Up the Dalton, 2006

From a BLM flyer: "The Dalton Highway is a primitive road that begins 84 miles (134 km) north of Fairbanks and ends 414 miles (662 km) later in Deadhorse, the industrial camp at Prudhoe Bay. It provides a rare opportunity to traverse a remote, unpopulated part of Alaska to the very top of the continent. Traveling this farthest-north road involves real risks and challenges." One is warned to take 2 full spare tires, extra gas & battery, foot/water, and to slow for oncoming trucks so they don't take out your windshield. We only had one spare, so crossed our fingers, said a prayer, burned some incense, etc., and headed out. In the end, no flats, but...well, read on.

My friend from college and I took this trip from June 11-17 (we also added one day in Denali National Park, southwest of Fairbanks). Richard Hickson is an avid birder and nature enthusiast, and without him, I wouldn't have seen half the animals I did, much less known what I was looking at. Early June is an excellent time in Alaska, especially up north where migratroy birds are nesting and all creatures who survived the winter are up and about. Also, the mosquitoes are not nearly as bad as they get later in summer, especially on the tundra. The chronology below is designed to give you a feel for what the trip was like, and what was observed along the way. Rich does what is known as digi-scoping, where he hooks up a digital camera to a high-end spotting scope. He uses a Swarovski scope with a 20-power eyepiece and a Nikon Coolpix 4500, an arrangement which always mandates a tripod or window-mount because of the extreme magnification. Further, he has to view the subject through the camera's LCD, making it an altogether challenging endeavor. I shoot a Canon 20D digital SLR, mostly hand-held, with a Tamron 200-500mm telephoto. The 1.6 factor in the camera body makes this setup an 800mm lens fully extended. Enjoy...

Day 1: Fairbanks to Coldfoot Day 2: Coldfoot to Deadhorse half 1 Day 3: Coldfoot to Deadhorse half 2 Day 4: Deadhorse Day 5: Deadhorse to Coldfoot half 1 Day 6: Deadhorse to Coldfoot half 2 Day 7: Coldfoot to Fairbanks Day 9: Denali Day 10: Fairbanks - North Pole

Final thought: Everyone thought we were locals! We figure either we exuded that comfortable, knowing, confidence which comes from years of survival in harsh environments, or we just looked like slobs.