Driving
the Dalton Highway. May 29-June 1
We
arrived in Fairbanks on May 19th. One
of the things I wanted to do on our Alaska trip was to attempt to
drive our motorhome up the Dalton Hwy. My plan was to research the
road while we were in Fairbanks and also pick a time to drive it when
we had very nice sunny weather.
More
on our stay in Fairbanks in another posting.
The
Dalton Hwy, originally was the haul road built to haul supplies to
the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay and to support the building of
the
Alaska Pipeline. It is about 415 miles of mostly dirt and gravel
road with some parts paved. The road ends at Deadhorse, a town built
to support the oil field operations at Prudhoe Bay.
The
Dalton is also one of only two roads on which you can drive to the
Arctic Circle and beyond. The other is the Dempster Hwy, near Dawson
City, YT. I
plan on driving part of the Dempster as we go back through Canada.
We are only going to go about 40 miles up the Dempster, not nearly
far enough to reach the Arctic Circle again.
After
doing more research on the Dalton I felt we
were reasonably prepared for the trip.
We had a full sized mounted spare tire. The recommendation is for 2
mounted spares, but I figured we would be OK. Our tires are load
range H which has extra load capacity, than the load range G which
are standard for this RV. We are towing a small pickup, so we do have
a spare vehicle in case the motorhome should break down. We have
more than sufficient food, water, etc to sustain us for 10 days to 2
weeks if absolutely necessary. We have towing from Coach Net. Coach
Net is “supposed” to tow you from regular numbered highway and
the Dalton is an official state highway. I didn't call Coach Net and
ask if they would tow us while on the Dalton. I figured we would just
take a chance and deal with any issues if/when they came up.
Besides, calling and talking to a customer rep is meaningless. Even
if they say yes they will, if you do need a tow and they say no, it
means nothing to say “so & so said you would tow us”. The
response would be “well they were wrong and you were misinformed”.
For
the Dalton Hwy trip we made sure we had no commitments as to where we
were going to stay or how far up the hwy we were going to go. The
plan was to drive up to the start and see just what the road was
like. At any point that we felt uncomfortable or unsafe we would
either stop until conditions improved or turn around and head back.
Full fresh water tank, empty holding tanks and full gas tank we are
good to go.
After
about a week in Fairbanks, which we spent enjoying the sites in town,
we saw a very nice stretch of weather coming up. So off on our
adventure.
Day
1
We
left our overnight parking spot at Sam's Club in Fairbanks and headed
up the Elliot Hwy for about 73 miles on a paved road with lots of
frost heaves. It took us almost 2 ½ hours to get to the start of
the Dalton Hwy, including some short stops along the way.
The
start of the Dalton leaving the pavement and onto the good graded
dirt road
Welcome
to the
Dalton
Hwy sign:
This
very nice smooth road was typical of the road for the first 50 miles.
except
for where it was paved. The paved parts were worse than the dirt.
Pot holes and frost heaves. One major exception though, if the
dirt part
was wet, it would be slippery.
Some
views along the hwy:
Lots
of ups and downs. Some of the hills are 8%-9% grade. Notice the road
going up the hill in the distance. This was on an exceptionally good
part of the paved road.
A
dip, called the Roller Coaster:
Going
up the far side of the roller coaster.
Meeting
a truck on the paved road
Interestingly,
in
the photo above, if
you look close, there is a dark
dot
with
a white top
on the left side of the road (left from our perspective). This is a
person on a recumbent bicycle coming up the hill. More power to
whoever is on that bike.
Approaching
the Yukon River and the bridge over the river
The
Yukon River bridge from the shoreline on the north side of the river
View
from the bridge
On
the north side of the Yukon River is a small visitor center. There are a number of informational displays here detailing the building of the bridge and the Dalton Hwy. Info about the bridge here.
There
is a gas station, small cafe and sleeping rooms on the other side of
the road from the visitor center. We didn't stop at
the gas station on
the way up, but on the way back we stopped for gas, $5.50/gallon.
Coldfoot, about 135 miles farther north was “only” $4.60/gallon.
Gas in Fairbanks was about $2.60/gallon.
Up
to this point the road was in great condition. A number of frost
heaves and some potholes, but nothing to stress out the driver.
From
the Yukon River to “5 mile camp” campground at mile marker 60 the
road graders were working on a 5 mile long section of the dirt road
and making a muddy mess of things. By the time we reached the CG I
had an inch of mud caked up under the wheel wells. Also lots of mud
splashed up on our pickup we are towing.
The
mud also gave me a taste of just how slippery this road would be if
it was raining. I have to say it made me think again about driving on
the Dalton when it is wet.
