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Driving to the Arctic Ocean


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Just over a year ago, I drove from Arizona to Vancouver for a cruise, and then swung north to Jasper and Banff before returning via Yellowstone. I absolutly loved the trip, and even during it, I was toying with the idea for another, a bit further north.

 

The trip will be an end unto itself, but my planned furthest-north point on the drive is Prudhoe, Bay, Alaska, on the Arctic Ocean. (It's also called the North Slope).

 

Basically, I'll be heading north via central Nevada and then the Oregon coast, and I'm thinking of entering BC south of Kelowana, then heading for Cache Creek, then up the Cariboo highway to Hundred Mile House, then up to Prince George, and then heading towards Prince Rupert but turning north on the Cassiar Highway, and taking it north until it joins the Alaska Highway in the Yukon Territory. From there, I hang a left and head for Fairbanks, and then from there head north again, for my most northerly destination; Prudhoe Bay, on the Arctic Ocean.

 

After that, I'll be heading south for Anchorage, and then back via the southern route to pick up the Alaska highway near Tok, and then take it all the way south to Dawson creek, and from there, Jasper (alberta). From there, I'll head south via Kootenany towards Kalispell Montana, and then on southeast, into Wyoming via Yellowstone, then home via Colorado.

 

Either on the way north or the way south, I'll detour off the Alaska highway to Skagway and Hains, and take the ferry between them. I've been to both places and love them, and by making that "loop" I'll cut off a good chunk of the Alaska highway that I'd otherwise drive twice.

 

The only part of the drive known to be a bit difficult at times is the Dalton Highway, often called the Pipeline Haul Road, from Fairbanks up to Prudhoe Bay. Many might know it from the TV series "Ice Road Truckers", where the notorious Adigan Pass is often mentioned on that route. That should be a fun one in the Arctic weather in late march or early April.

 

Any thoughts on this? Any advice on things to see for the areas I'll be passing through? I'll be in my SUV, so dirt roads and trails are no problem. My most likely time for this is early next spring, though this fall is a possibility. From what I've been able to find out about weather and daylight hours, mid-spring would be better than mid-fall.

 

I'll be taking my time, seeing stuff along the way, so it won't all be just driving time. :)

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hitchhiker.jpg

 

Wise goats will avoid hitchhikers on this road.

 

ROFL!!! Yes indeed. Grizzlies, once I get to northern BC and points north. Umm, did I mention that I'll be camping a lot? This could get interesting. LoL.

 

why not drive to china or russia?? the alaskian hwy??blink.gif

 

Lol... Well, my SUV does not do well under water. LoL.

 

I love wilderness, so this sounds like a perfect drive for me. :)

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oh you're saying that the alaskian hwy is not built between russiand and alaska?

No. Plans for a super bridge have been drawn up, but as far I know no one has taken the bid to build it. It remains a concept.

 

It would be one hell of a bridge. It's 50 miles across the narrowest portion of the Bering strait, via big and little Diomede Islands. I remember hearing about plans for this, but they left me scratching my head; there just isn't much use for it, and it would be enormously costly (probably an overseas causeway for most of it, because the sea is fairly shallow). The real problem IMHO is there are no roads at all on either side of the strait. On the Alaskan side, the closest roads (that connect to anywhere) are near Fairbanks, about 600 miles away. For a rail line, it's about 3000 miles, in southern British Columbia. On the Russian side, it's about 2000 miles to the nearest road or railroad. Also, the rail gauges are different. So, I can't see this happening anytime soon; the bridge cost would be astronomical, but the roads and rails to it would be even more costly, plus there's no real use for it.

 

What I would love to see is more tourism in the Kamchatka Peninsula. It has a thermal area that rivals Yellowstone, plus awesome scenery. I've only seen it from the air (during a flight to China) but it looks spectacular. It would be an ideal cruise ship destination, but so far it's largely ignored.

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  • Site Administrator

Oh my, so much territory to cover blink.gif .

 

I can help you out with the southern BC and Alberta parts pretty well. Also know Northern BC a bit like up to Prince George and then over in the Fort St John to Dawson Creek and then down.

