Dalton Highway Article for TCers

I have driven the entire length of the Dempster and the Dalton highways with my truck camper in 2012 and 2014. Those two roads make the whole trip worthwhile. In my opinion both of those roads are better than I40 around the Flagstaff, AZ area and I10 just east of Quartzsite.

I already have plans for returning for the summer of 2018.

LeRoy

If loneliness is the state of being aware of your aloneness, then solitude is different: To be solitary is to be inside yourself with no need for escape -- a separateness without the human ache of isolation.

Thanks for the link

The tone of the article (at least the way I interpreted it) was normal for a city boy who needs a gas station, restaurant etc. on every corner and to be surrounded by people 24/7. It may be totally wrong perception but....
I drove up to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay in 2012 and again this past summer and found it to be a very interesting and enjoyable part of my trip. There was not as much wildlife seen this year but plenty of wildflowers and beautiful scenery. On neither trip was the road overly bad. There was some rain on the 2012 trip and a lot of dust this summer but overall a better road than I have found here in north central Maine!
c.traveler2's pictures sure brought back fond memories!
Grant

I will add one word of caution when driving the haul road, in fact I found it a very good practice everywhere we drive our RV. When you see a big rig coming at you, pull to the right as far as you can and slow down. You will be surprised, or not, when you see the oncoming semi do the same thing. Their windshields are just as expensive as ours and the local constabulary writes locals up for broken or cracked windshields. It's just a good way to say Hi, and let them know we are not all jerks. And yes I have been on the haul road twice and Alaska three times in an RV.

My DW and I spent 34 days in Alaska this passed summer that included driving the "Haul Road" to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. During the summer months it's not as lonely as one would believe on that road with plenty of RV's, motorcyclists, truckers,hitchhikers and pipeline security is never more than day apart during the summer months

Here's a few photo from the Haul Road

Now if you want adventure....You want the Dempster Highway!!!

I thought that was even easier - if anything. At least until I got to some incompetent Peel River ferry operation.

I did it on a motorcycle a few years ago. Read my heart stopping adventure here:

www.motoalaska.blogspot.com

The "Haul Road" as it is called is really quite easy. Lots of traffic and folks to help if you get in trouble.

Now if you want adventure....You want the Dempster Highway!!!

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/dempster.html

There was nothing to it -- easy drive. At least, waaaay back in 2005.

silversand wrote:

If we were to drive it, we'd rent a Jeep or buy a disposable pick-up truck to do so :B
Silver-

We drove to Coldfoot in our 33' class A and most of the rest of the way in our toad - a Wrangler. We had a great time and didn't break anything. We did accumulate quite a bit of mud though.

There were a lot of trailers pulled up there for the season - work camps essentially. There was a lot of road work going on.

We saw TCs, Cs, and a couple of As. All seemed to be having no real problems. We stayed at Yukon River Camp and Marion Creek Campground. Marion Creek was very nice, considering. Arctic Circle Campground not so much, so we passed it by.

I would have no problem doing it again, even in my class A. While the road may be worse than others, because there is so little traffic you can drive as slow or as fast as you wish, which is not true of the other roads we encountered in Alaska.

Sounds quite wild indeed! Over 400 miles of Dalton, and around ~200 miles of totally unserviced stretch :E

If we were to drive it, we'd rent a Jeep or buy a disposable pick-up truck to do so :B

Thanks for the link to the great article!

Silver-