Misery on Two Wheels to the Arctic Ocean

After a good nights rest at the Arctic Circle, I was left with another 308 miles to make it to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay at the Arctic Ocean. That would have been just dandy with one exception.......rain! Lots of rain! Relentless rain that didn't stop for more than a few minutes for the entire 308 miles. It turned the Haul Road into a soupy, mucky mess that was slicker to drive on than any dirt surface I've ever ridden a bike on. Now I know what was being described in the articles I had read regarding this road and their use of a calcium-clay mixture. Yuck! Double Yuck!!!

I learned several things today; (1) "waterproof" claims don't mean a thing to me anymore. I stopped and wrung out enough water from my Gore-Tex waterproof gloves to have drowned a sea lion and my waterproof boots felt like hip-waders that were used as scoop buckets. (2) Let's not forget those wonderful Frogg-Toggs. While they work for a while, it didn't take long to learn where their usefulness ends. The thermometer started at 50 degrees that morning and steadily dropped until reaching 40-43 degrees with a good stiff 30-32 knot wind (according to NOAA's website) to compliment the rain. Let me tell you, wind driven H2O has a way of finding the tiniest of cracks and over time, will it ever wick!

Despite that being the most miserable day I can ever remember on a bike, I'm still going to attempt to show you some of the valley's natural beauty, what of it I could see when the rain would lighten up enough to dare exposing my photography gear to the elements..

Picture # 1, 2 & 3: A few shots of Atigan Pass, the Haul Road's most notorious climb up into the soup of the Brooks Range. Please keep in mind this is gravel and mud today but could be nothing other than ice and snow in a few short months. I cannot imagine the nerve-racking ordeal it must be for truckers in the winter.

Located approximately 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Atigan Pass is the highest mountain pass in Alaska at approximately 4100'. Doesn't sound like much until you're reminded its a 2 mile long twisting and turning 10% icy graveled, and muddy grade! Can you imagine pushing 52 tons of semi up that in the winter? Or worse yet, bringing it off the other side? Talk about heating up the transmission and differential temperatures....WOW!!!!.

Talking with some of the drivers who regularly run the Haul Road in like sitting in the midst of living trucking legends. These guys have nerves of steel. Some of them will tell you that "Sure it gets a little tough at sixty below zero, your brakes freeze to the drums, or you can snap a drive train like a candy cane if you're not tender with the gears." "Make one wrong move on a hill and you're hanging onto an 18-wheeled toboggan." That's why some guys refer to the Haul Road as the Kamikaze Trail, but they'll quickly tell you it's the best trucking in the world if you know what you're doing.

Pictures 4 & 5: Some of the equipment being regularly transported to the North Slope oil fields. Due to the enormous size of machinery required in the oil patch, the drivers tell me they are allowed to haul more weight on the Haul Road than other Alaskan highways. If memory serves me correctly, I recall him saying 105,000 gross vehicle weight was their limit. Now remember that comment about the runaway toboggan on the icy mountain passes. These guys earn every penny they're paid!

The International Harvester/Case 385 QuadTrac, built in Fargo, North Dakota is one impressive machine and currently holds the world record for a 24 hour plowing activity. While it obviously isn't headed to the North Slope for a corn planting contest, it looks as if it could do or pull just about anything you linked it up to. For more information on the QuadTrac, click on the link above.

Pictures 6 & 7: Approximately 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle is the town of Coldfoot, Alaska. It has the distinction of holding the lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska when in January of 1989, the recorded seventeen consecutive days below -60 degrees and a bone chilling low of -82 degrees. While you're thinking of those numbers, take comfort in the fact that you can always find warm cozy accommodations nearby. For a mere $90 per night, you too can snuggle up in this bungalow complete with additional fir blankets if needed (pic 7). No.......I'm not kidding, it is for rent! You have to remember, you're in some of Alaska's most remote country and things are a bit on the rustic side. But, of course if that doesn't suit your fancy you can always check into alternative lodging as seen in pictures 8-10.

Pictures 8, 9, & 10: But, of course if that doesn't suit your fancy you can always check into alternative lodging in the form of the Arctic Getaway Igloo #8. Price is about the same but decorated differently. Then of course, there's always the bed and breakfast (9 & 10). Look closely at the sign and learn that at this B&B, "YOU" make both! haaaaaaaa

Pictures 11-15: Dirty pictures for John and Doug! You asked for them, so here they are. Now I'll expect you guys at my house upon my return to help clean this thing with a toothbrush. By the time I rolled into Prudhoe Bay around 11:00 p.m., I was so darned tired, soaked and nasty from mud thrown up by the trucks I could have slept in a 55-gallon barrel. Fortunately, the Caribou Inn had "one" room left which was little more than a 8' x 12' box with a tiny bed, 13" television and shared bathroom. For a mere $200 (!!!!!) I could rent it for the night. With camping not allowed in the town and a driving rain still coming down, I couldn't have cared less if it had been $400.