Galbraith Lake was a nice stop on the way north along the Dalton Hwy. This is a pile of bear scat (poop) near our campsite there. The red berries are the cranberries that make up a big part of their diets in the fall. For that reason, I think this is old scat, as the berries aren't yet ripe here. We didn't see any bears here.
I did find a fossil of tabular coral, from the time when these mountains were under the sea, millions of years ago. This piece is very similar to the Petosky stones we find in Michigan, another fossilized coral.
These bikes on the backof a white van look like a grey shadow of themselves from the backspray of the mud along the road.
Our view from the campsite late at night. Long shadows, but no darkness.
This photo was taken at midnight from inside the van. We truly are in the land of the midnight sun!
Snow covered backdrop at Galbraith Lake.
What a view to wake up to, eh?
So much dirt and mud that you can no longer even see the logos on the back of YOLO!
Road construction was inevitable for us along the Dalton Hwy. We were stopped for 20-30 minutes here and got out to talk with the flagman. He was a Native and told us about life as part of a road crew in Alaska. Big pay, long hours, but only for the short summer season. He wanted to use his earnings to fix his snow machine and buy a new truck. They make good money here.
This road has been packed down by 80 years of semi truck travel and the heavy equipment was having a difficult time digging up the roadbed to try to improve the road. I doubt they'll ever get it as well packed again now.
Musk oxen along the road off in the tundra.
More musk ox in the distance.
A caribou jaw bone laying on the ground at Ice Cut Gulch. We thought about staying the night here but it was too buggy and we moved on.
Looking down on a caribou jawbone. Much the same shape as a moose jaw, but smaller.
Jason on the shore of the Sagavanirktok River, aka The Sag River, at Happy Valley, Alaska. This is a huge braided river that flows to the Arctic.
The office of the Happy Valley Camp. This is a work camp for road maintenance and a hub for planes and helicopters used for sightseeing. The bright yellow building with a smiley face on it is unmistakable.
Huge bags of calcium chloride and salt await the trucks that will spread the stuff along the roads.
The tiny caustic pellets will rust out vehicles, so the spreader trucks are washed down every day. This water truck backed up to the pump trailer on the bank of the Sag River and the water is sucked out to the river via a huge hose and into the tanker truck. He spreads water on the dirt/chemical mix til the end of the day and then he washes the spreader truck with a last load of water. In the winter, he'll spread water on the roads to create an ice road. The ice and gravel mix on the surface helps give traction and keep the base frozen and solid enough to drive on.
A weather sensor set on t p of a hill between Galbraith and Deadhorse. Out in the middle of nowhere, The tundra stretches forever in ghe distance.
The last 50 miles of the Dalton Hwy are now newly paved. Some folks just can't handle the speed and smooth surface and roll off into the marshy muskeg in the ditches. This vehicle was for sale but I doubt anyone will want it now that it's rolled into this ditch.
Scenic hills along the approach to Deadhorse
The grey-blue looks like waves, but is clouds forming and blowing over the ice at the Arctic Ocean. We're getting close. The bent poles along the road are guides for the snowplows to know where the edges of the road are.
Dirty ice still lines the road in late June.
The Deadhorse Camp, our destination. This is the only place where you can catch a shuttle to the Arctic Ocean at Prudoe Bay. Deadhorse is an industrial town, not a tourist destination and these work camps are very simple. This one looks worse than normal as it is getting a new roof and siding so it is stripped bare.
We wandered in to buy tickets on the shuttle ($69pp) and were welcomed by this sign. The folks here were super friendly and helpful.
The shuttle van used to take us to the Arctic Ocean.
We left the filthy van parked at the Deadhorse Camp.
This is the Aurora Hotel, as set of the prefab buildings hooked together and stacked up. It was the nicest place we visited in Deadhorse and we found drinks and snacks free for the taking. They also provide free washers and dryers, with laundromats on each floor. Lots of oil workers stay at these 'hotels' or camps during their hitch of a few weeks on and a few weeks off. The hotels provide 'spike rooms' of snacks and drinks to keep the workers happy, wo we took advantage of the generous offerings.
These are the vehicles that track across the frozen permafrost on the ice roads in the winter. In the summer, these vehicles are sidelined until the ground can be frozen again. Summer is the maintenance season, while winter is the work season.
A map of Deadhorse, a simple layout for a town. A big lake is surrounded by its roads.
The lake is melting in some places.
