We woke up at a reasonable time this
morning and made our way to Fairbanks.
Slept early yesterday; hopefully this will get our sleeping habits back
on track. A huge weight had lifted from
our shoulders when we got back on pavement; a sigh of relief. We did it.
We rode the Dalton, we made it to Prudoe Bay, and we came out
alive. I’m not known to be a huge risk
taker, but sometimes you just gotta say $@#* it and make your move. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity
to do this. I’m sure Amanda is too.
We got a hold of JasonLester and family in
Fairbanks to let them know we’re on our way.
They have a cabin just south of North Pole. I believe they’re from Ohio.
We talked shop, watched airplanes, and ate
moose summer sausage. It was really
good. This is the trailer we stayed in.
After sleeping in the bush for the past
couple of days, the simple pleasure of sleeping in a bed will never be taken
for granted.
We had a nice hearty breakfast the next
morning and thanked JasonLester and family before getting back on the
road. Not knowing when we’re going to
come across another Wal-Mart, we decided to head back to Fairbanks to do an oil
change for my bike. We went to the
library afterwards to do the usual affair of updating ride reports, scoping out
potential camping areas, and keeping in touch with friends and family. To celebrate our triumphant victory over The
Dalton Highway, I ordered KLR decals for our steeds as a token of appreciation
for taking us there and back safely. We
ended up camping at Harding Lake State Recreation Area.
We started the day bright and early the
next morning in order to keep our expenditures low if you know what I
mean. We rode to Delta Junction where
the Alaska Highway officially ends.
The mosquitoes here aren’t too bad; I think
it’s because we’re here a bit early. I’m
sure it will get much worse a few weeks from now.
We stopped at the library and had lunch on
this peculiar picnic table
We continued riding south along the
Richardson Highway when all of a sudden it got extremely windy. We decided not to push it. Our only timeline now is to attend the Dust 2
Dawson Motorcycle Gathering on the 24th of this month, which gives
us plenty of time. Too much time
actually; we need to find something to do in the meantime.
The next morning, we stopped to have lunch
at a lodge located at the intersection of the Denali Highway & Richardson
Highway in a village called Paxson.
There, we met another father and son team, both on KLRs, who had just
come back from the Dempster Highway and is on their way to tackle the
Dalton. The Dempster Highway is 736 km
of non-stop gravel. It starts 40 km east
of Dawson City, Yukon; crosses the Arctic Circle, and ends in a town called
Inuvik, North West Territories. Like
Deadhorse, Inuvik is the northernmost point you can get to by road in Canada.
Some say the Dempster is more challenging than the Dalton because there are no
patches of paved road whatsoever. I hate
to say it, but I think I have an idea on how to kill time before heading to
Dust 2 Dawson…
At AlcanRider’s persistent request, we
decided to head down to Valdez to check it out.
We killed some time at the library back in Glennallen. We recently saw the movie version on the
iPod.
Killed some more time at a local auction
that is also aired on local radio
Camped in a gravel pit just south of
Glennallen
 |
| 416 km |
We
rode the Dalton.
We
made it to Prudoe Bay.
We
came out alive.
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