Chapter 2: Journey Begins
July 2,2013.
Breakfast has always been a big morning thing for me, how can you start your day without a heavy breakfast. The dilemma is to find a good breakfast place in Fairbanks. The first question i ask the person sitting outside the Billies hostel "where can i have good breakfast?". He routed me to Sams Sourdough, the best place i think in Fairbanks. It is about 15 minutes walk from the hostel.
As soon as i step outside the hostel i encounter the first creature found in abundance in Alaska "Mosquito's".They are freaking huge. I was always under the impression that people, rats and squirrels were bigger in U.S.A. Well, i will add mosquito's to the list as well. Fairbanks is a small town with a big university. There are basically two buses (red line and blue line) that will take you to wherever you wish to go. Fairbanks is also one of the places where you can actually click a picture next to the Oil Pipeline, besides the Dalton highway.
If there is one thing i would have done differently on this trip that would be to leave for Deadhorse today.
July 3,2013.
One Big Mistake -- I decide to take bus to go to the car rental company. The first bus was supposed to arrive at the stop at 6:58 AM. I was at the bus stop at 6:00 AM. As soon as i stand at the stop i am attacked by this herd of mosquito's. To save myself from being eaten alive by these blood sucking monsters, i start walking towards the rental company. I was carrying all my baggage and walking like a champ. I could have taken a cab but again i was ignorant enough to note the number down. Also, Fairbanks is so small that you do not see cabs flying by as you would in other cities. I basically ended up walking. This was a painful experience.
I finally reach my destination, Artic Outfitters.After signing some papers and taking on a collision insurance($46 for 4 days) i am headed for Deadhorse. The car is well equipped with first aid kit, 2 spare tire, tool kit and a radio( to listen to trucker talk).
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| Shopping Day 1 |
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| Dalton highway sign |
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| Fred Myers |
A few miles from Hiltop i reach a welcome sign for Dalton highway. This is where you say good bye to civilization as well as the tar road. The bumpy and curvy ride begins here. It could have been worse but i think i got used to it soon. At this point i am so excited that i care less about highway and more about what is around me, you feel lost right away. If you check your iphone you might not be able to get any coverage until you reach Deadhorse. So say good bye to twitter, facebook and everything else in your social network.
The traffic is not bearable on the highway, its not a very busy highway. I believe the truckers have a bad name on the highway but in reality i did not come across a lot of trucks. It is true that the road is risky but not because of the truckers. The road is risky because it is so beautiful that you might get too busy enjoying the tall trees and landscape that you might drive into a valley. At few points on the highway the road gets really narrow and often you will encounter some sharp turns.
The signs on the highway make the ride even more enjoyable. Some of the signs that i thought were funny are - dead end alley, enter at your own risk street, himalaya road, Oh Shit turn and beaver slide.Trust me when i say that the Oh shit turn will actually make you scream that.Its an almost 90 degrees turn and the flora is so dense that you have no idea what is coming from the other side- hence drive under 50 miles and be cautious.One interesting element of the highway was that the tree sizes start shrinking as you enter the tundra region.You can also see the evidence of permafrost while driving endlessly. If you do not know what that means just wiki it.
Since i started on the highway i expected to see some animals, i was under the delusion that i would see animals every few miles and had my hopes high as well as the camera ready. But that was so not true. I must have driven at a steady pace just so that i can spot some bears or caribou or a fox. Its also hard to spot animals when you are the only one driving and your best companion on the highway is the oil pipeline that runs from Deadhorse to Valdez. I think the only reason i would drive with someone next time is to spot more animals.I did encounter a few bikers on the highway but nothing on four legs.
I reach Yukon river bridge by 1:00 pm. The Yukon river camp has a small restaurant and a gas station. The restaurant has really clean restrooms and place to take shower. So in case you decide to use the amenities be nice and order something for this service. Its wise to fill gas ($5.19/ gallon) here as the next gas station is in Coldfoot. I ended up eating my lunch here. The rain that had slowly made its way on the dalton highway had stopped by the time i reached Yukon river and my rental car had got some tan.
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| Yukon River Gas station |
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| Car 1:00 pm, Dalton, Yukon River Camp |
After the Artic circle my next stop is Goblers knob, by this time i have given up on all my hopes about spotting animals. I reach a huge lake called 3000 graying lake. I sit here for sometime, thinking i would end up spotting something on the lake. This is the place where i start talking to myself. You would talk to yourself if you have not spoken a word for like 3 hrs. I start driving by the lake and in my rear view mirror i see a white car parked a few feet off the road. I slam my brake, what can the person be possibly doing in this lonely paradise. I put my car in reverse and that is when i see a tall black creature in the lake ... Its a Moose. This actually made my day.
As soon as you open the door of your car about 100 to 500 mosquito's will enter, so train yourself to be more skillful and do not let them spoil your journey.A very good tip is to slide down your windows and start driving this will force them out. I finally reach Coldfoot. I first go to the visitors center get some information about Marion creek camping ground , which happens to be my host for the night. I then drive to Coldfoot restaurant which is huge truckers stop. You can refuel your car here. This is the last service station before Deadhorse. I leave the restaurant and drive to Marion Creek camping ground which is 5 miles from Coldfoot. The camping ground is self service and costs about $8/night. I pay my fee, park my car and kill some mosquito's before i try to fall asleep in the wilderness where its 24 hr daylight.
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| Yukon River |
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| Yukon River Bridge |
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| A good patch on the highway |
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| Finger Mountain |
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| Roller coaster |
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| a scary place |
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| Coldfoot visitors center |
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| Car gets more tan |
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