Toledo, Ohio to Deadhorse, Alaska in 12 days (we made a few side trips) and 5200 miles.
We seen our first Polar Bear. He was beside the road in front of us, as we got closer (200 ft) he started walking up toward the mountains. We stopped and watched him for about 15 minutes before continuing down the road.
The toughest climb was up Atigun pass, 600 ft to 4600 ft in about 5 miles. We made the climb up in 1st gear doing about 25 – 30 mph.
The Dalton Highway is various conditions of roughness. There are a couple points were we were cruising along at 10 mph because the road was so bad, then at times we could cruise at 50.
I think the best is the packed gravel, there are few surprises, you know it sucks.
We arrived in Deadhorse about 2pm. We stopped at the Deadhorse Information Center (a sign with a “Free Map” box).
We checked in at the Arctic Caribou Inn. They do the Arctic Ocean/Drilling rig tours. The only way to get access to the Ocean is via one of the tours. No private vehicles north of town and to the oil drilling rigs.
We needed a couple things from the store, so a swing by the Prudhoe Bay General Store. This store is the ONLY place to show, kind of like the “Walmart” of Deadhorse. The building is also the Post Office, the Auto Parts store of Deadhorse, The “in” place to shop. (the only place to shop)
Just found another fact about living here in Deadhorse, internet connectivity can rival the haul road. I’ve tried several times to connect and update the blog, but its been very, very, slow, and I would get timed out when trying to upload some of the photos.
We scheduled our tour for tomorrow (they need 24 hour notice), so back to the ToyHouse Hilton for the night.
Deadhorse Sunrise/Sunset > It Doesn’t – The sun stays up 24 hous a day.
Koyukuk River to Deadhorse > 223 miles > 14.1 mpg