When i was first planning out the specifics of the AK2006 trip, this was one of those 'must do' things. How many people can say theyve actually seen the Arctic in person?
I found out quickly on the trip that each AK road kinda has it's own personality. The Dalton's being rocky, pothole filled, at times scary with all the truck traffic on blind curves and sliding gravel. There are easily about 10 really good reasons why rental car companies dont allow their cars up through here. No matter how 'middle of nowhere' i thought i was with the Denali Highway -- the Dalton did it too, but somewhere differently. But the experience, the sights, the everything is no less spiffy. . .
Leading up to the Dalton is an hour ride up the Elliot Highway. Along the way is this one room cabin marked “Olnes City, Population 1”. i thought was a joke, but it's in Wikipeida, so it must be official. . .
. . .the views of the valley were spiffy. . .
. . .distant view of the Alaska Pipeline heading into the arctic. . .
. . .a shadowy view of the spruce trees around the highway. . .
. . .and the clouds above. . .
. . .a roadsign on the side of AK-2, showing that the Dalton Highway is only 44 miles away. . .
. . .most of the traffic on the Dalton were trucks hauling stuff north to Deadhorse (or back), and most of the time they were going 20 miles an hour through the curves. . . this was one of them . . .
. . more spiffy clouds over the spruce. . .
. . .at the Colorado Creek Trailhead, the state has this obligitory “Here's where youre at and where you're going” sign. . .
. . .just south of the Dalton Road split, these markers for the City of Livengood, AK are on the side of the road. I didnt see any town, so the few houses must be beyond the tree line. But back in the day, this was a gold rush area, much like a lot of land north of Fairbanks. . .
. . .the split between the Elliot Highway AK-2 and the Dalton AK-11. . .
. . .the obligitory “Here's Where You're At:” sign. . .
. . .less than a mile past the split, it's gravel and more gravel. . .
. . .the road is barely two lanes wide, with about a 2 foot drop on each side at this part. (Not shown) but there was a sign that said “Dalton Highway Speedlimit 50 miles next 414 miles) -- which i think must have been a joke, because there's no way that anybody could do that on most of the highway. . . but maybe its so people who are stupid enough to try end up in the ditch here, where they'll be close enough to Fairbanks to find. . .
. . . some of the dried plants on the side of the Dalton Highway. . .
. . .clouds and spruce trees. . .
. . .and then suddenly there was pavement. This stretch was after the first major set of switchbacks has been recently improved. If you go straight, it's the old Dalton Highway and very nasty. Follow right, and it's all good. . .
. . .another missing sign, not sure why. But this is the Hess Creek Overlook at milepost 21. . .
. . .but wheres the creek?. . .
. . .the rock road in the center is the original Dalton Highway curving back to meet up with where it is now. . .
. . .a few miles further north, a mileage sign. . .
. . .these crazy Germans. Not sure who they were, but they were ones that were really ready for anything out here on the road. Their truck had stickers for South America locales too. We managed to pass each other at several places along the road as one of us stops and restarted. . .
. . .just north of the Yukon at Milepost 60, there's Five Mile Airport. Its owned by the Alyeska Pipeline Corporation and seems to be a waypoint to fly people and equipment in and out of the area. . . however, it looks like it's 'officially' closed off. These are some of the barriers that come down and block traffic on the Dalton in the event of a plane using the strip. . .
. . .some spiffy views from the 86 Mile Overlook. . .
. . .some more spruce trees on the side of the road. . .
. . .the rocky barren arctic landscape north towards Finger Mountain.
