Seeing North America

We headed off slowly knowing we only had maybe 150 miles to our next campsite. There was an unimproved trail to a waterfall 2 miles further up the large stream near the campground. We headed off making plenty of noise as not to stumble upon a bear. Plenty of signs indicating moose in the area but we saw none of bear. We came across an area covered with lichens so I took a photo of Marsha taking a nap on the lichens. After a mile the unimproved trail became little more than a bushwhack. After a time bushwacking we turned around and headed back to the campground.

It was time to head north again to our next camping site, Galbreath Lake, a BLM unimproved campground. The road started to climb as we headed into the Brooks Range. Spectacular views though the entire area and we finally started to see a bit of wildlife. Well, a close up great view of a golden eagle and several northern harriers. As we descended out of the Brooks Range we entered the edge of the tundra when we arrived at Galbreath Lake around 4 pm. South of here and all throughout our travels we encountered some mosquitoes. Here we encountered MOSQUITOES. Out came the repellent, long sleeves, long pants, hats and head nets. We put up the tent and the screen covering for the picnic table then settled down for some serious cribbage games and some reading time. Here we were well north of the Arctic Circle and I thought about photographing the sun every hour overnight to capture the sun not setting. It was not to be as both clouds and some mountains obscured the view a bit. I did catch the sun peeking out from behind a mountain.

 

It took a while to be fully ready to leave the campground in the morning and got away close to 8:30. Our first stop was a delightful breakfast at Kathe and Stan’s. We left our trailer there since we were advised by many to not bring it north on the Dalton Highway. Stan and Kathe let us leave our camper at their place for a few days. There were only a few statements from Stan that if we did not show up to pick it up they would sell it at their upcoming yard sale. From here on we planned to tent camp. There are a few campgrounds but very little services for camping. The services were pit toilets and not much more. Sometime close to 11 we actually were underway heading north for Deadhorse and the Arctic Ocean on the Dalton Highway.

A bit of background on the Dalton Highway. It was built to construct and support the Alaskan Pipeline. Originally known as the Haul Road, it was closed to the public. In the 1980’s part of it was open to the public with full access all the way to Deadhorse granted in the 1990’s. The highway heads through several habitats including the Brooks Range which protects interior Alaska from the Arctic. The highest road pass in Alaska is along the highway reaching an elevation of just under 5,000 feet. The last 200 or so miles are arctic tundra.

The public is not permitted to drive last seven miles to the Arctic Ocean at Purdhoe Bay unless they are on one specific tour. Just about anyone living in Deadhorse is there for the jobs and nothing else. The typical schedule is two weeks on and two weeks off. The two weeks on are 12 hour shifts so there is not much free time for the workers. Most people working at the jobs related to black gold think the tourists are a bit daffy spending money to see the Arctic Ocean at $69 a person. As for us we were interested in the experience of seeing the Arctic Ocean.

What captured our interest in heading up the almost 500 miles to the Arctic Ocean was the chance to see Musk Oxen in the wild. We were told we might see them so off we went. Earlier in the week we enjoyed lunch with a friend from back home who moved to Fairbanks a few years ago. Her partner had spent some time working in Prudhoe Bay and told us the chance of seeing musk oxen were just about zero. Oh well, we had already booked the tour to see the Ocean while up there so we figured we’d still go.

We were hoping to see some wildlife but today we did not see much just some fantastic views. About 200 miles north of Fairbanks you arrive at a tourist milestone, The Arctic Circle. North of here is true 24-hour days and in the winter 24-hour nights.

Towards the end of our first travel day heading north we stopped at the Visitor Center for the Gates of the Arctic National Park / Surrounding National Wildlife Refuge / BLM Lands. There was a program scheduled for 8 pm where a ranger (Ranger Bob) would speak about winter patrols in the Gates of the Arctic National Park. We took off for our campsite about 5 miles north at Marion Lake, set up the tent and the mosquito covering for the picnic table and hurried back to the Visitor Center. It was an interesting program. Ranger Bob talked about his winter outings into the Park. He snowshoed pulling a sled weighing more than 130 pounds plus a 35-pound pack. He was hard core! The photos he showed were taken by him. Since they were mostly taking in the late winter (February and March) with little light and lots of snow then were poorly exposed due to the bright snow and darkness. I wanted to take his entire collection of photos and edit them so that they would blow the socks of anybody! That was not to be yet still I enjoyed the presentation.

Back at the campsite we cooked a dinner of left overs then headed to bed. The mosquitoes where there but not as terrible as we expected.

