Wednesday June 5, 2013 Deadhorse, AK

We left Coldfoot and hung a right heading north to our ultimate destination along the Dalton.  It’s really surprising that some of the road looks like it was paved within the last couple years, although most of it looks like the original dirt road has just been maintained and “improved” since its construction in 1974.    The helmet camera I’m wearing is doing a pitiful job of showing what the conditions and the landscape are really like on a video, so I’ll switch over to camera mode and hope the results improve. 

This video was recorded by Greg Hassler using his GoPro and was altered for time constraints.  I was 2 riders behind him.

Everything was going along quite well for the first couple hours.  While the temps had fallen into the low 40’s, the hard packed gravel road made for some relatively easy riding – until we stopped.  Our fearless leader, Jim, said it might get kind of cold and windy, so we had better put on any extra layers of clothing we brought.  (gulp)  I’m wearing everything I brought, but since I had been rather comfortable during the ride, I figured I’d just honker down and endure.  That didn’t work out to well.  I was prepared (I thought) for freezing weather, but I didn’t take into consideration that I was prepared for it while riding a bike with a monster fairing and windshield like my bike back home.  This wasn’t a fun ride.  Enter Atigun Pass.  Those of you that have ever watched the History Channels “Ice Road Trucker” can appreciate what this 4700 ft mountain can be like to travel for a truck, let alone a motorcycle.  As we began our ascent, the temps immediately dropped to mid 20’s and the rain had changed to snow.  The equipment maintaining the road had changed it from a hard pack gravel, to loose, muddy, slippery, and rocky.  Temps dropped to the low 20’s and the snow came down harder as the wind picked up.  Snow soon covered my faceshield but as I attempted to wipe it away, it quickly became an “ice” shield and I was left with a small patch of viewable road as I evaded the road grader trying to keep the pass navigable.  As the temp dropped to 18 degrees, I’m trying to scrape off muddy ice from my shield while maintaining control of the bike.  This continued for the next 20 miles or so, and as we descended about 1500 ft, the snow lessened and the temp climbed up to 22 degrees for our planned picnic lunch stop.  Picnic lunch - Really - At 22 degrees?  Isn’t this fun!?   The next 100+ miles were relatively uneventful.  The road went back to a hard pack gravel that is very easy to travel, snow was minimal, speeds were maintained at about 60 mph, and the temperature stayed at 28 for virtually the entire rest of the trip to Deadhorse.  The scenery was everything I had imagined for this northern tundra.  We passed hundreds of nesting birds, and as we got close to Deadhorse, off in the distance we could see musk ox.

Tomorrow is a tour of the oil fields and a visit to the Bay.  If so inclined, we’re invited to take off our shoes and stroll through the waters.  I think I’ll pass.  Now all we have to do is reverse course, and head back to warmer climates.