To the Arctic Circle and Back
Today’s Mileage: 394 (230 Offroad on the Dalton)
Total Mileage: 4166
The Haul Road
I’ve been meaning to write this for the last two weeks, and I’ve finally got around to doing it. I want to preface this with the fact that reaching the Arctic Circle was a personal goal. I know its not a glamorous place, and honestly, there’s really not much to do up there. But it was an objective, a goal, an achievement. As it stands, I personally only know one other person who has done this. And, he over achieved and went on to Prudhoe Bay. But, here’s a short story of this special day for me.
I woke up this morning at about 5:30 AM and quietly geared up. I had unloaded my bike the night before of anything extra that I wouldn’t need for the day. Unfortunately I had to wake Kevin up briefly to find his pump in case I got a flat tire. I had only read about where I was going and heard many stories of trips gone wrong, bikes dead on the road, and worse… So I tried to push all of these things out of my mind and focus on getting onto the bike, getting gas and getting on the road.
The Elliot Highway is a beautiful road and a total blast to ride. Twisting through the low mountains with nicely banked turns and beautiful views. Its cold out, maybe 45 degrees so I’m bundled up with the big thick Mickey Mouse gloves on. (I’m from San Diego, 45 is cold!) It was about 97 miles from Fairbanks to the head of the Dalton Highway. My bike can go 200-230 miles before I’m out of gas. With that knowledge I had decided that if I got 50 miles into the Haul Road without finding gas, I would turn back so I wouldn’t be stuck out there. They call this road the Dalton Highway but its not much of a ‘highway’. 
For the most part its a dirt road that only exists so the trucks can haul their cargo up to Deadhorse for the Alaskan Pipeline. The truckers own this road, it is undoubtedly theirs and I am just a guest passing through. I took it easy for the first 10 miles as I wasn’t sure how the conditions would be. Today, its sunny and generally nice out. So there is no mud and the road is mostly hardpack with a few soft spots. I’ve ridden a lot in the dirt so the bike moving and shifting underneath me doesn’t really bother me at all. Actually I’m impressed with how well the bike handles in these conditions. About 20-30 miles in I hit this nicely paved section. Totally unexpected but hey, not to shabby! Somewhere shortly after I leave the paved section I run across a road crew washing their pickup using the water from the water truck. I think it was about 42 miles in or so. But ask them “Is there really gas at the Yukon river ahead?” They confirmed, and let me know there is a flag worker about 2 miles up along with an escort through the construction.
They say there are two seasons in Alaska, Winter and Construction. I arrive at the flag worker to experience my first Mosquitos. They are big and slow, and if you’re on the ball you can shake them off before they get to snack on you. The flagworker confirmed the gas at the river, but said I shouldn’t eat there. She said “Eat at the Hotspot Cafe about 5 miles past the river, they have the best burgers ever!” I pondered this as I watched huge tractors push dirt around and observe how much loose gravel there is where I’ll be going. Eventually the escort vehicle arrives and waves for me to follow her. The dirt and gravel here is really loose and my bike was kind of meandering all over the place. It didn’t help we were only going 5-10 mph, haha. Made it through here with no problems and got moving on the other side.
The dirt road here is in exceptional condition and I find myself moving along between 50-70 mph. This road would be a highway in Mexico as it was in better shape than any dirt road I’ve ever ridden. I encounter my first trucks on this section. Generally coming in the opposite direction. These guys move along so fast here that I never overtook one and only had them coming at me head on. Generally they’d slow down but as a good practice I always moved over as far as I could and tucked in behind the windscreen so I wouldn’t take a rock to the face. About 8 miles past the construction I came to the river with this good sized wood planked bridge. There were some good sized chunks of plank missing which would easily eat a motorcycle tire. And the bridge itself was at about a 5% grade downhill. So, I paid attention and picked my way across the bridge. Wonderful view by the way.
I gassed up quickly at the Yukon River Camp and hit the road north looking for the Hotspot. Just like they said, about 5 miles past the river I found it. Big sign and some other decorations to get your attention. I turned down the road leading to it and parked. Turns out I’m about 2 hours too early for them. So, I snack on a Clif Bar and some water and mount back up. At this point I have about 62 miles to go to the Arctic Circle. A few miles north of the Hotspot I ride ‘through’ an airstrip. Apparently they close the road when the planes come in as they land right next to the road. They had a tower and a small hanger there. Kind of neat really. Somewhere about 12 miles north of the Hotspot I got to see a timber wolf. Magnificent creature, but scary in its raw form. These are not small animals, I’d guess he was a bit bigger than a German Shepherd. He was mostly white with some brown showing through (Either dirt or a new coat) and very feral. He looked at me for a second, then disappeared into the brush as I was riding by. Very unreal, and most memorable.
Other than the wolf siting the ride to the Arctic Circle was pretty uneventful. There was another section of paved road, but it was in pretty bad shape. I think the hardpack dirt was far better to ride on. No potholes or sudden gravel spots. I stopped at Finger Mountain and took a few pictures. There was a small van with some people taking a tour up to Coldfoot. I spoke to the driver for a few minutes. Apparently people pay to be driven up to Coldfoot or Deadhorse, then fly back out. I don’t see myself ever doing something like that…
As you can see, I made it! No one else was there. It was quiet with the sounds of the wind in the brush and some bugs flying around. It was 84 degrees. I was sweating, and completely surprised that it was that warm. Global Warming? I walked around for a few, setup my camera to take a picture of me here at this imaginary line that intersects the road I was traveling. I’ve made the goal, now I point myself back towards home and head on back.
I stopped at the Hotspot, and definitely had the best burger I’ve had in long time. I’d have to put it up there in my top three to be quite honest. I met a nice family who was on their way to Deadhorse in their RV and we smalltalked while we finished up our food. They told me the BLM Volunteers would give me a certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle. That would be a neat souvenir! Just as I was wrapping up a tour bus showed up and the passengers exploded into the place all looking for some food and souvenirs. I bailed out of the Hotspot and got some gas down at the Yukon River Camp. Across the road was the small BLM office and I picked up my ‘certificate’. The rest of the ride back to the Elliot was pretty much the same. Crossed back through the construction area with no issues. Once I hit the Elliot I was still sweating from the heat and wished it would cool down. My wish came true and about 15 minutes later I was in a total downpour. My gear was waterproof so I didn’t get wet, but it sure felt great.
I made it back into Fairbanks, and pulled up to the hotel just as Kevin was walking back from some errand. I didn’t get back until 4:30, so about 2 hours past when I thought I’d make it back. Not too bad.
Now, for the ride home 
After that I stopped and took a picture of the Haines Highway Summit. It was kind of spooky as it was funny twilight and it was also 11:30 PM. This area is pretty cold if you couldn’t tell by the amount of snow on the ground. We rolled into Haines just before Midnight and found a hotel room pretty easy. Tomorrow we’ll wander around town, maybe see a bald eagle or two, and go watch the grizzlies feed in the river before we board the ferry.
