the unique constraints of building on permafrost, Deadhorse in many ways more resembles a temporary work camp than an actual town. One gets the impression that, should it become necessary, the town could be pulled down and trucked to the next oil field.
The climate and vegetation change somewhat after Atigun pass and the Brooks range, becoming arctic tundra with continuous permafrost underneath. This area receives very little precipitation, but that little stays around and makes for an almost boggy landscape since it can't soak through the permafrost. I was rather surprised at the amount of plant life and generally green color of the tundra; I guess I had mistakenly believed it to be brown and barren in summer (and snow-covered in winter, which may not be entirely inaccurate). The terrain is also generally flatter, with some rolling hills.
It was drizzly or rainy pretty much the entire time we were at Deadhorse and for a good bit of the travel up and back.
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The Franklin Bluffs, about 30 miles outside of Deadhorse; minerals (iron) give them some color.
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We did come across a fairly young Caribou outside of Deadhorse. I believe we also came across a few musk-oxen, but my mom was pretty sure we did not, so it may be that my memory is playing tricks on me. At any rate, if we did, we did not manage to take a picture of them.
Click For Full-Size Image.
A typical view of Deadhorse: equipment and industrial architecture.
We camped out near the Sagavanirktok ("Sag") river, roughly across the road from the airport, which seems to be the usual thing for RVers to do. There is no official campground in Deadhorse. There is gas available, and apparently a dump station and potable water fill station available. Snacks and so forth are also available, but not a full grocery store; the oil workers have cafeterias in the hotels and camps they stay at.
August 3rd -- We refueled, drove around Deadhorse a bit, and in the afternoon took the Arctic Ocean shuttle from Deadhorse Camp to the ocean. This overpriced tour or shuttle service--it kind of splits the difference between them--is about the only way for mere peons to get to the Arctic Ocean proper as it's within the security zone in Prudhoe Bay. Advance reservations are required so they can process the security clearances. Our driver did give informative explanations about the oil work and showed a few of the sights, besides going to the ocean.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Yours truly ankle deep in the Arctic Ocean. (Yes, the water was chilly.)
This is not my picture, but we did see the Prudhoe Bay National Forest on our shuttle tour. This "forest," administered by Halliburton, reportedly gets Christmas lights in season. The whole idea of a National Forest seems a bit preposterous in person after having driven a few hours through treeless tundra.
We camped at the 355 mile ("Last Chance") wayside. I think this wayside is officially unmaintained, but it's still quite usable. There are some significant potholes to avoid in the lower parking area, and the access to the upper camping area was pretty plainly impassible to my motorhome though I think a truck camper could get there without overly much trouble. There's plenty of room regardless. The toilet was open, I assume partly because of the extensive road construction work that was going on throughout the area.
August 4th -- The day started out damp, which was somewhat of a theme for us in the far north. It cleared up as the day went on.
We weren't able to get a picture of them, but we enjoyed seeing a black bear and her two cubs cross the road in front of us.
There are a handful of rather nasty dangerous spots on the Dalton Highway, which have been given names: Ice Cut hill, Oil Spill hill, Atigun Pass, Oh Sh*t corner (which no longer has a sign), and the Roller Coaster. For a couple of these, I would have felt a good bit more comfortable if I had a CB radio to coordinate with any other drivers that may have been there. Ice Cut, in particular, is awfully narrow and blind. Fortunately, we didn't encounter anyone at inopportune times.
Click For Full-Size Image.
I think this and the next picture are getting into the northern edge of the Brooks range.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
There are several avalanche gun emplacements along Atigun pass; this is one (seen through a less than perfectly clean window). I can only assume the guns themselves are carried to the bases as needed. We deemed that the avalanche danger was very low when we were crossing.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Atigun pass, looking in the northbound direction I believe. The actual compass point could be something else because the road winds back and forth quite a bit through the pass.
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Looking the other direction out the other side of the pass, in the southbound direction
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I don't recall exactly where this was. It's an absolutely gorgeous stretch of road in general as it goes through the mountains.
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A view of Sukakpak Mountain (4000 foot elevation, about 3000 foot above the road level) from the pull-off at the end of the Middle Fork Koyukuk River 3 bridge. I think this was where we ate lunch, and I'd say it's a reasonably decent view for any dining room table. This is a fisheye lens shot; the mountain is quite close and has a massive presence. It's not just some largish boulder stuck in a field.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Looking the other way from the other bank of the river. Notice how my RV has adopted a camouflage strategy akin to that of the chameleon, changing color to blend into its surroundings. That's a feature that was neither listed on the build sheet nor mentioned in the owner's manual.
Click For Full-Size Image.
This camouflage even extends to other things attached to the outside of the motorhome, such as my bicycle. Amazing!
