July 11, 2007
To Galbraith Lake, Dalton Highway: Hitching a ride with the Spaniards
During the night, it rained and is still overcast when we get up at 8am. In the kitchen Doug and Jenn are already fixing breakfast. Janet arrives at 9:15.... she had just flown in from Texas last night, an unexpected trip to a funeral of a friend. Janet is a whirlwind! She cannot drive us up to Prudhoe Bay that she had mentioned as a possibility. However, the two Spanish guys and Tani, a backpacker kid from Massachusetts are renting a truck to go up there and we can join them. They are going to be here at the hostel at 10-11am with the plan to leave later tonight.
Janet takes us to the outdoor store so we can buy a water bladder then drops Rachel off at the hostel to finish the laundry. She takes Patrick to Fred Meyer to get the food we still need and picks up a Pizza then back to the hostel. She also insisted that we get Bear Spray. She won't let us leave without it.
Back at the hostel, the Basque Spaniards arrive, and the discussion over the price is negotiated and a determined the time to leave. It is all a rush in retrospect, as with a little time we might have been able to plan for cycling from Prudhoe Bay as originally planned in Lhasa. The doubt came first when meeting a man at Gracious house who talked of bears in ditches and shale roads, our plan changed to only cycling home from the Arctic Circle. We had forgotten how fearful Americans can be of the unknown, yet this still affected our decision.
The plan now is to drive to Prudhoe Bay and see what the road is like whether to cycle or be dropped off at the Arctic Circle. We will be leaving at 4pm instead of later. Janet runs Rachel back to Fred Meyer to get more food for the drive, including a really nice club wrap sandwiches. We leave a note to Doug and Jenn, we may see them when we get back. The truck is loaded and Patrick ends up driving when it appears the Spaniards hadn't driven an automatic.
So, the adventure begins...
We are off by 4:30pm and reach the junction from Elliott Highway to the Dalton Highway by 6pm. The Yukon River is 56 miles, Coldfoot 175 miles and Deadhorse 414 miles. The Arctic Circle is Milepost 115 on the Dalton Highway.
The hills are covered with Fireweed, and we follow the Alaskan Pipeline. After crossing the Yukon River another 5 miles is the Hot Spot Cafe. It's 830pm, time to eat dinner. The gas pump is not working here, so Patrick drives back to the Yukon River for gas...the last opportunity until Coldfoot.
At 1130pm we cross the Arctic Circle and stop at the sign for pictures. It's still light and we drive on. By 1240, we are halfway to Deadhorse, 244miles. We stop for gas at Coldfoot, and 3am we go over Atigun Pass then drop down to Galbraith Lake at Milepost 275 and set up camp.
The light on the Brooks mountains, this early morning is beautiful.
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