The Further Adventures of Bill: September 2011

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Bill--The Ice Road Trucker Part III

The bridge across the Yukon River. The oil pipeline hangs underneath the bridge

Bed of the bridge is made of wood planks. Not sure why

Stopped for a good meal after getting back to Fairbanks

My car in Denny's parking lot at the end of the trip

Bill--The Ice Road Trucker Part II

It is a long road

Approaching the Yukon River

The Yukon River

The only gas station in 175 miles

A Holland America bus pulled into the Yukon River Camp while I was there. It was on it's way back from Prudhoe Bay. Note the well paved parking lot

Finger Rock. Bush pilots supposedly used this as a landmark because it points directly to Fairbanks. It is not that big, don't know how they could see it from the air

Proof that I made it to the Arctic Circle. This sign is the only thing there...at a pulloff beside the road

My car when I arrived at the Arctic Circle

Bill--The Ice Road Trucker Part I

I have not taken any extra days off all summer long, just the one day a week we all get. So I asked for two days off because I wanted to drive on the Dalton Highway (the road the truckers are on in the TV show Ice Road Truckers, alson known as Alaska highway 11 and the Haul Road) and drive as far as the Arctic Circle, just to say I had been there.
They scheduled me for a short day on Tuesday so I could catch a ride to Fairbanks that afternoon. Wednesday morning I rented a car and drove 420 miles round trip to the Arctic Circle and back to Fairbanks. Then I got another ride from Fairbanks to Denali on Thursday afternoon.
Not all car rental agencies will rent a car if they know you are going to be driving on gravel roads. But I found Arctic Outfitters who did rent a Ford Escape to me. It was in very nice shape, came equipped with a second spare tire, a CB radio (remember those), a map, and a very chipped and cracked front windshield.
I started out at 9:00am on Wednesday. Drove about 90 miles north on the Elliott Highway (Alaska Highway 2) which is all paved road. Then started on the Dalton Highway. I was surprised to find that there are several pretty long stretches that are paved; I thought the entire Dalton Highway was dirt and gravel, not so.
Drove to the Yukon River, which is big, like the Mississippi, really big compared to other rivers up here. Then on to the Circle.
In the 230 miles of the Dalton Highway that I drove, I saw fewer than 50 other vehicles. One, with two couples, arrived at the Arctic Circle just a few minutes after me, so got them to take a picture of me with the sign.
Here are some pictures.