Day 14 & Day 15 (Part 1) of Lupe’s Summer of 2016 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies, Yukon & Alaska.
Rain, rain, rain! It had been raining most of the night, and it was raining now, harder than at any time yesterday. It was so early, Lupe was still conked out. Dark clouds hid the mountains and the Worthington Glacier, where Lupe had such a great adventure yesterday.
Clearly, the Carolina Dog’s luck at the Worthington Glacier wasn’t going to be repeated again today anywhere near the S Alaskan coast. A week of rain was in the forecast. Time to head inland. Maybe it wasn’t so wet there? As soon as the G6 was ready, Lupe and SPHP drove N on the Richardson Highway, hoping to drive out of the weather before reaching Glennallen.
About 10 miles before even reaching Glennallen, SPHP pulled into the parking lot for the Wrangell – St. Elias National Park & Preserve visitor center. It was still raining, but not as hard as before. The clouds weren’t as dark, either, although they still blanketed the entire sky. Lupe waited in the G6, while SPHP went into the visitor center to see if they had a near term weather forecast for this part of Alaska.
SPHP interrupted three idle rangers chatting among themselves behind the information desk. Did they have a weather forecast? Rain for the next 10 days, and more after that, responded a bored female ranger. Alaska’s best days of the summer of 2016 were history now. It was just going to get colder and darker, she said. What about farther N, did they have a forecast for Fairbanks? Even colder and darker, there she replied.
SPHP returned to Lupe in the G6. Sorry about the wait, Loop! That was a complete waste of time. No specifics, other than more rain is expected. The ranger didn’t care, and knew next to nothing. Any lame brain would know that it would get colder and darker as summer fades to autumn in Alaska. Maybe we will find out something in Glennallen.
Hah, fat chance! At the Glennallen visitor center at the intersection of the Richardson and Glenn Highways, the story was almost the same. At least the lady at the information desk exhibited some energy and interest, but all she said was that it was raining in the entire state of Alaska, and had been rainy for weeks. She too, expected more rain, but had zero specifics. What about the weather in Fairbanks? Yup, raining there too, she insisted.
Gah, she had no clue either! Alaska is a vast territory. It was hardly possible it was raining in the whole state. Still, it left SPHP wondering what to do. Should Lupe go farther N hoping to find better weather, hang around here for who knew how many days waiting for the rain to stop, or just give up on Alaska all together, and go back to Canada and the Yukon?
Leaving Alaska now would be a shame! Lupe had come all this way, and had so many Alaskan adventures on her list of possibilities! SPHP left the building pondering the situation. A man followed SPHP outside.
The man introduced himself as the owner of Alaskan Quest, based in Fairbanks. His name was Kent Kaiser. He had overheard the conversation. Kent said he had just come from Fairbanks. Although it had been unusually rainy this summer there, it was sunny when he left Fairbanks this morning. Better yet, 10 more days of sun were in the forecast! SPHP thanked Kent for the tip.
It was all SPHP needed to hear. Loopster, good news! You’re heading N! After gassing up the G6, Lupe and SPHP continued N on the Richardson Highway.
The weather didn’t improve. The farther N Lupe got, the harder it rained, and the darker the clouds became. Not a speck of blue sky appeared anywhere. Lupe went past high mountains, a forlorn, dreary-looking Summit Lake, and big rivers. Some of the creeks were out of their banks. SPHP began to wonder.
Eventually, though, conditions did improve. The rain slackened, then quit. A tiny speck of blue appeared in the sky to the N. The blue spread, as Lupe and SPHP neared Delta Junction. By the time Lupe and SPHP stopped at a McDonald’s in North Pole to share a couple of cheeseburgers, a glorious pale blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon.
Lupe and SPHP reached Fairbanks, which turned out to be an attractive city. Fairbanks wasn’t Lupe’s actual destination, however. The decision to come N meant she was going all the way to her most northern peakbagging objectives. As far N as Lupe was already, she wasn’t even close to them yet.
It was already evening, as Lupe left Fairbanks heading NE on the Steese Highway. Less than 15 minutes later, at Fox, SPHP turned N on the Elliot Highway. Traffic faded away to almost nothing. The Elliot Highway was paved and in great shape. It went through densely forested territory, repeatedly climbing high ridges only to descend into successive big valleys farther N.
By the time the sun went down, there were clouds in the sky again, but they were thin and non-threatening. Lupe was almost to a much anticipated turn. A little beyond Livengood, there it was! SPHP made the R turn. Almost immediately, this new road turned to gravel. SPHP wondered what Lupe was getting into. The road went up a hill. At the top was a sign next to a long gravel pullout. Lupe had made it to the start of the Dalton Highway!
