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On The Road with Lou!
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Location Date Alberta 1534892400 Montana 1534719600 Idaho 1534633200 Nevada 1534546800 Colorado 1534460400 New Mexico 1534374000 Arizona 1534287600 Kansas 1533942000 Missouri 1533769200 Nebraska 1533596400 North Dakota 1533510000 British Columbia 1471561200 Alaska 
1471129200 Texas 1439506800 Louisiana 1438988400 Wyoming 1438470000 Mississippi 1409353200 Florida 1409266800 Pennsylvania 1408575600 Georgia (Usa) 1407970800 Tennessee 1407711600 Ohio 1312844400 Washington D.c. 1312498800 Maryland 1312412400 Indiana 1312326000 Iowa 1312153200 Minnesota 1312066800 Saskatchewan 1311894000 -
So today was the big day! After all the talk about the drive and wading in the Arctic Ocean, today was the day I would actually begin my drive on the Dalton Highway, or the haul road as it is somewhat more accurately known.
Driving northbound out of Fairbanks the first part of the day was on the Livingood Mining Company highway which was a perfectly smooth new asphalt with fresh perfectly straight yellow lines. Certainly not what was to be expected for the balance of the day! This highway is the epitome of 'the road to nowhere' and as such very lightly traffic'ed'!
I did a quick roadside interview and I think you can clearly hear the trepidation in my voice as I somewhat reluctantly outline my plan for the day. My external jerry cans topped off I intend to ride to about the half-way point, a camp called Coldfoot that offers really the only lodging, and definitely the only fuel between Fairbanks and Dead Horse.
From the start of the James W Dalton Highway about 84 miles north of Fairbanks, essentially a spot in the road where pavement gives way to gravel, it is about 425 miles to Dead Horse, a small town just south of Prudhoe Bay that offers lodging and fuel. After 9/11 you can't just go straight to Prudhoe Bay anymore, you have to stop at Deadhorse and register.
Since then you can't go to the Arctic Ocean unescorted either, only on authorized tours. Again there is a certain reluctance in my voice as I show the very start of the gravel portion, I think I am kinda stretching it out to delay the start of it, I know it is going to be tough!
About 40 miles in I stop on the road for a rest and a tanker truck drives by. Trucks of this type have the right of way on the highway. I create a bit of a traffic jam as a Prudhoe Bay tour bus is coming from the other direction. In the most ironic of ominous foreshadowing I refer to the, mostly senior citizen passengers, as '*******' for taking a bus to the Arctic Ocean.
At the 84 mile marker was the Arctic Circle stop. Not much there except a sign and a porta potty, but I still consider getting to this point by motorcycle to be one of the crowning achievements of my riding career. Took a couple of pictures, had a guy take a few of me and Trudy, and took advantage of the stop to fill up my gas tank.
I had been averaging maybe 60 kph. I still don't recall if I used a formula to determine how much fuel I carried, or if I just faked it. It would have been pretty ironic if I would have ran out of gas just shy of the Arctic Ocean!
I carried on and do recall reaching some pavement shortly after, Dalton Highway version of pavement is a generous description but being able to do 80 or 100 kph even for a short period made me feel like I was making some progress.
Driving northbound out of Fairbanks the first part of the day was on the Livingood Mining Company highway which was a perfectly smooth new asphalt with fresh perfectly straight yellow lines. Certainly not what was to be expected for the balance of the day! This highway is the epitome of 'the road to nowhere' and as such very lightly traffic'ed'!
I did a quick roadside interview and I think you can clearly hear the trepidation in my voice as I somewhat reluctantly outline my plan for the day. My external jerry cans topped off I intend to ride to about the half-way point, a camp called Coldfoot that offers really the only lodging, and definitely the only fuel between Fairbanks and Dead Horse.
From the start of the James W Dalton Highway about 84 miles north of Fairbanks, essentially a spot in the road where pavement gives way to gravel, it is about 425 miles to Dead Horse, a small town just south of Prudhoe Bay that offers lodging and fuel. After 9/11 you can't just go straight to Prudhoe Bay anymore, you have to stop at Deadhorse and register.
Since then you can't go to the Arctic Ocean unescorted either, only on authorized tours. Again there is a certain reluctance in my voice as I show the very start of the gravel portion, I think I am kinda stretching it out to delay the start of it, I know it is going to be tough!
About 40 miles in I stop on the road for a rest and a tanker truck drives by. Trucks of this type have the right of way on the highway. I create a bit of a traffic jam as a Prudhoe Bay tour bus is coming from the other direction. In the most ironic of ominous foreshadowing I refer to the, mostly senior citizen passengers, as '*******' for taking a bus to the Arctic Ocean.
At the 84 mile marker was the Arctic Circle stop. Not much there except a sign and a porta potty, but I still consider getting to this point by motorcycle to be one of the crowning achievements of my riding career. Took a couple of pictures, had a guy take a few of me and Trudy, and took advantage of the stop to fill up my gas tank.
I had been averaging maybe 60 kph. I still don't recall if I used a formula to determine how much fuel I carried, or if I just faked it. It would have been pretty ironic if I would have ran out of gas just shy of the Arctic Ocean!
I carried on and do recall reaching some pavement shortly after, Dalton Highway version of pavement is a generous description but being able to do 80 or 100 kph even for a short period made me feel like I was making some progress.
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