We drove through Wiseman, which is across from Coldfoot, and were frankly somewhat disappointed in this little community. I'm sure it's not at all easy to keep a tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere functioning, and undoubtedly it's very special to those who live there. However, as a visiting tourist, there just isn't a whole lot there.
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The Wiseman post office (no longer in use).
We did, of course, buy gas at Coldfoot. We also stopped briefly at the interagency center, mainly to enquire whether anyone had reported losing a fine Gransfors Bruks hatchet (I think the particular model is the outdoor axe) that I found at the last chance wayside. No one had, so I ended up with a neat unexpected souvenir of the trip. These are not cheap tools.
We camped at the campground in the Arctic Circle wayside. The local hares provided some free entertainment.
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A cautiously friendly visitor.
August 5th -- We continued on back to the Fairbanks area, getting a campsite at the Riverview RV Park in North Pole.
Click For Full-Size Image.
We're back into the boreal forest now (and indeed have been for a while).
August 6th -- This was a day of chores and relaxation, spent mostly in the campground. I spent about four hours washing mud off the motorhome. This wasn't a thorough detailing and waxing, by any means, just washing to ordinary car wash standards. It's difficult to explain how much muck there was all over the undercarriage and skirting of the motorhome. I suspect perhaps some of our neighbors though we were not the same people who had been there the last night.
I rather wish I had a before and after shots of the washing, but...well, I don't.
I suppose some people reading this may be wondering if they ought to go over the Dalton Highway in their RVs. I did see a fair few truck campers, a few smaller travel trailers, and some generally smaller class C motorhomes. It's not an impossible trek in these vehicles, not by a long shot. It is, however, a long, dusty, and rough road, and so obviously hard on the equipment. There are other roads we went on that were as rough, or rougher--but they were dozens rather than hundreds of miles long. I would certainly like to go again, but probably not in my motorhome; I don't think it would be too many trips over the highway before things started loosening and breaking and generally coming apart. I think probably a truck camper would be the ideal vehicle (or, possibly, an expedition style RV). While there were some campers in tents, the lack of places to get drinking water and the presence of bears, etc. make that less attractive to me than an RV of some sort, though tenting is still a viable option.
I do suspect that RVs with relatively poor ground clearance, such as some class A's seem to me to have, would be troublesome. Little berms of gravel a few inches high are common where they are grading or working on the road, and at least during the summer it's a given that one will encounter more or less maintenance and construction.
The attraction, in my opinion, is mainly the beautiful wilderness surrounding the road. For most people, I don't think there's anything in Deadhorse that would in any way make it worth the effort of getting there in itself.
The climate and vegetation change somewhat after Atigun pass and the Brooks range, becoming arctic tundra with continuous permafrost underneath. This area receives very little precipitation, but that little stays around and makes for an almost boggy landscape since it can't soak through the permafrost. I was rather surprised at the amount of plant life and generally green color of the tundra; I guess I had mistakenly believed it to be brown and barren in summer (and snow-covered in winter, which may not be entirely inaccurate). The terrain is also generally flatter, with some rolling hills.
It was drizzly or rainy pretty much the entire time we were at Deadhorse and for a good bit of the travel up and back.
The Franklin Bluffs, about 30 miles outside of Deadhorse; minerals (iron) give them some color.
We did come across a fairly young Caribou outside of Deadhorse. I believe we also came across a few musk-oxen, but my mom was pretty sure we did not, so it may be that my memory is playing tricks on me. At any rate, if we did, we did not manage to take a picture of them.
A typical view of Deadhorse: equipment and industrial architecture.
We camped out near the Sagavanirktok ("Sag") river, roughly across the road from the airport, which seems to be the usual thing for RVers to do. There is no official campground in Deadhorse. There is gas available, and apparently a dump station and potable water fill station available. Snacks and so forth are also available, but not a full grocery store; the oil workers have cafeterias in the hotels and camps they stay at.
August 3rd -- We refueled, drove around Deadhorse a bit, and in the afternoon took the Arctic Ocean shuttle from Deadhorse Camp to the ocean. This overpriced tour or shuttle service--it kind of splits the difference between them--is about the only way for mere peons to get to the Arctic Ocean proper as it's within the security zone in Prudhoe Bay. Advance reservations are required so they can process the security clearances. Our driver did give informative explanations about the oil work and showed a few of the sights, besides going to the ocean.
Yours truly ankle deep in the Arctic Ocean. (Yes, the water was chilly.)
This is not my picture, but we did see the Prudhoe Bay National Forest on our shuttle tour. This "forest," administered by Halliburton, reportedly gets Christmas lights in season. The whole idea of a National Forest seems a bit preposterous in person after having driven a few hours through treeless tundra.
