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I visited Fairbanks on the 4th of July, and made an appointment to get some of my medical tests done to qualify for
returning to Antarctica in the fall. There had been several large fires burning in the area, which provided some
intersting views.
The musuem provided a close up view of one of Alaska's more notable residents.
After an visit to the Dentist in the morning, I headed out for Deadhorse. North of Fairbanks the road
turns to gravel, and shortly after, I caught one of the first views of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline I'd be
following north.
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It's a little over 120 miles from Denali to Fairbanks, and another 100 miles north of Fairbanks you reach the Dalton Highway, or the Haul Road as it's also known.
Sometimes there are signs you're in for a long trip...
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It was a dark and wet afternoon, so I didn't take a lot of photos on the north, but I went as
far as Coldfoot, where I got a camping spot to leave the trailer, and to start off from in the
morning.
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A rushed drive north from coldfoot, got me to Deadhorse with just a couple of minutes to spare. You cannot
drive to the Arctic Ocean, and the only access was a tour that departed only twice a day. There was a lot of
Wildlife around Deadhorse.
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Well in less than 6 months time I had stood at the South Pole, and found my self at 70 degrees North, standing on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.
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The sign about the Mini Mart was wishful thinking on some of the workers.
Seeing the Grizzly bears was great, but it turned out that they were garbage bears that had fed on the Deadhorse dump until the past year, when they finally started enclosing and 'bear proofing' the trash containers.
It was time to head south again (the only way the road went), and back towards coldfoot and the trailer.
I think this bridge replacement project just got a little more expensive.
