Dalton Highway: Day 4 Arctic Circle
Waking up in a proper campground with an actual outhouse, was a dream. We got in super late (1 am) because of the road closure and construction. It was a short night. We ate breakfast in a REAL RESTAURANT in Cold Foot. I loved all the history of how the Gold Rush went all the way up to the interior of Alaska. I knew it went to Fairbanks, Nome, Juneau, and of course Palmer. But, the gold rush drew people who were "late" and finding it a bit crowed in the Fairbanks area, miners would take barges up the river to the interior in search of gold. One story I read the river froze early, and some walked back but others just survived the winter sharing what they had off the barge until they were able to retreat in the spring.
Feeling like we could conquer the world, we left our luggage (panniers) with our gracious support car and Uppa (James' Dad who searched for us and was willing to drive over 600 miles to help us since we flew to Prudhoe and needed a ride back). We headed down the road. It was freeing and fun. The scenery changed a bit with the added mountain range and TREES. We finally are riding back below the tree line. The mosquitos are not an issue but, the road is a mixture of pavement and gravel.
Seeing the road ahead, we would be faced with lots of ups and down. It was like the highway creators had no time to cut back any hill. We ended up pushing the bike up a few hills for a couple of minutes because of the steep incline. On seeing one incline, I popped in a gummy gel power block to get that extra sugar to make it up the hill. However, it suction cupped itself to my crown and took it off. (bummer)
The day was great riding, but we did run into a bit of rain. We saw my father-in-law, Uppa, shuffle pass us. Then he stopped further up the road. We had already established our pick up point a few miles further on, but when the rain started pouring down he wanted to make sure. James and I looked at each other, and said, "Okay, we are done."
We didn't want to inconvenience him by waiting around. It wasn't the ending of VICTORY that I wanted. However, I learned so much on this journey. My husband was such an encourager. He would tell me how great I was doing and helped me not to give up. The generosity and kindness of the people of the interior both the native and those who work tirelessly was lavished on us two strangers.
It reminds me of the quote in the brochure about the Interior Gold Rush. It is noted that not much gold was found to make much of a living but, even in the harshest of winter they shared what resources they had and not one died of starvation. "They were searching for gold, but what they didn't find in the soil they found in the friendships and community that allowed them to survive the harsh interior of Alaska."
We are so thankful for Heather's Choice who provided the BEST breakfast and macaroons that we had to share. They were our special treats along the way. We also had support from Alaska Chicks who helped with the journey. And our friends the Starks who are so generous.
We drove the remaining miles to the Arctic Circle and took the final photos. A quick meal in Fox and then a terrible flat tire on the car (we never had a flat on the bikes) from the terrible road past the Arctic Circle. We barely made it to the tire repair shop before closing, continuing driving 6 more hours down to Anchorage. I had to sit in the dentist chair on Friday to repair my crown and back to work on Saturday. It was a whirlwind I will not forget.
Feeling like we could conquer the world, we left our luggage (panniers) with our gracious support car and Uppa (James' Dad who searched for us and was willing to drive over 600 miles to help us since we flew to Prudhoe and needed a ride back). We headed down the road. It was freeing and fun. The scenery changed a bit with the added mountain range and TREES. We finally are riding back below the tree line. The mosquitos are not an issue but, the road is a mixture of pavement and gravel.
Seeing the road ahead, we would be faced with lots of ups and down. It was like the highway creators had no time to cut back any hill. We ended up pushing the bike up a few hills for a couple of minutes because of the steep incline. On seeing one incline, I popped in a gummy gel power block to get that extra sugar to make it up the hill. However, it suction cupped itself to my crown and took it off. (bummer)
The day was great riding, but we did run into a bit of rain. We saw my father-in-law, Uppa, shuffle pass us. Then he stopped further up the road. We had already established our pick up point a few miles further on, but when the rain started pouring down he wanted to make sure. James and I looked at each other, and said, "Okay, we are done."
We didn't want to inconvenience him by waiting around. It wasn't the ending of VICTORY that I wanted. However, I learned so much on this journey. My husband was such an encourager. He would tell me how great I was doing and helped me not to give up. The generosity and kindness of the people of the interior both the native and those who work tirelessly was lavished on us two strangers.
It reminds me of the quote in the brochure about the Interior Gold Rush. It is noted that not much gold was found to make much of a living but, even in the harshest of winter they shared what resources they had and not one died of starvation. "They were searching for gold, but what they didn't find in the soil they found in the friendships and community that allowed them to survive the harsh interior of Alaska."
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| We had to drive all the way down to Anchorage that night. (600+miles) |
We are so thankful for Heather's Choice who provided the BEST breakfast and macaroons that we had to share. They were our special treats along the way. We also had support from Alaska Chicks who helped with the journey. And our friends the Starks who are so generous.
We drove the remaining miles to the Arctic Circle and took the final photos. A quick meal in Fox and then a terrible flat tire on the car (we never had a flat on the bikes) from the terrible road past the Arctic Circle. We barely made it to the tire repair shop before closing, continuing driving 6 more hours down to Anchorage. I had to sit in the dentist chair on Friday to repair my crown and back to work on Saturday. It was a whirlwind I will not forget.
197.3 miles and 9,718 feet elevation gain in 3 1/2 days
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