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The True North

Just north of Coldfoot on Alaska’s Dalton Hwy is the small community of Wiseman. We had a bit of spare time because of road construction so we decided to detour in and take a look.

Wiseman is a very small community that historically was a mining area and according to Wikipedia had about 100 residents during the mining boom. Today, the community is much smaller and mainly consists of people living a subsistence lifestyle and/or providing ameneties to travellers on the Dalton (Bed & Breakfasts, etc.).

We drove the 3 miles in from the Dalton and slowly made our way through the tiny community. Part way through we noticed a sign for a shop. Darrin,  always being happy to meet new people, wound the wee Rover in towards a small homestead.

We were greated by Jack Reakoff and his cat, Willow. Jack and Darrin talked about life in Alaska, hunting, different furs and their uses and such while I took on the much more serious task of playing with Willow. Jack even invited us into his home and shared some amazing lettuce out of his garden. We were very taken with his hospitality and thoroughly enjoyed our impromptu visit.

Jack has lived in the north most of his life and is a guide. People drive or fly into Coldfoot to spend time learning about the north from him and other locals.  We highly recommend joining one of the tours!

For more information or to contact Jack. Sorry, a bit blurry.
The log cabin Jack’s parents bought when they moved to Wiseman in the ’60s. It is now part of Jack’s home. Amazing flower gardens, above the Arctic Circle!
Another view of the original log cabin with a newer attachment. Check-out the gardens, again, above the Arctic Circle!

 

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A Parting of the Clouds

Today, the sun came out! The clouds parted! And Denali peaked through! For 20 minutes she shyly gave us a glimpse before pulling her modest cover back over for the rest of the day. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so maybe we will hit the jackpot and see her twice…a rare thing the park ranger tells us.

Tada!
And again!
Oh ok, one more
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Moldy Toes

For those of you who haven’t been following the news, or your news channel doesn’t relay the items that are important to my life, Alaska is having a bit of a chilly rainy season (a ‘bit’ is what the Newfies say when there is a downpour or gale force winds…we learned that one the hard way one year riding our motorcycles in Newfoundland).

The good news is that all the rain is putting out the many wildfires raging up here, the bad news is it is raining so much the rivers are flooding, and the really horrible news is that it really makes camping soggy. See you knew it would all come back around to me:)

Being the intrepid campers we are, we tucked into a state campground, set-up all the tarps and such and hunkered down. We read, played cards and chess, read some more, walked around the campground and the airport next door, played more chess and cards…well you get the idea.

After 5 days of rain, we noticed a patch of less rain and even a few cloudy spots in the forecast…for the other side of the state. So, we weighed the options…stay on the eastern side in the rain or make the dash for the other side and a chance for a peek at a blue sky.  We also figured in the fact that we were way over due for a shower and some laundry (we won’t discuss the actual definition of how far we were overdue). The vote was unanimous! We packed up and made the dash to the other side, in the rain, over a pass which was probably beautiful, but we will never know, to a motel in Wasilla (and no, we couldn’t see Russia all of you SNL peeps).

12 hours later, we are clean, our clothes don’t stand up on their own any more and….drum role please…we did see a patch or two of blue sky! It was fleeting, but it was there (sorry, we were too busy staring at it to take pictures, it is amazing what a week of rain will do to you).

The weather report now shows a 2 day window of clouds and partial sun that might let Denali peek out, so north we go for a rare summer glimpse. They say in the winter she shows herself much more often, although seeing it requires frostbite. After that window, the clouds and drizzle are back…I think there is a real chance we might grow a new strain of mold between our toes before we leave Alaska.

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Rolling Rocks and Yoo-hoo!

We are headed south on our way to Denali. Its raining, foggy, closing in on time to get off the road for the night, and its pretty miserable for camping. We see a small gravel road headed off into the mountains and decide to check it out for a place to camp. After a couple of miles of steady climbing the gravel track has shrunk to a 4 by 4 trail. After another mile or so, just below the base of the rain clouds we begin to see a glacier peeking out! We drive to the end of the track and find a little area somewhat sheltered from the wind to set-up.

A bit of a wet drive in.
Can you find the Wee Rover?
There she is!

Next to our spot is a raging torrent of a glacial stream. The thick silt filled glacial runoff is the color of Yoo-hoo and as we try to fall asleep the gushing river loosens a rock. It clunks around for a few seconds as it is pushed down stream. At first we thought there might be a moose wandering by as there is moose poop everywhere…nope. This “rolling of rocks” goes on all night and can be loudly heard and felt in the base of the sleeping platform! Pretty cool but very unnerving.

Darrin found a swinging bridge up above our campsite.
Notice who the smart one was who stayed on the edge.
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Up, Up, Up…and Over

On the Dalton, the Brooks Range of Alaska is the definitive transition to the Arctic, not the Arctic Circle like the Dempster. The craggy, cloud covered peaks, shrouded in mist and pouring rain met us as we headed up the Antigun Pass. Up and up we went in first gear dodging the haul trucks and skirting the avalanche zone. Only the laundress will know how tense we were😂 Up and over we went to a record quick setup for the night due to the rain and very, very, did I say very thick mosquitoes.

Up we went into the clouds with the big rigs!

