Tuesday July 6th, Last Chance Wayside, Dalton Highway, AB

240 Miles

Tonight we are camped at a wayside stop looking north to the Arctic Ocean, about 50 miles from the end of the highway at Deadhorse, with 10 million of the biggest mosquitoes that we have ever seen as company! Once we got into the tundra, every time we stopped the van was surrounded by them, we had been warned, but they are much bigger and more determined than we could ever have imagined. The bug shirts that we had bought in Calgary got put on, and we covered our legs and hands before we put our nose outside the door. I had to take a photo of the two of us dressed up like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee for the record, in front of the fire that Ian was determined to light, it is about 10 degrees tonight.

The day started off with a little bit of sunshine, but soon the rain came and it rained solidly for about 4 hours. Luckily at the start we were on one of the sections of sealed road. We stopped at the half way camp at Coldfoot to top up the fuel ($4.50/gallon!) and joined the truckers in a real truckstop for coffee. These places are really basic, the buildings are pretty run down and the machinery and trucks are everywhere, all covered in dust.

The next 25 miles was through road works and it took us over an hour, just crawling along. We were traveling through some beautiful valleys and hills, with the pipeline always near by, sometimes buried under a river, or on the river bank, other times up on pipe frames over the perma frost. The cloud and the rain stopped us from seeing the real beauty, but hopefully the weather will be good for the return trip.

After we stopped for lunch the weather started lifting and we had patches of sun. The rivers are showing the effects of the rain, just roaring and really dirty.

Thankfully the cloud had really lifted by the time we went through the Atigun Pass on the Brooks Range – the Continental Divide. The scenery was absolutely stunning, and overnight there had been a dusting of snow on the peaks. Breathtaking stuff. The roads were pretty slushy with all the rain which made for pretty difficult driving. We dropped down through valleys and then into the wide open tundra. The wildflowers are everywhere. The day really has been full of contrasts.

We met plenty of the big haul truckers on the road, there was always good visibility so as soon as we spotted one we would pull right over and stop. Apart from 2, the others all slowed down so as not to spray us with mud and/or stones. Ian had the CB working and would give them a call, always got a great response and wishing us a safe trip.

The big disappointment has been the lack of wildlife, we kept a good watch in the hills for bears and moose but no such luck. Tonight, just after we came inside, a caribou appeared and wandered through the parking area about 60 feet from us. Quite a sight with his full rack.