 

For that last leg, the Jasper down to Banff (I believe you have down the Icefields Parkway and scampered on the Columbia Icefields) there is the Forestry Trunk Road as an alternative. It is a gravel road from Hinton down to Cochrane (Hwy 40) then a jog over to where it becomes the Kananaskis Highway down to Highwood Junction and then back to gravel down to Coleman. This would have you going down and in the Eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies and will give you a lot of different views. If your looking for hotel accommodations, you may have to detour off the road in the Forestry Trunk section.

 

If you want more specifics, let me know smile.gif .

 

Steve

 

BTW, make sure you give advance notice to the border that you will be crossing and have your proper shots and paperwork for a goat crossing. I'd hate to see you stuck in quarantine for an extended period of time :P

Edited by wildone
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Oh my, so much territory to cover blink.gif .

 

I can help you out with the southern BC and Alberta parts pretty well. Also know Northern BC a bit like up to Prince George and then over in the Fort St John to Dawson Creek and then down.

 

For that last leg, the Jasper down to Banff (I believe you have down the Icefields Parkway and scampered on the Columbia Icefields) there is the Forestry Trunk Road as an alternative. It is a gravel road from Hinton down to Cochrane (Hwy 40) then a jog over to where it becomes the Kananaskis Highway down to Highwood Junction and then back to gravel down to Coleman. This would have you going down and in the Eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies and will give you a lot of different views. If your looking for hotel accommodations, you may have to detour off the road in the Forestry Trunk section.

 

If you want more specifics, let me know smile.gif .

 

Steve

 

BTW, make sure you give advance notice to the border that you will be crossing and have your proper shots and paperwork for a goat crossing. I'd hate to see you stuck in quarantine for an extended period of time :P

 

That route sounds very interesting!

 

Yep, I did the Icefields parkway, including a scramble on a glacier, last time. I'd like to do it again though. Hrmm, however, I could do a loop; take your way south, then head back north again, then come down the icefilds parkway. The route from Hinton south looks very interesting, and it would join with Highway 11, which could take me back to Icefields to make a loop run. I'm probably going to camp so no worries on hotels. I'd definitely like to hear more!

 

For camping, most of the time I will probably just sleep in my vehicle; it has a large flat area in back, which makes a good bed. I'll be more inclined to do this than pitch a tent in areas with lots of grizzlies. I'll stay in a few motels along the way though, but that can get expensive and camping is fun, plus saves a ton of $$$.

 

As for crossing the border; yes, you Canadian border official do seem markedly prejudiced against non-humans who want to drive across. For shame! :P

 

CJ :)

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That route sounds very interesting!

 

Yep, I did the Icefields parkway, including a scramble on a glacier, last time. I'd like to do it again though. Hrmm, however, I could do a loop; take your way south, then head back north again, then come down the icefilds parkway. The route from Hinton south looks very interesting, and it would join with Highway 11, which could take me back to Icefields to make a loop run. I'm probably going to camp so no worries on hotels. I'd definitely like to hear more!

 

For camping, most of the time I will probably just sleep in my vehicle; it has a large flat area in back, which makes a good bed. I'll be more inclined to do this than pitch a tent in areas with lots of grizzlies. I'll stay in a few motels along the way though, but that can get expensive and camping is fun, plus saves a ton of $$$.

 

As for crossing the border; yes, you Canadian border official do seem markedly prejudiced against non-humans who want to drive across. For shame! :P

 

CJ :)

 

But goats tend to leave destruction in their wake :P

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But goats tend to leave destruction in their wake :P

 

Who? Me? 0:)

 

you trying to see if Trev made it out of the strait:2thumbs:

 

Lol... if Trevor attempts to transit the Bering Strait, he'll have more problems than he'll know what to do with. :P

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the Bering Sea is home to some of the roughest waters in the world. The combined effects of climate, tide, currents and temperature gradient make the area epically hazardous for ships and aircraft.

