» Prudhoe Bay. The end of the beginning Landtrek.net

Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay

Deadhorse.

It’s 34*F (4*C), misty, and a light wind from the north (can it really be coming from farther north than this?) makes it really chilly. Dreary.
Although some folks here do wear their shorts and sandals. Isn’t it summer after all?

Deadhorse. It’s no wonder the horse died….

And the road to get here…

[To fully understand the experience, please put a WW2 DVD in your DVD reader, select the loudest scene, set volume to 10 then imagine sitting on a paint shaker like the one at your local hardware store. Now please read as fast as you can without taking your breath until done.]

“4th gear, 80 km/h, hill coming, floor it, too late, down shift, floor it, 60km/h, 40km/h, down shift again, Oh! hard left, floor it, don’t rev too high, 2600 RPMs, top of the hill, truck coming, keep right, not too far, soft shoulder, pulls hard to the right, steer left, not too far left, shift in third, hard right, hair pin turn, sharp down hill, shift in 4th, hit the brakes, brake, brake, pot holes all over, RATATATATATATATA, BANG! What the hell? No more rattlling, everything is quiet, we’re floating, hovering over the road, gliding like a cloud, I can actually hear the engine! Thank God for asphalt. 1/8 mile then, RATATATATATATATA, BANG! Hard packed dirt again. Hair pin to the left, lean over the steering wheel, nose in the windshield to see the road coming behind the mirror, steeeeep uphill, quick down shift, and again, over the top, shift in 3rd, in 4th, brake, brake, brake, hair pin to the right, loosing speed, down shift, floor it, top the hill, what the hell? MUD! Slick muck! Left front tire hits mound of wet mud, truck swings left, down shift, floor it, truck snakes in middle of road, stay calm, steer left, steer right, slide to the right, slide to the left, mud is gone, road now hard packed, covered in pot holes, left, right, uphill, down shift, floor it, down shift again, crest the hill, gain speed, too much, brake, brake, brake, pot holes everywhere, can’t avoid them all, RATATATATATATA, BANG! ”

The Dalton highway. 416 miles (670 kms) of Adventure. One way…

Truckers of the Dalton are heroes.
Well thanks for telling me but what the F… am I suppose to do if it’s in MY lane?

There are some rewards though. Here are some of them.

The hot spot cafe. Home two chicken burgers, coffee and T-shirt for $67 !

Kind of cool though.

And if you shouldn’t be satisfied…

Finger mountain.

View from our camp site near Wiseman Ak.

Wiseman.

Can you see it?

How about now? Can you see it now?

Minutes after we leave Wiseman, a female grizzly with her two cubs, on the left hand side of the road. They leave the pavement and head into the woods. I honk the horn. She stands, looks around, not at all in a hurry. Back on all fours, she and her youngs wander off, slowly, not bothering with us.

Seeing wild grizzlies: Check !

Now another milestone:

Arctic circle: Check !

A few shots of the scenery for you. Do you realize how lucky you guys are? You just lay back and enjoy the show while WE get to enjoy the shake, rattle and roll !