2005 Alaska RV Adventure

Fairbanks going North on the Dalton Hwy Apr 28, 2005

4/28/05 This morning I spent time getting the website updated. My last 2 attempts did not work out well. The RV park we are at has wireless, but I'm not getting a strong signal. This morning I went in and hooked up via cable. Once the site was updated we got on with the days tasks. Take care of the RV, stop at the store and get food for our trip this afternoon on the Dalton Hwy. Top off the gas tank. About 1:30 PM we were ready to head north of Fairbanks to drive some or all of the Dalton Hwy. This is a question, because only 25% of the Dalton Hwy is paved. It runs from about 80 miles north of Fairbanks off Alaska 2, up to Deadhorse near the oil fields and the Arctic Ocean. This road is used mostly to haul goods up to the oil fields. It has a lot of large truck traffic and the road is mostly gravel, of one kind or another. As you drive, you create a long thick dust train. I'm sure that the RV will need a good cleaning when we get back to Fairbanks. In one of the guide books, they say that you will be able to judge the Dalton Hwy by the first 10 - 20 miles. We have traveled 115.5 miles to get to the Arctic Circle and I would agree. I would also say that the first 20 or so miles is the worst part of the section I have traveled. After about 22 or so miles, we did hit about 4 miles of new pavement. It was great! Didn't last, back to the gravel. The last 20 miles or so before we got the Arctic Circle, we had pavement again. Some of it was not great, but much better than what we had been on. During the first 20 miles we averaged about 25 mph maybe. Some of the road is not only poor gravel, but 8 or more % grade. We went up a few hills at less than 15 mph. On some of the better gravel areas we were able to drive 30 - 40 mph for a short distance. We stopped about 5:30 PM at the Yukon River Bridge and had Pizza Hut personal pizzas for dinner. That's what Dad wanted. We discussed what our plan would be and decided that the Arctic Circle was a good target. If the road was as bad as the first 20 miles, it would take us 2.5 to 3 hours more to get to that point. The road was better so we made it in about an hour and 45 minutes. We arrived at the Arctic Circle about 7:20 PM, about 60 miles south of Coldfoot. We have decided to stay in the lot and go back to Fairbanks tomorrow morning about 202 Miles back. I will get up about 1 AM tomorrow morning to see if we can see the Aurora Borealis. We have heard that it is very hard to see this time of year as it stays so bright, even in the middle of the night. We figure that this is the farthest North we will be, and the least populated, so it's our best shot. It is clear at this time with just a little haze off in the mountains ... Many miles off. We'll just have to take a chance. Dad was disappointed that we did not see any animals on the Dalton Hwy today. You can't win them all. Maybe we will see some tomorrow on the way back. So many trucks drive the road that the animals may just avoid it. Good night. Best Wishes to All.

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