Another, smaller camp/hotel with murals on its walls.
This is the end of the road and a popular spot for tourists to post their stickers.
Jason adds one of our stickers to the wall.
We're on the map now in Deadhorse, Alaska!! This building is actually the local company store/general store.
Sign on the steps up to the store. Ice grips on boots can really chew up the wooden stairs.
Coffee is an art form here, and thise labels are now posters for sale.
Lots of big packages of junk foods and candies line the shelves. Oil workers need lots of calories, so the store provides them.
Another big hotel going up in Deadhorse.
I almost bought a sweatshirt with this design on it.
This is the unofficial symbol for Deadhorse. Many folks confuse Deadhorse with Prudhoe Bay as Deadhorse is as far as the general public can drive--the end of the road unles you want to pay for the shuttle to Prudhoe Bay, the actual owner of the zip code 99734.
Ford folks will appreciate this t-shirt. Most of the trucks we see up here actually are Fords, so that speaks to their durability.
Outside the general store, we spotted this Harley parked. While action bikes are common up here, seeing a Harley is a surprise. They are too low-slung to be practical along the roads up here and don't have the gas range to make the distances safely. Motorcycle rental folks prohibit bringing their bikes up here. This one belonged to a man from Peru who is driving the entire length of the Pan American Highway from Alaska to Argentina. We later heard that a biker on a Harley was in a very serious accident near here and hope it wasn't this guy.
Caribou nibble the growth in town behind the oil equipment.
This is the Alaska Air airport terminal. It was closed unless a flight was expected. Then a truck would drive up and down the runway letting off firecrackers to scare off any wildlife so the plane wouldn't hit any animals.
Part of the town of Deadhorse is little more than a mud hole.
Remove your shoes or cover them with these disposable booties so you don't track the mud and dirt into the hotels or other buildings.
Artwork inside the Aurora Hotel.
Ice on the lake behind the hotel.
Caribou wander through the area.
Two oil rigs stand in town. One was to be moved out and the road was blocked for its slow travel. It is moved along on giant tracks, much like the space shuttle is moved to a launch pad.
Gasoline was $8.07 when we were there and we had to pay to get enough to get back to Coldfoot when we left. Ironic since the oil is pumped here, but it must be piped all the way to Valdez at the other end of the state to get refined and then trucked back up here.
Caribou testing the waters of the Sag River before committing to crossing the water.
This small herd of caribou swam across the river and we watched from our camp site along the river, just across from the Deadhorse Camp building.
The Deadhorse Camp entry. Nothing fancy here.
The permafrost melts and makes a mucky mess of the land in summer.
The edge of the Arctic Ocean at the East Dock location, the only place the public is allowed to go in Prudhoe Bay.
Looking the other way on the stony beach of the Arctic Ocean.
A white feather, probably from a seagull, on the stony beach of the Arctic Ocean. Many tourists come here as birders; lots of species fly here to reproduce and then migrate south for the winters.
Rusted metal remains from the oil companies line the beach at the edge of the ocean.
Jason and Karen standing in the Arctic Ocean!!
We earned our Polar Bear Certificates this day in June 2022.
Jason decided to do it right and get all the way in.
Jason after his Arctic dip.
Getting out he said it actually felt warm in comparison.
He got dressed quickly, though.
A rusty barrel on the beach with the Chevron Oil company logo still on the top.
These are the modern oil wells. They send out drills in different directions into the oil below the surface. Having the ability to do directional underground drilling means they can put the well heads all in one space to be more efficient.
After the ocean entry, we got redressed in proper clothing for the current climate and temperatures. The tour price includes the towel usage.
The uneven bumpy surface of the permafrost is from uneven freeze/thaw. It's only found around here.
The natural gas that comes up with the crude oil is just burned off or pumped back into the ground. There is no pipeline or way to get the abundant resource to a refinery for production and use by the general public. Such a shame, but environmentalists and politicians have halted any progress on that front for years.
YOLO taking on some of this expensive gasoline. This was the highest gas price we ever saw! We were glad we weren't paying the $8.63 for diesel.
The SUV
was for sale, according to the writing on the windshield. We don't know what happened to make this vehicle end up in the ditch.
This vehicle obviously rolled. It was left in this condition and was still there when we left town a few days later. And these accidents were along the PAVED section just outside of Deadhorse. It is the smoothest part of the entire 416 miles of the Dalton Hwy.
Now we got to drive all the way back down to Fairbanks...
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