Haul road 1

Starting nice and early I picked up by Dalton Highway compliant rental car.  Extra tyre, repair tools, CB radio and first aid kit.  Sounds promising!  Now this is a 2013 Ford Escape SUV which has 50,000 miles on it. As the trip to Deadhorse is about 1000 miles round trip this thing has made about 50 trips and each trip is about a $800-1000 hire.  This is a base level car so probably only cost $15,000.  Someone is making big money out of this!!

The actual Haul Road starts about 85 miles from Fairbanks and initially is quite reasonable gravel road.

 Not too many trucks but the crack in the car windscreen is a reminder to slow down while they pass.  Pleasant landscape then cross the Yukon river at Yukon River Camp.

The fuel situation on the Dalton is you fill up at Fairbanks, fill up at Coldfoot, Deadhorse and then reverse the deal.  The only other option is Yukon Camp.  Now it also seems my fuel left gauge is probably faulty because by the time I reached Yukon Camp the calculation didn't have me reaching Coldfoot.  I filled up but fortunately the gauge is dodgy so I now ignore it.

Some time later I arrived at the Arctic Circle.  Took the obligatory photo and drove on and on and on.

  The pipeline which was up till now just of mild interest has become a fascination.  It is like a travelling companion.  It follows the road for a while, then might leap a river or perhaps go under it, travel away from the road then swoop back in close or perhaps go underground and then pop up again.  Add to that the many a varied paths it takes when above ground forming a crazy zig zag across the landscape and it is very entertaining.

Finally got to Coldfoot.  Tried to fill the car and found there is a clash with the fancy car fuelling cap and their bowser nozzles.  Took 20 minutes to squeeze in a full tank.  Drove to my accommodation the Arctc Getaway in Wiseman.  Staying in their Wolverine Cabin...very cosy.

Quaint little town Wiseman. A bit off the highway you wouldn't even know it was there as it sit among the trees.  Population about 12 or so and like so many little places there is a status attached to being there the longest and whether you stay for the winter or move south.  Very subsistence orientated however with the Haul Road kept open all year supplies are readily available if required unlike Alpine Creek where the road gets closed in winter.   Wiseman only recently got stable phone cpnnections (landline ...no cell phones) and internet.  There is TV is you choose to get it but many don't.  The owners don't use a fridge as their basement is constantly cold enough
I was wondering why many of the old houses here were built close to, or into the ground but it turns out they were built without foundations back in the day and the choice of insulating roof material was dirt.  This combination on wet soil is not good and the only houses that survived are those which replaced the heavy dirt rooves with opened up  fuel cans which are much lighter.

I normally ignore visitors centres because they are often a bit lame however the one at Coldfoot (aside from being grossly overstaffed for such a remote location) was quite interesting.  One particular exhibit was a pair of locked Caribou antlers and skulls.  It would seem two males got in a fight and somehow got themselves all tangled up.  Death was inevitable but whether it was dehydration, starvation or wolves is unknown.

Somewhere near wiseman I encountered a guy walking with a cart.  Turns out this Japanese gentleman started walking from Dawson in Canada on 14 April and is planning to reach Deadhorse in mid August.  3800 k or so apparently.  He camps every night and walks about 25 miles a day.  If you think the Haul Road is a bit easy here is an option for you!!!

Wiseman to Deadhorse next.