There
is not much at “5 mile camp” campground. Just a flat area to
park with a few picnic tables around. A few sites are back in some
low trees, but there will be quite a few mosquitoes in the woods.
The
CG is free and there is a free dump and fresh water fill station.
Good tasting water too. We made use of both, just in case we needed
to wait out some rainy weather later on.
Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the CG. For a satellite view of the CG use Google Maps, Bing Maps or Google Earth and the Satellite View option and go to: 65.918610, -149.827365
Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the CG. For a satellite view of the CG use Google Maps, Bing Maps or Google Earth and the Satellite View option and go to: 65.918610, -149.827365
Day
2
The
speed limit on the Dalton is 50mph. However most of our drive on the
Dalton yesterday was at 25-30mph. On a few smooth sections I got up
to about 40mph, but not for long. Today was a repeat of yesterday's
slow driving. Some pot holes, but mostly frost heaves, rough
pavement and rough road. Nothing really, really bad as long as you
took it slow. One driving skill you really must have is the ability
to know where your tires are on the road. One reason is to dodge
potholes and rough parts. The other is, When you meet an oncoming
large truck, you need to pull over to the side and stop. You need to
know where your right front tire is so you don't slip off the edge of
the road. There are no shoulders. Even in the narrow parts of the
road, it is wide enough for 2 trucks to pass with about 3-4 feet
between them. That is, if you are within one to 2 feet of the edge of
the road. If you are as far to the right as you can go and stopped,
then you will leave it to the professional driver to judge just how
much room he or she needs. Believe me, it is much more comfortable
being stopped with an oncoming truck. I am sure the truck driver is
much more comfortable if the tourist is stopped. They don't have to
be concerned if we are going to make a stupid move and cause an
accident.
Back
to our travels.
Lots
of beautiful wide open county with magnificent vistas all day long.
The
road and the Alaska Pipeline
Approaching
a 9% grade. Beautiful view.
We
made it to the Arctic Circle. MM115
There
is a BLM CG here at the Arctic Circle marker. We didn't stay
here.
Much
nicer places to park overnight at large pullouts or gravel pits.
The
view from Gobblers Knob at MM132. There
is room here to park overnight and enjoy the view.
In
the
valley in the photo above, the coldest temperature ever recorded in
Alaska occurred. It got to -80F.
Road
and mountains. The snow capped mountains are the Brooks Range.
We
stopped at Coldfoot for lunch and to visit the visitor center here.
Coldfoot
really is a truck stop rather than a tourist center. There is a
cafe, post office, some sleeping rooms and a gas station. We filled
up with 45.5 gallons of gas at $4.60/gallon. Total of $209.
Lunch
was great. Also the price was reasonable, for being out in the middle
of nowhere. We both had a ½ pound hamburger, cooked just the way we
wanted it, on an excellent bun they make themselves and some very
good fries. $12 for the burger &
fries.
We have been paying that much in restaurants in Fairbanks and the
burgers
weren't
as good.
We
spent about 2 hours looking at the displays in the visitor center and
talking with the staff. Excellent displays of the plants, country
and animals of this area. The staff was very friendly. Since this
was Memorial Day, at 3pm they asked all of us, that wished to, to
join them at the flag pole for 5 minutes of silence to pay respect to
all the fallen soldiers who have fought and died for our freedom.
From
the visitor center we drove about 20 miles north to our over night
parking spot in a large gravel pit.
There
is a BLM CG just a couple of miles north of Coldfoot, but all the
campsites are in the spruce trees, with no view except the tree
trunks. The campsites are easy in and out, with most being pull thru
sites.
Most
of our drive today was on “paved” road. From MM90 to MM208 the
road is “paved”. However the “paved” part of the Dalton is
in worse condition than most of the dirt/gravel parts. However the
paved part from ~10 miles south of Coldfoot to 33 miles north
Coldfoot are about as good as other paved highways in Alaska.
Day
3
The
name the natives have for boreal forest here is “Land of little
sticks”. The black spruce trees growing here are very small and
short. Many of the trees, with a trunk about 1.5 inches in diameter,
are about 60 years old.
If
you stop at the visitor center at the Yukon River they have display
showing the growth rings of a black spruce 1.5” in diameter and a
white spruce about 3” in diameter. Both are about 60 years old.
They also have a display of an aspen or a birch, about 15-20 years
old, with a diameter of about 3-4 inches.
The
Boreal Forest here is very interesting. It is a mixture of tundra,
low growing bushes and plants, black spruce trees, white spruce
trees and aspen and birch trees.
In
the western part of the lower 48 states, when you look at the
mountains, the north facing slopes are greener and have larger trees.