 

During WWII the Japanese invaded Attu and Kiska islands in the Western Aleutian islands. The United States moved forces into the area but could not engage the enemy because of the horrible weather. It took almost a year to dislodge the Japanese because of almost constant fog, heavy seas, unpredictable winds, currents and tides.

 

The United States lost more aircraft to weather than to enemy action. Even submarines had problems operating and two were lost with all hands.

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  • Site Administrator

biggrin.gif

 

For camping, most of the time I will probably just sleep in my vehicle; it has a large flat area in back, which makes a good bed. I'll be more inclined to do this than pitch a tent in areas with lots of grizzlies.

 

 

Pitching a tent with lots of bears around can sometimes prove real interesting guitar.giflaugh.giftongue.giflmaosmiley.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been on the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to the impressive Yukon River in late November. Really no sweat, just watch out for the big trucks. Last August my friend from Fairbanks and his son hiked up the Tula River Valley from the Dalton just before Atigun Pass. I believe they have driven further north than that on another trip. I could tell you how to contact them.

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Scratch the Tula River on my reply and attribute it to old age!

Here is an email I got about the trip,

Hi Charles,

 

Tom and I did a great trip in the Gates of the Arctic! On the 15th of August, we hiked off the Dalton Highway and up Kuyuktuvuk Creek (which is about an hour north of Wiseman). Tom thought our packs might have been 90 pounds when we left. We packed about 32 pounds of food. We made about five miles that day but we had a lot of bad bushwhacking to do along the bluffs. There was some rain that day so we had to dry off a bit. Kestrels and grasshoppers were plentiful on the gravel bars. We were able to see treeline from our camp.

 

 

 

While having breakfast, I spotted wolf across the creek sticking its head out of the willows. It looked at us a few seconds and then moved on. Tom had an original plan of hiking 60 miles but we soon realized that with our packs we could not. We made a decision to do day hikes along the way to Oolah Pass.

 

 

 

The next day we managed to go another five miles over countless ridges of tussocks. We continued to do day hikes until we reached the pass. We able to climb a 6,720 foot peek on a clear day. Tom and I could see a lot of the Brooks Range including Boreal Mountain.

 

 

 

I saw two birds new to my life list. There were many singing voles near the Oolah Pass. These voles live in colonies and pile up vegetation on mounds to dry for the winter. They get their name from the high-pitched squeaking they make. There are only four or five papers on them. Very interesting!

 

 

 

We were out for a week and we rented satellite phone so we could contact Jane at any time. According to our GPS, we hiked about 45 miles including our day hikes. I can

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Scratch the Tula River on my reply and attribute it to old age!

Here is an email I got about the trip,

Hi Charles,

 

Tom and I did a great trip in the Gates of the Arctic! On the 15th of August, we hiked off the Dalton Highway and up Kuyuktuvuk Creek (which is about an hour north of Wiseman). Tom thought our packs might have been 90 pounds when we left. We packed about 32 pounds of food. We made about five miles that day but we had a lot of bad bushwhacking to do along the bluffs. There was some rain that day so we had to dry off a bit. Kestrels and grasshoppers were plentiful on the gravel bars. We were able to see treeline from our camp.

 

 

 

While having breakfast, I spotted wolf across the creek sticking its head out of the willows. It looked at us a few seconds and then moved on. Tom had an original plan of hiking 60 miles but we soon realized that with our packs we could not. We made a decision to do day hikes along the way to Oolah Pass.

 

 

 

The next day we managed to go another five miles over countless ridges of tussocks. We continued to do day hikes until we reached the pass. We able to climb a 6,720 foot peek on a clear day. Tom and I could see a lot of the Brooks Range including Boreal Mountain.

 

 

 

I saw two birds new to my life list. There were many singing voles near the Oolah Pass. These voles live in colonies and pile up vegetation on mounds to dry for the winter. They get their name from the high-pitched squeaking they make. There are only four or five papers on them. Very interesting!

 

 

 

We were out for a week and we rented satellite phone so we could contact Jane at any time. According to our GPS, we hiked about 45 miles including our day hikes. I can

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