29 August 2018 Truckin' the Dalton Highway

....is this your first visit to my journal? Start on Day 1! Don't worry, we'll wait till you get back

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Today Christina and I headed back up North (enough of the luxury life in Fairbanks) via the Dalton Highway, a rough industrial road about 400 miles long that ends at Deadhorse Camp in Prudhoe Bay. The Dalton Highway was originally called the Haul Road and was used to support the construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline. It can now be traveled by both commercial traffic and the general public.

Me at the sign welcoming everyone to the Dalton Highway. Dalton Highway map.

The highway is a great way to see Alaska's natural features and landscape; it travels past boreal forest, through the Brooks Mountain Range, and ends with the open expanses of North Slope frozen tundra.

The landscape really starts to change after crossing into the Arctic Circle. Check out the *sweet* hat and gloves I picked up at a truck station. My best shot (taken while listening to Hamilton "I am not throwing away my shot")!

This magnificent view comes with careful safety planning; there are limited services along the road and no phone/internet service. Directions aren't a problem (you can only go North or South) but we packed several spare tires and a satellite phone. We also used a CB radio to communicate with vehicles to pass – but we are still working on our trucker names (we feel they will come naturally at some point over the next couple days of driving).

Our satellite phone and CB radio (set to channel 19) for traveling the Dalton safely.

We made it just shy of 300 miles north and will be staying the next three days at a University of Alaska Fairbanks' research camp. It is a scientist's paradise – miles of tundra to study with expertly cooked meals and a wall of candy. More on Toolik tomorrow (cute animal alert – significant time may be spent looking for baby foxes).

Toolik Field Station.

In podcast news, I've completely hooked Christina on "Rabbits," a serialized fictional podcast from the Public Radio Alliance. I think she was ready to drive all the way up to Deadhorse so we could hear the end of the episode.