It took a while to be fully ready to leave the campground in the morning and got away close to 8:30. Our first stop was a delightful breakfast at Kathe and Stan’s. We left our trailer there since we were advised by many to not bring it north on the Dalton Highway. Stan and Kathe let us leave our camper at their place for a few days. There were only a few statements from Stan that if we did not show up to pick it up they would sell it at their upcoming yard sale. From here on we planned to tent camp. There are a few campgrounds but very little services for camping. The services were pit toilets and not much more. Sometime close to 11 we actually were underway heading north for Deadhorse and the Arctic Ocean on the Dalton Highway.

A bit of background on the Dalton Highway. It was built to construct and support the Alaskan Pipeline. Originally known as the Haul Road, it was closed to the public. In the 1980’s part of it was open to the public with full access all the way to Deadhorse granted in the 1990’s. The highway heads through several habitats including the Brooks Range which protects interior Alaska from the Arctic. The highest road pass in Alaska is along the highway reaching an elevation of just under 5,000 feet. The last 200 or so miles are arctic tundra.

The public is not permitted to drive last seven miles to the Arctic Ocean at Purdhoe Bay unless they are on one specific tour. Just about anyone living in Deadhorse is there for the jobs and nothing else. The typical schedule is two weeks on and two weeks off. The two weeks on are 12 hour shifts so there is not much free time for the workers. Most people working at the jobs related to black gold think the tourists are a bit daffy spending money to see the Arctic Ocean at $69 a person. As for us we were interested in the experience of seeing the Arctic Ocean.

What captured our interest in heading up the almost 500 miles to the Arctic Ocean was the chance to see Musk Oxen in the wild. We were told we might see them so off we went. Earlier in the week we enjoyed lunch with a friend from back home who moved to Fairbanks a few years ago. Her partner had spent some time working in Prudhoe Bay and told us the chance of seeing musk oxen were just about zero. Oh well, we had already booked the tour to see the Ocean while up there so we figured we’d still go.

We were hoping to see some wildlife but today we did not see much just some fantastic views. About 200 miles north of Fairbanks you arrive at a tourist milestone, The Arctic Circle. North of here is true 24-hour days and in the winter 24-hour nights.

Towards the end of our first travel day heading north we stopped at the Visitor Center for the Gates of the Arctic National Park / Surrounding National Wildlife Refuge / BLM Lands. There was a program scheduled for 8 pm where a ranger (Ranger Bob) would speak about winter patrols in the Gates of the Arctic National Park. We took off for our campsite about 5 miles north at Marion Lake, set up the tent and the mosquito covering for the picnic table and hurried back to the Visitor Center. It was an interesting program. Ranger Bob talked about his winter outings into the Park. He snowshoed pulling a sled weighing more than 130 pounds plus a 35-pound pack. He was hard core! The photos he showed were taken by him. Since they were mostly taking in the late winter (February and March) with little light and lots of snow then were poorly exposed due to the bright snow and darkness. I wanted to take his entire collection of photos and edit them so that they would blow the socks of anybody! That was not to be yet still I enjoyed the presentation.

Back at the campsite we cooked a dinner of left overs then headed to bed. The mosquitoes where there but not as terrible as we expected.

We stayed around the campground for the Fourth of July. Max would have been 23 today so we were not in the celebrating mood. At the campground there was a program by a local Fairbanks storyteller which we enjoyed.  Included in his local lore he sprinkled some about Robert Service. He recited what I refer to as the Robert Service Top Three: The Cremation of Sam McGee; The Shooting of Dan McGrew; and the Spell of the Yukon. We enjoyed his show.

The past few days we’ve been in the Fairbanks area. While at the Visitor Center in town Marsha asked about the road that heads north from Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle then on to the Arctic Ocean. Of course we were only interested in driving the 100 plus miles to the Arctic Circle. By the time the person at the Visitor Center finished talking about the drive we were hooked. Today we start out heading all the way to the Arctic Ocean along the Dalton Highway or the Haul Road. The last seven miles to the Ocean is restricted and you can only go with a tour service which we booked for the upcoming Saturday.

A day spent in the Fairbanks area. We are traveling with two small Honda inverter generators each of which can run most of the trailer if needed. They can be wired together to supply more power if we ever need to turn on our air conditioner which to this point has not been needed. One of the generators had an issue so we stopped at a local place, The Woodway, to get it looked at. First things I noticed was a sign on the door saying they would be closed next Saturday for the wedding of their daughter. I like the small independent places. They resolved the issue without charge. They suggested we leave the truck in their lot and check out the Farmers Market right next door which we did.

