Haul Road 2

Departed Wiseman for the second half of the trip north confident based on the experience of the first part of the trip.  Probably shouldn't have.  Around 400k of mostly dirt second part was made more exciting because it is raining but also because the summer is road repair season in Alaska and they go hard.  The general principle for this road is they dump some gravel/dirt mix down the middle of the highway for several miles and then start grading it.  This means that you may encounter a long pile of dirt in the road, 6 inches of loosely graded sloppy dirt or the actual grader.  Add to this a steady supply of trucks and it makes an interesting drive.  If you are lucky this work has been done and calcium carbonate added to harden the surface and then the trucks compact it all before you get there!!

So with the car sliding around I carried on with caution.  As the latitude decreases the conditions become impossible for trees to exist. The northernmost Spruce tree was signposted for many years but some dickheads killed it and now just the sign remains (and no-one has relocated the sign to the next northernmost tree....would probably make it the next target).

Any doubt about the dangers of this road are removed by the constant roadside memorials, messages on the CB about accidents and actual evidence. Ooops.

Just short of Deadhorse I spotted what appeared to be an eagle.  Apparently they are rare in the area.  Really big bird!!

And finally the road into Deadhorse flanked by the snow depth markers

To clarify the distinction between Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay.  Deadhorse is around 1000 acres and is the oil mining town area.   Prudhoe Bay is the surrounding 300 square miles.  They are used interchangeably (if incorrectly)

Next... exploring Deadhorse and take the trip to the Arctic Ocean.  You are no longer able to actually swim but can wade in to your knees.  Kind of a relief really!!