While Lupe was at the Dalton Highway sign, a semi-truck appeared from the N. The driver stopped the long truck at the pullout. The truck was absolutely filthy, caked with dirt and dust. The driver got out. With the truck still idling, he used a wire brush to scrap the dirt off all the lights on the truck. The driver checked on a few other things, then drove away. Five minutes later, another semi-truck came out of the N. The same thing happened.
Good grief! Would the G6 be able to stand up to the Dalton Highway? Was Lupe going to be able to get anywhere close to her peakbagging objectives? Tomorrow would tell. It would be here soon enough.
The next morning, SPHP was concerned. The sky was cloudy, not clear. The Dalton Highway was dry, though, so Lupe fearlessly, and SPHP wonderingly, started N in the G6.
SPHP drove slowly, even though the Dalton Highway was in better shape than feared. No sense on taking any chance of damaging the G6 way up here in northern Alaska! Up and down. Lupe crossed many hills, valleys and ridges. Sometimes the Alaska oil pipeline was in view. Several sections of the road were paved, which was encouraging. Lupe was making progress.
At mile 55, Lupe reached her first objective along the Dalton Highway. It wasn’t a peakbagging goal. Lupe was about to cross the famous Yukon River!
Crossing the bridge only took a minute or two. Lupe was N of the mighty Yukon River! On the E side of the Dalton Highway was the Alaska oil pipeline, and a little visitor center. Time to get out of the G6 to see what there was to see, and celebrate Lupe’s crossing of the Yukon River.
The visitor center wasn’t open yet. SPHP looked at a few of the displays outside. Lupe went down to see the Yukon River. She saw the bridge on the Dalton Highway she had just crossed to get N of the river. Interestingly, the Alaska oil pipeline is attached to the underside of the bridge.
A gas station with a single pump was on the W side of the Dalton Highway. $5.50 per gallon. SPHP didn’t buy any. The G6 had plenty. Still, it was taking a chance. No matter what the price at Coldfoot, SPHP would have to buy some there.
Lupe and SPHP went down to the Yukon River again, this time W of the bridge.
Almost as soon as Lupe left the Yukon River heading N, the Dalton Highway became damp, soft, and a little muddy. Once again, SPHP became concerned, but before long the road improved.
Slow and easy, 30 to 35 mph, Lupe and SPHP continued N. The Dalton Highway wound around, going up and down big hills and ridges. Often it was possible to see many miles toward distant mountains seemingly far beyond the reach of civilization. The scenery was vast and remote. The truck traffic on the Dalton Highway became almost the only source of reassurance that it wasn’t crazy for Lupe to be way out here.
About an hour N of the Yukon River, the highway passed very close to the summit of Finger Mountain (2,202 ft.). This was just too tempting. With only 30 feet of elevation gained required to claim a peakbagging success way up in N Alaska, Lupe had to stop!
A short nature trail went up Finger Mountain. Lupe followed it. The top of the mountain was a collection of rounded boulders. Lupe got up on some of them for a look around.
N of Finger Mountain, there was a long stretch of paved road. Instead of deteriorating as it went N, as SPHP had feared, the Dalton Highway was getting better! Overall, the Dalton Highway wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the descriptions SPHP had read online implied. On the other hand, maybe that was just because the gravel sections weren’t muddy right now.
Half an hour N of Finger Mountain, Lupe came to one of the most important non-peakbagging objectives of her entire Summer of 2016 Dingo Vacation. At mile 115 of the Dalton Highway, intrepid explorer and adventurer Lupe reached the Arctic Circle!
Lupe’s adventures in the Arctic were about to begin! Back on the Dalton Highway again, Lupe and SPHP continued N another 60 miles to Coldfoot. SPHP’s gamble paid off when gasoline for the G6 was a measly $4.59 per gallon, a significant savings over the $5.50 per gallon they wanted at the Yukon River.
At the Coldfoot gas station, Lupe made friends with a couple of motorcyclists from Huntington Beach, California. Alfredo Gonzalez, a riding academy instructor for Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, and his friend, Sam, both showed an interest in Lupe. They were riding BMW motorcycles, and were on their way back S after having gone all the way to Prudhoe Bay.
It turned out that Sam and Alfredo were talking about possibly taking another motorcycle trip going through the Dakotas in 2017, so SPHP invited them to stop by and visit Lupe at home in the Black Hills. Maybe Lupe will get to see Sam and Alfredo again!
Sam and Alfredo said good-bye to Lupe and SPHP. They were ready to head S. Lupe was going the other direction. Excitement was mounting – it wouldn’t be long now! Another 25+ miles N of Coldfoot, Lupe would see the most famous mountain along the entire Dalton Highway. 90 miles into the Arctic, Lupe was here to climb it today!
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