Norther to the Future!

Happy 4th of July!


Summer is seemingly in it's depth, however it gets darker by 6 minutes everyday.   Though, this doesn't stop the sun from rising at 3:30 AM and "setting" at 12:00 AM.   Someday I'll see stars again... but until then, I've got Summah Road Trips!


Boyfriend and I took a trip up north into the Arctic.   

The Dalton Highway wasn't as rough as I was led to believe.   I had heard stories of blown tires and car parts lining the roadway.   The reality was a road half paved and half fairly packed dirt.   I'm not saying there weren't any insane pot holes or stretches of "road damage", however, overall it was a fun drive:)  

Healy to Coldfoot = 367 miles

Doesn't seem like much does it?  Looking at the drive (in yellow) on a map of Alaska makes it seem insignificant.   Ya know though, Alaska is HUGE.   It was definitely a LONG 367 miles. 

First stop... Finger Mountain.  Home to the Singing Vole and delicate alpine flowers.

I had thought the terrain would be more barren and desolate and vast feeling.  Again, just goes to show how huge Alaska is.   The aforementioned scenery is still hundreds of miles north of Coldfoot.   Instead, the landscape was filled with trees, mountains and of course rivers.

The Mighty Yukon at one in the morning...

Oh PFD Otter, don't you know...

The only wildlife besides the millions and billions and zillions of mosquitoes I saw was a black bear.   Please don't worry mom, he was many yards ahead AND I was safely in my car...

Walt did have the amazingly, unbelievable experience of FEEDING a wolverine however...:) 

The main feature of the Dalton Highway was most certainly the Alyeska Pipeline.   It followed us the entire trip, winding across the tundra, traveling under the roadway and disappearing through mountains.   

We camped out by the Pipeline one night...

                                2:00 AM                                           9:00 AM

800 miles of Pipeline, carrying 700 thousands of barrels of crude oil traveling at about 4 miles per hour... I got this..

The northern most that Boyfriend and I got was Marion Creek, about 5 miles north of Coldfoot.  We totally forgot to bring the pack raft that was the main inspiration for the entire trip, but we still had fun hiking around nonetheless.  Alaska truly never disappoints me.

"Hey, why are ya'lls mountains flat on top?"   Oh tourists.  

In closing, North to the Future!   And also, I'm sorry to the millions of our state insect, the four-spot skimmer dragonfly, that I murdered on the 700 miles of the drive...