Next on our travels was a stop at Cramers Field. This was once the northern most dairy farm in the United States. It supplied milk and ice cream to Fairbanks. At some point it became a wildlife refuge for migrating birds including sandhill cranes. We took a walk along a couple of trails. On the Boreal Forest Trail we encountered more mosquitos than anywhere else (so far) on the trip.

Our next stop was the Visitor Center where Marsha inquired about the Dalton Highway where we could get to the Artic Circle. Our thought was travel the Dalton Highway about 100 or so miles to get to the Artic Circle. By the time she was done talking with the information person she was seriously thinking about traveling the entire 500 miles to get within 7 miles of the Artic Ocean. The Dalton Highway was once know at the Haul Road which was built to support the construction of the Alaskan Pipeline. For many years it was closed to the Public. It’s now open. It’s in rough shape and a 1,000 mile round trip journey. There’s a possibility to see some interesting sights and wildlife. We are now making plans to leave our trailer with our Fairbanks friends and take the truck up the road. We have a tent and other camping supplies so we are more or less ready for such a journey. Still up in the air if we go so stay tuned. If we do go we will be totally off the grid for several days.

Since it was only a two hour drive to Fairbanks we took our time breaking camp, but did secure a reservation at the Rivers Edge RV Park just outside of Fairbanks in North Pole. Had some great views as we headed towards Fairbanks. Once at the RV park we called our friend, Kathe. Kathe and Stan came to the campground and gave us a tour of the greater Fairbanks area. Stan’s lived here since 1969 so he is full of knowledge of the area.

View along the road from Denali to Fairbanks

I enjoyed exploring a bit of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks since it is a place I considered doing graduate work in the late 1970’s. Part of the reason I did not apply was th at I could not zero in on what area I really wanted to study. Paths not taken.

I have not spoken much about the long days. The days are the same length as back home, but the amount of daylight is greater here this time of year. While living north of Fort McMurray, Alberta I use to say that in late June it was light enough outside to drive without headlights. Not that it would be safe to do so, but you could do it. Here the sun does go down around 2 am and is up by 4 am. We’re sleeping okay and we can get our trailer dark enough so it’s not an issue.

Up at 4:45 am to catch an early bus into the Park. With tickets for Eielson Visitor Center (Mile 66) we boarded our 6:30 am bus. There are a couple of different types of busses one can sign up to take. Two primary ones are the brown buses or the green buses. Brown busses are narrated and you are with the same bus all day. A trip to the end and back is 12 hours or longer. They are expensive.

The green busses you can get off and on where you wish. The trip out to mile 66 was $40 each. The bus drivers stop whenever there is wildlife to see or special sights to photograph. Our bus driver heading out was Patty and she did an outstanding job. Out and back for mile 66 is an eight hour trip. At mile 66 at the Eielson Visitor Center we went on a Ranger led walk meeting the needs of Marsha who is still on a busman’s holiday.

To go beyond mile 15 in the park your transportation choices are limited. To take a private vehicle beyond mile 15 you need: 1. Campground reservations at a campground no further than mile 32 where you set up your campsite and not drive any more until you leave. Reservations must be for at least 3 days and are hard to come by unless booked way early in the year; 2. You enter and win a lottery system allowing you to drive further into the Park for one day in September.

We saw plenty of wildlife but most of it was further out. The key to finding wildlife close by is spend more time on the road so it is the luck of the draw on what you see. What we did see were moose, golden eagles, fox, caribou, dall sheep.

Tomorrow we head towards Fairbanks.

Fox bring home breakfast for her kits

Caribou

Caribou

Caribou

 

Denali – Many visitors to the park don’t get a view of The Mountain. Maybe three quarters of the time it’s not visible. We saw it 3 days in a row. After this was taken it clouded over.

Spent the day in the park doing a couple of hikes. First one was a busy loop trail along a river. Plenty of wildflowers but not much wildlife. It was a bit windy to photograph any of the flowers. Next we took on another trail that went a bit higher and much fewer people. We came across a momma and baby moose. It was below us maybe 200 yards away. We continued on the trail. She and her calf popped out of the brush about 25 yards in front of us. That stopped us and got us to retreat when she started walking towards us pretty much saying hey, go away human! Got good view of them then turned around and headed back down the trail. Tomorrow we are taking the bus further into the Park.

We got an early start and drove up to Denali making it to the park midday. It took a while to find a campground about 10 miles north of the park. If you want to stay in the park you normally need to make reservations a few months in advance. We drove 14 miles into the park and saw two moose up close and one caribou in the distance. We make reservations to ride the bus about 70 miles into the park on Thursday.