Today was another cloudy day in Alaska, so after an excellent breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt, and packing a box lunch for the road, I went on a tour of Deadhorse. Chris, the tour guide worked in the oil business for twenty six years, has retired, and now returns every summer to tour people through the complex. Deadhorse is not a town, it is an industrial complex completely owned and operated by private industry, mainly BP and Phillips Oil. There is no liquor or drugs allowed anywhere in Deadhorse. The tour was two hours long and included the dip in the Arctic Ocean. We had to be quick as there was a polar bear spotted nearby and they were nervous that we might be on the menu.
After the tour I had my picture taken in front of the Prudhoe Bay Hotel as proof of arrival, then I was gased up the bike, and headed South on the Dalton Highway in the cold side wind of forty miles per hour, and rain or sleet, making the gravel road very muddy and slippery . It was a very challenging day.
The first part of the ride carries you across the massive flat coastal plain, and eventually the road runs into a valley which leads to the Atigun Pass. Today as I approached the Pass the sun came out so I was able to take some pictures that show the road leading north into the pass, the road going south over the pass, the road going north over the pass, and the valley on the south side of the pass. The temperature increased substantially and the rain stopped immediately after descending the pass.
We has to wait about thirty minutes at one point as a very wide load was being moved North on the highway. They send several trucks ahead to stop people and have them pull over at turnoffs, then we have to wait. This load was massive sitting on a special trailer with two more large trucks pushing and braking at the rear.
It was a good animal day; Musk Ox, Grizzly Bear, Elk, Arctic Fox
For the last hour of the ride it began to rain again, so I am bunked up in the Inn at Coldfoot.
Distance Travelled: 244 miles 390 Km