DAY Twenty-One: Dusty Trail to Coldfoot

The dorm room at the University of ALASKA Fairbanks is nice, only $39 a night. But Deadhorse awaits Da'mit and I. On the road by 6:30, late by our standards. We talked until 11 pm last night with a father from Kansas and his son from Austin, Texas. They are riding a Honda Goldwing and a Harley Davidson. Going to Anchorage in the morning.They invited me to have dinner with them, I had already eaten so we talked. Did not reaalize how late it was as at 11 pm in Fairbanks, the sunlight looks like 7:30 in Texas.

The 75 miles of pavement from Fairbanks to Livengood, is a roller coaster of heaves, dips, sways, pitches, thrusts, drops, breaks and potholes linked together through a verdant corridor. All designed to keep the driver/rider in constant focus to maintain control of their vehicle. When a sign says pavement damage, one pays attention. as the size of the damage could do major damage to any vehicle that hits it wrong. Sometimes there is no sign, just orange cones on the side of the pavement.

Slow down when you see the cone.

A monor pothole

A serious heave in the pavement, note large block on the upper corner of photo

Finally we start up the Haul Road, officially known as the Dalton Highway. Alaska prefers to name thier major roads rather than give them a number. People are not going to believe me when I tell them that the temperature today on the Haul Road hit 82 degree, not a drop of rain. A week ago it was raining every day and freezing temperatures. The riding Gods favor me with great weather, pleasant rides and meeting wonderful people.

Da'mit is running great, ready to take on what ever the Haul Road can throw at us.

The Haul Road parallels the Alaska Pipeline.

A forest fire area of several years ago is greening up again.

The Yukon River in the background

The big Pipe

The sloping structure behind the pipeline is a the wooden deck bridge over the Yukon River.

The trees are shorter and thinner the further north one goes.

Pipeline goes straight, the road snakes along

Da'mit does the Circle visit.

 

Further north many ponds are still in snow and ice even though the temps were up to 80 today. Filled all the gas tanks fro the run to Deadhorse tomorrpow, then rode 5 miles up the road to the Marion Creek campground. A lot of campers there so no worries about bears.

 

They even have decks for those with tents. Here is my supper.

Now a quick viewing of my father's day present a few days early. Spotted a deep blue lake/large pond that I thought would make a good back drop for another photo of Da'mit, I know. Enough of the photos of Da'mit. But she is the reason for the adventure, to prove that Urals are more than adequete for cross country travel.

Once parked, walking to the water I spotted a large moose coming out of the tree line toward the water's edge, a hundred yards or so from me. The moose did not see me, so I quickly pulled out the Canon camera with the telephoto lens.

Here is what I got.....

Nite All,

 

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