One day my boss told me, without warning (as he himself was told), that we had no work for ten days, so i decided to drive as far north as possible, and then walk into the Arctic Ocean, close to 900 miles away. The only way to do that is drive north of Fairbanks and get on a 414 mile dead-end dirt road called the Dalton Highway. The road was built in 1979 solely for the the purpose of shipping supplies to the drilling operations on the North Slope. The trip took two 12 hour days of driving to get to the Arctic Ocean from Anchorage (which sits on the Pacific Ocean), and then 2.5 days to get back to Fairbanks where i managed to scrounge up some freelance photo work. For the blog entries though, i've decided to present the trip in terms of the progression of the remarkably different geographic areas along the way from South to North, as opposed to a chronological description of the trip. That is, except for this first entry, which is called...
Day One: Yukon River
The bridge is completely "yellow" from dust and mud
Not really knowing what the Dalton Highway was going to be like, I wanted to get a good start on the first day and when i got to Fairbanks around 5pm i ate a quick dinner, stocked up on beer and ice, and decided to try to push on to the Yukon River, where there would be lodging (the only lodging within reach on the highway). The best thing about leaving Fairbanks is that you also leave behind the world of traffic lights. No more red lights for days and days.
From Anchorage it is 365 miles to Fairbanks, then 140 miles to the Yukon River. The Dalton Highway begins 84 miles North of Fairbanks and is 414 miles of mostly dirt and gravel. Strangely, there are some isolated stretches of paved surface. The pavement does not provide many advantages over the gravel, as it is littered with serious potholes and buckled from massive frost heaving. I quickly learned the necessity of slowing to a crawl every time a truck passed, to prevent windshield cracks from flying rocks and also to prevent driving off the shoulder in the blinding dust cloud that followed. After making great progress for most of the day my average speed slowed to 40mph once i was on the Dalton. Although depressing to think about, that's still only 10 hours of driving to get 400 miles. The next day i was often able to go faster.
The highway follows the pipeline.
The Yukon is one of the major rivers on the continent at 2,300 miles in length. The Mississippi River is 2,340 miles in length, 40 miles longer. Where the Dalton Highway crosses is the only bridge in Alaska that spans the river. The underside of the bridge houses the oil pipeline, and because of that there are a half dozen warning signs from the FBI not to cross the bridge on foot or stop your vehicle when driving across it. I tested the signs by walking 20 feet onto the bridge to get a picture and almost immediately all the megaphones that span the bridge on poles crackled and cued up. That was proof enough to me that someone was serious about keeping people off the bridge.
I eventually made it across the river around 9:30pm. The hotel i was going to use was on the bank of the river at the end of the bridge. I think some people may actually show up by boat. I don't remember the name, but the hotel is apparently of such high caliber that they lock the front door at 9:00pm. A female trucker on the pay phone told me there was another place 5 miles up the road. That was a weird drive because there was absolutely nothing between the two lodges except forest. The alternative turned out to be nicer, and not having any other choice i stayed there for the night. A hundred dollars a night, cash only, no receipt or room key... or bathroom. The bathroom was in another building (which also had rooms in it), so i had to leave my door unlocked for every visit, or to go to my car. Quality seemed better than the first "motel", but i think the pictures speak for themselves. I do have to say that the communal bathroom/shower was acceptably clean and well stocked, and the food they were cooking in the outside kitchen looked good.
The hotel at the Yukon River crossing. A disappointing reward for a 12 hour drive.
The "hotel" i stayed in. My room was in the nearer building.
The hallway of the main building, which led to the communal bathroom. The dog growled every time i walked by and the roof leaked water onto the floor. On my subsequent visit, the dog turned out to be a sweetie after a little neck scratching.
A very wide angle shot of my $100 room. Rush Limbaugh awaits in the corner, and that's exactly the way the book looked when i stepped into the room.
Next Time: WAAY Better Pictures...