The south facing slopes are not as green and the trees are usually
much smaller.
Here
in the far north, the opposite is true. The north facing slopes are
covered with low growing vegetation and the only trees are small
black spruce trees. The south facing slopes have larger white spruce
trees with large areas of aspen and birch trees.
The
reason is the permafrost. In late spring the top few inches to a few
feet of ground thaws out. This begins the growing season.
The
north facing slopes get very little of the suns warming rays. So only
a few inches to a foot or so of the ground thaws. The only trees
which can survive in that shallow soil are the very hardy black
spruce. They seldom grow taller than about 15', and most are in the
6' to 10' range. The same goes for the level ground. With the sun
low on the horizon it doesn't warm the level ground much.
The
south facing slopes get a lot of the suns warming rays, so the ground
thaws much deeper and is much warmer so the white spruce, aspen and
birch thrive here.
Now
when the bigger trees mature they shade the ground which eventually
reduces the amount of ground which will thaw. After a while (years)
these trees will die out and the black spruce will take over.
Fire
plays a major role here. In the summer, lightning from storms start
wild fires. This burns off the trees and ground cover so next summer
the sun warms the ground and fire weed, willow bushes and the aspen &
birch trees sprout. This provides great food for moose and caribou
and ground cover for smaller animals. Eventually these trees grow,
shade the ground, die and the black spruce take over until the next
fire.
Except
for fires which threaten life and property, the fires are just
monitored and allow to burn themselves out. Some fires that start in
July burn until the first snows come in late August to September.
Here
are some images from a rest area along the Dalton which describe the
process in some detail.
Back
to today's travels.
On
the side of the road we saw this small pond with a foot to a foot and
a half of ice in the ground exposed. I'm not sure if this is called
permafrost, or just frozen water from the pond.
The
white above the water and under the soil layer is a sheet of ice
A
closer look at the ice layer
Once
the pavement ended at MM208 the road grew rougher with areas of sharp
gravel and lager pieces of gravel/rock. At about 10:30am near MM225
I decided we had gone about as far as I wanted to take the motorhome
on the Dalton. This rough rocky road didn't look like it was going to
get any better. Also a few miles farther north we would have the 12%
grade going up over Atigun pass through the Brooks Range. On top of
that our beautiful sunny days were giving way to high gray clouds.
We turned around and came back to MM222.5 where I found a really nice
place to park for the night right on the shore of the Dietrich River.
After
getting parked we drove the pickup over Atigun pass. We got to the
far side of the pass and turned around. The gray skies and flat
lighting conditions were discouraging
us from
driving farther.
Views
from part way up Atigun pass looking south
Looking
down on the north side of the pass.
Road
and pipeline north of the pass.
On
the way back to the motorhome Sharon spotted this porcupine eating
leaves across a narrow part of the Dietrich river. He/she was really
going to town, chowing down on the leaves. We
watched him/her for about 15 minutes.
We
had a quiet rest of the afternoon and night. We were far enough off
of the road that the noise from the trucks was not bothersome.
Day
4
We
woke to gray clouds and intermittent sprinkles. Looking to the north
I could see dark clouds building. We quickly packed up and headed
south by about 7am. Light
rain
started before we got off of the gravel/dirt part of the road. Once
we were on the good pavement the rain got heavier all the way to
Coldfoot. After Coldfoot the rain pretty much stopped.
I
still had thoughts of stopping for the night at one of the overlooks
with great views. However every time I looked to the north the dark
clouds were following us. So we kept moving.
About
MM80 we saw this 18 wheeler hooking up a flatbed trailer with a
travel trailer loaded on it:
As
we passed by we could see the trailer's
“A” frame going out to the trailer hitch was bent up about 20
degrees. It should be level with the rest of the trailer frame. It
looks like the frost heaves and bumpy road caused the frame to break
loose and bend up. Really ruined someones trip.
At
about MM64 we were back on the part of the road which had been graded
over the last 2 days. The top inch was really muddy. I was driving
about 30mph and I felt the front tires of the motorhome start to
slide a little, followed by the rear tires slip slightly to the side.
I quickly and gently turned into the slide and everything
straightened out. I slowed to 20mph until we got out of the muddy
part of the road. I could see us sliding off the road. Whew! That
was fun!
At
that point we decided we were going to continue driving until we got
off the Dalton on to good pavement.
No
more problems the rest of the way.
We
stopped for the night in a large gravel pit at about MM70 on the
Elliot Hwy, about 3 miles from the start of the Dalton.
We
drove 230 miles in about 8 hours today. Averaging about 30mph.