We woke the next day to sun in the Arctic with amazing views of the Brooks Range north slope and the tundra. We saw a single caribou being stalked by a huge wolf and we happened upon a musk ox chowing down! And we could actually see the pass on our way south!

We awoke in the morning to our first glimpse of the Brooks Range…north slope!
Hey look! It’s a musk ox chowing down. He was not impressed that we interrupted his breakfast.

What a place…

Amazing, and so worth the miles and miles of hills to get there.
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A Tale of Two Roads

It was the best of roads, it was the worst of roads (with apologies to C. Dickens), but which is London and which is Paris? The Dempster Highway of the Yukon & NWT vs the Dalton Highway of Alaska.

The Dalton was built in 8 weeks, during the 1970’s oil shortage, after vast reserves were discovered in Prudhoe Bay. The Dalton was originally known simply as The Haul Road and it was built that way. Straight up and over everything in its path! We were sometimes climbing in first gear for 10 minutes at a time. About half is paved, and most is rough from the weather and the constant flow of trucks supporting the oil infrastructure at Prudhoe (ironically many of them hauling fuel north to the various work stations).

The Dempster was built to explore for resources and to connect Inuvik via road to the rest of the world. It was built at a slower pace and follows the natural contours of the land it travels through. None of the Dempster’s 550 miles is paved, and much is rough from the weather and the materials used to construct it!

Glaciation is the biggest variation we saw over the 2 roads. The Dalton in Alaska traverses an area called Berengia that was spared the effects of the ice age glaciation. When you hit the Arctic Circle on the Dalton you could be in the Maine woods! It isn’t until you pass over the Brooks Range that you feel like you are in the Arctic. When you pass the Arctic Circle on the Dempster, you “feel” that you are in the Arctic.

Both roads are rough, the Dalton due to its route and the Dempster due to the materials used to construct it.

Both are long out and backs, the Dalton at 830 miles round trip and the Dempster at 1100 miles.

Both are beautiful in their own way, the Dalton has the Brooks Range and the Dempster has the Tombstones, Ogilvies and now the Arctic Ocean.

We found the Dempster road to be ‘expansive’ because much of it is Arctic tundra and the Dalton to be ‘industrial’ since it follows the pipeline and was built quickly as a truck haul road for the pipeline.

You will just need to add both to your bucket list and decide which is London and which is Paris!

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Beep Beep Beep

So, we go into Fairbanks, stock up and head north to the next gravel road, the Dalton Hwy. About 20 miles north of Fairbanks we come across Olnes Pond, a small recreation site for day use and 12 campsites for overnight campers. We grab one of the few remaining sites, set up and settle in for a quiet evening.

At 2 am we are awakened in our quiet little spot by trucks with back-up beepers…and they run continuously for the rest of the night. Unknown to us, our idyllic campsite is next to a gravel pit and just south of a huge road reconstruction project, Alaska road crews apparently work 24 hours a day.

So much for our good night’s sleep.

Our idyllic campsite
The gravel pit across the road…
The road construction site just up the road.
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Eagle, Alaska

We made it into Alaska (yes, the US foolishly let us back in) and promptly took a right turn north on the first gravel road we came to. Sixty-five miles and a few hairpin turns later, we entered the tiny ‘city’ of Eagle, not to be confused with the native town next door of Eagle Village, or the suburbs in between, as the locals call it for when you need to move away from the other 86 people living in the area.

The gravel road to Eagle had a few turns!
And drop offs!
And it used to have a snack stop. (Apparently it shut down because the owners died, not because of lack of business)

We camped at the local BLM campground for 2 nights, $10 a night, and explored the area, in 90 degree heat…an Alaska heatwave (we almost got caught skinny dipping, again)!

The town consists mostly of log cabins, even the town hall and church are in old cabins, restored Fort Egbert, a grass airstrip right in town, and a fairly new 20’ish room hotel that looks completely out of place.

The local church.
Town offices.
The town water supply…and you thought it was the gas station.
The sign says it all…notice the telephone booth?
The airstrip. The town office and church are at the far end.
The town of Eagle is on the Yukon River which we have crossed on a ferry, followed, swam in, crossed over a bridge, been our co stant companion for several weeks now…and absolutely loved.

We purchased our most expensive bag of chips, yet…$11. We needed the salt in the hot weather…that’s our rationalization.

And you thought we were exaggerating!

All in all, we loved Eagle. It is a very small town at the end of a dirt road that isn’t plowed in the winter (it becomes a snowmobile super highway) where people are eeking out a living, very much like Tuktoyaktuk in the Yukon.

I almost forgot! We saw a herd of caribou on our way into Eagle. It was what is know as the Forty Mile herd. Very cool!

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Poker Creek, Alaska

Today we crossed back I to the US, of course we had to do it in style, we crossed into Alaska at the most northern land border crossing we could find! We only had to drive 60 some odd miles across a road called ‘The Top of the World’…totally worth it!

I wonder what the 3 residents do when they are off duty?
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Yukon Dipping

Last night we slept next to the Klondike River and went for a dip. Tonight we are camping just north of Dawson City on the Yukon River and couldn’t resist going for another dip!

The mighty Yukon River!