We camped at the 355 mile ("Last Chance") wayside. I think this wayside is officially unmaintained, but it's still quite usable. There are some significant potholes to avoid in the lower parking area, and the access to the upper camping area was pretty plainly impassible to my motorhome though I think a truck camper could get there without overly much trouble. There's plenty of room regardless. The toilet was open, I assume partly because of the extensive road construction work that was going on throughout the area.
August 4th -- The day started out damp, which was somewhat of a theme for us in the far north. It cleared up as the day went on.
We weren't able to get a picture of them, but we enjoyed seeing a black bear and her two cubs cross the road in front of us.
There are a handful of rather nasty dangerous spots on the Dalton Highway, which have been given names: Ice Cut hill, Oil Spill hill, Atigun Pass, Oh Sh*t corner (which no longer has a sign), and the Roller Coaster. For a couple of these, I would have felt a good bit more comfortable if I had a CB radio to coordinate with any other drivers that may have been there. Ice Cut, in particular, is awfully narrow and blind. Fortunately, we didn't encounter anyone at inopportune times.
I think this and the next picture are getting into the northern edge of the Brooks range.
There are several avalanche gun emplacements along Atigun pass; this is one (seen through a less than perfectly clean window). I can only assume the guns themselves are carried to the bases as needed. We deemed that the avalanche danger was very low when we were crossing.
Atigun pass, looking in the northbound direction I believe. The actual compass point could be something else because the road winds back and forth quite a bit through the pass.
Looking the other direction out the other side of the pass, in the southbound direction
I don't recall exactly where this was. It's an absolutely gorgeous stretch of road in general as it goes through the mountains.
A view of Sukakpak Mountain (4000 foot elevation, about 3000 foot above the road level) from the pull-off at the end of the Middle Fork Koyukuk River 3 bridge. I think this was where we ate lunch, and I'd say it's a reasonably decent view for any dining room table. This is a fisheye lens shot; the mountain is quite close and has a massive presence. It's not just some largish boulder stuck in a field.
Looking the other way from the other bank of the river. Notice how my RV has adopted a camouflage strategy akin to that of the chameleon, changing color to blend into its surroundings. That's a feature that was neither listed on the build sheet nor mentioned in the owner's manual.
This camouflage even extends to other things attached to the outside of the motorhome, such as my bicycle. Amazing!
We drove through Wiseman, which is across from Coldfoot, and were frankly somewhat disappointed in this little community. I'm sure it's not at all easy to keep a tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere functioning, and undoubtedly it's very special to those who live there. However, as a visiting tourist, there just isn't a whole lot there.
The Wiseman post office (no longer in use).
We did, of course, buy gas at Coldfoot. We also stopped briefly at the interagency center, mainly to enquire whether anyone had reported losing a fine Gransfors Bruks hatchet (I think the particular model is the outdoor axe) that I found at the last chance wayside. No one had, so I ended up with a neat unexpected souvenir of the trip. These are not cheap tools.
We camped at the campground in the Arctic Circle wayside. The local hares provided some free entertainment.
A cautiously friendly visitor.
August 5th -- We continued on back to the Fairbanks area, getting a campsite at the Riverview RV Park in North Pole.
We're back into the boreal forest now (and indeed have been for a while).
August 6th -- This was a day of chores and relaxation, spent mostly in the campground. I spent about four hours washing mud off the motorhome. This wasn't a thorough detailing and waxing, by any means, just washing to ordinary car wash standards. It's difficult to explain how much muck there was all over the undercarriage and skirting of the motorhome. I suspect perhaps some of our neighbors though we were not the same people who had been there the last night.
I rather wish I had a before and after shots of the washing, but...well, I don't.
I suppose some people reading this may be wondering if they ought to go over the Dalton Highway in their RVs. I did see a fair few truck campers, a few smaller travel trailers, and some generally smaller class C motorhomes. It's not an impossible trek in these vehicles, not by a long shot. It is, however, a long, dusty, and rough road, and so obviously hard on the equipment. There are other roads we went on that were as rough, or rougher--but they were dozens rather than hundreds of miles long. I would certainly like to go again, but probably not in my motorhome; I don't think it would be too many trips over the highway before things started loosening and breaking and generally coming apart. I think probably a truck camper would be the ideal vehicle (or, possibly, an expedition style RV). While there were some campers in tents, the lack of places to get drinking water and the presence of bears, etc. make that less attractive to me than an RV of some sort, though tenting is still a viable option.
I do suspect that RVs with relatively poor ground clearance, such as some class A's seem to me to have, would be troublesome. Little berms of gravel a few inches high are common where they are grading or working on the road, and at least during the summer it's a given that one will encounter more or less maintenance and construction.
The attraction, in my opinion, is mainly the beautiful wilderness surrounding the road. For most people, I don't think there's anything in Deadhorse that would in any way make it worth the effort of getting there in itself.
