Onward And Downward

Days 4-5

We went on our tour of Prudhoe Bay, dipped our toes in the Arctic Ocean and collected a few stones to put back into the sea at the end of our trip. Then we prepared to journey back down the Dalton Highway a bit before setting up camp for the 'night'.

It wasn't just the threat of the 6 foot grizzly in Deadhorse that made us want to move on that evening. Some of the worst bits of road had been slushy parts towards Deadhorse but as it had been a scorching day we thought these might have dried up, and didn't want to risk hanging around too long in case the weather turned (we'd heard stories of people wading through foot-deep slushy gravel when it had been raining). We were also revitalised by a shower and some food and feeling wide awake, so we rode through the midnight sun and made it 3.5 hours or 140 miles down the road that night.

Our gamble paid off – the roads were much better than they had been on the way up and it started raining the day after we got off the Dalton Highway (and we also saved spending another night with the dreaded mosquitos!). We did have our first 'incident' on the way back down though... We came to the top of a shallow hill to find a section of road that was down to one lane due to some roadworks - it was OK on the way up, so we stuck at our fuel-efficient 40-50mph. It wasn't fine anymore. Ric went in first and shouted 'huge rut' (or was it 'aghhh') down the radio and had a serious moment but managed to regain control. Emily managed to reduce her speed significantly, point the bike the right way and change down a gear before stalling, switching on the indicator and heated grips, 'placing' the bike down against the side of the rut and hopping off, all in one swift movement! 'Oops, sorry' came the call down the radio and Ric ran to her rescue. A quick lesson in ruts, the only topic covered in Ric's off-road course and not in Emily's, ensued. It was only a while later that we thought to photograph this bit of road for reference, but as it was a one way section with limited visibility at either end, it's probably best we didn't.

We finished the rest of the Dalton Highway the following day and made it safely back onto the tarmac of Fairbanks. We did manage to see a bit of wildlife this time: some caribou up in Deadhorse, a moose by the side of the road, an eagle which circled Ric a few times on the highway, a fox cub, and many many gofas which generally tried to kill themselves under our tyres (only one succeeded).


Days 6-7

Not much can follow the excitement of the Dalton Highway! We gave the bikes a much needed clean with a pressure hose and then gave ourselves a much needed clean in nearby Chena hot baths. We're now journeying South on the Al-Can highway and should be in Canada by tomorrow! We've had a few beers to celebrate Alaska and also the fact that there are very few mosquitos here, despite the rather sinister sculptures at the tourist information center in Delta Junction, where we're staying tonight. (see photos).

As an aside, there have been questions asked as to whether Emily was allowed to bring her rather frivolously oversized camping pillow on this trip, from some of those that heard the debate over it. She was, and Ric is hoping to buy one next time we see a camping store :-)