I
do have to say driving the Dalton was fun. It challenged your
driving skills. We saw some great country. Parked for the night in
scenic locations. Went places a lot of people never have the
opportunity to go.
Would
I do it again? Probably not in a larger RV. We are only 29' long
but are not built for slippery roads. Plus we have highway tires.
That probably accounts for the little bit of sliding we did on the
muddy part of the road. In a 25' class C motorhome with mud and snow
tires, I would go again. Probably go all the way to Deadhorse.
What
we didn't get to see, that I really wanted to, was the musk oxen. We
would have had to go up (down?) the north slope to
the last 100 or so miles of the Dalton to see them. I have read that
there are places where you can park overnight with the chance to see
the musk oxen.
Thoughts
about the Dalton
Hwy:
The
road is ~415 miles of dirt and pavement. Lots of frost heaves, pot
holes and where there is pavement, broken pavement patched by gravel
and/or dirt. There
is about 40 miles of good pavement near Coldfoot.
Before
attempting this road read the description of the highway in the
Milepost. Their description is not incorrect, but I do think they
went overboard on the scary parts. The worse part is the potential
for really slippery surface if there is rain. Especially if you meet
an oncoming large truck. Heed
their advice to pull over and stop when you see an oncoming truck.
Also if a truck comes up behind you, pull over and stop on a straight
stretch of road and let them pass.
I
read about all the flat tires on the Dalton. Warnings about needing
to take two mounted spare tires and the tools to change a flat tire.
We didn't have any tire problems on either the motorhome or our
pickup truck we towed. Were we just lucky? I don't think so. Some
luck is involved, of course. However we had no pressure to drive “X”
number of miles to point “A”. We were free and prepared to stop
any time and any place we found a place to park overnight. There are
plenty of places to pull off and park for the night. With that in
mind we didn't need to drive any faster that I felt the conditions
warranted. When we were on sharp gravel or larger rocks we would
slow down to 15 or 20 mph. If we were committed to drive at least
250 miles before we could stop, I might have felt pressure to drive
faster than we did.
The
really nice smooth parts of dirt/gravel are hard packed dirt, a
mixture of sand and clay. Get that stuff wet and it gets slick. For
about 1-2 seconds I lost steering control and the rear end started
slipping at about 30mph, on a recently graded wet part. The only
place I could consistently drive at 45mph was for the 30 mile section
north of Coldfoot. Newly paved (2-3 years ago), smooth and very few
frost heaves. The worst section was starting about 35 miles N of
Coldfoot for about 15-20 miles. Rough gravel with rocks, very bumpy
and some washboard. Really rattled the RV. We drove about 15 miles
on this part and decided we had gone far enough on the Dalton Hwy.
Up north somewhere south of Deadhorse there is supposed to be more of
this rough gravel. Some of the road is fairly narrow with no
shoulder. When meeting oncoming traffic pull over and stop.
Especially if meeting 18 wheelers. The scary part is if you slip off
the edge, you drop down into a ditch, or off the edge of the 10-12'
high berm some of the road is built on.
– It
is kind of a fun drive. The drive challenges your driving skills.
Going up we only drove about 60-100 miles each day on the rough part
of the road. However on
the
last day, coming out, we drove 230 miles because of the potential
rain. I don't recommend driving that far in one day on the Dalton.
– We
did really enjoy the 4 days on the Dalton. Beautiful scenic views,
wide open vistas w/o development to hinder the view. Beautiful
mountains. Interesting history. Lots of boondocking places to park
with great views.
– Stop
in Coldfoot to eat. Great food. We had a ½ lb. hand formed
hamburger on a homemade bun with good fries for $12. Reasonable
prices for being out in the middle of nowhere. They cater to the
truckers hauling stuff to/from the Prudhoe oil fields.
– Spend
an hour or two in the Inter-agency Visitor Center in Coldfoot. The
video and displays are very interesting & informative and the
staff is very friendly & helpful.
Link to a blog from a couple who took their RV all the way to Deadhorse: http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-608614-arctic-circle-summer-solstice-highway-road-dalton-day
Info about the Dalton at these links:
Info about the Dalton at these links:
ExploreNorth.com:
http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/dalton.html
BLM PDF file about the Dalton: https://www.blm.gov/download/file/fid/14675
BLM info about the Dalton: https://www.blm.gov/visit/dalton-highway
BLM info about the Dalton: https://www.blm.gov/visit/dalton-highway
Article
in Fairbanks Newspaper:
http://www.explorenorth.com/library/aktravel/bl-dalton.htm
Link back to the Alaska blog index page.
Link back to the Alaska blog index page.
