Ben
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- Joined
- Sep 12, 2014
- Messages
- 1,873
It's about 500 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse at the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. The Dalton Highway makes up the last 414 miles of that. Some sections are paved, but it is primarily a gravel road, often treated with calcium chloride to harden the road surface. Traffic on the highway is primarily semis hauling equipment, and every thing else, to the oil fields, followed by motorcycles, followed by passenger vehicles. Followed by bicycles. The route crosses taiga, then the Brooks Range, then finally arctic tundra. You can't actually drive to the Arctic Ocean. You have to pay $60 to ride a shuttle that runs twice a day. Any way. Here's a smattering of photos from my ride up and down that road.
Some of the fires that Alaska had this summer.
![DSCF1596.JPG DSCF1596.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37857-1dcedbc0dba940c846e35f5b556a9ce1.jpg)
![DSCF1601.JPG DSCF1601.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37858-c73f52225c7d4a4fd0f5868f108ebe33.jpg)
Coldfoot and a shop at the Yukon River are just about the only two places along the highway to get gas between Fairbanks and Deadhorse. I had to take an extra gas can for the last 240 mile stretch .
![DSCF1606.JPG DSCF1606.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37859-6062526e03ad6ca8cbd2beb5c0199897.jpg)
Dirt road for days.
![DSCF1607.JPG DSCF1607.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37860-2074d8373a9679b8b6d7f979b164ed19.jpg)
The pipeline. The road here is not actually the highway, just the access road. I walked over here for a closer look.
![DSCF1612.JPG DSCF1612.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37861-ece431f931cf2c0bd6f405e1df267520.jpg)
![DSCF1615.JPG DSCF1615.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37862-a656f6f0671db25eda73008eb4474701.jpg)
The Yukon River.
![DSCF1616.JPG DSCF1616.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37863-a2cb99efa5129eb3a81131050d76d30e.jpg)
Fireweed grows in areas that have been cleared.
![DSCF1619.JPG DSCF1619.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37864-10f35cf68d8b532666b859d84dfc5d44.jpg)
![DSCF1621.JPG DSCF1621.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37865-ad5db4dda6142bb2b3b477c86c6ef075.jpg)
A little crazy to think that it just runs West like this for several hundred miles, no more roads.
![DSCF1625.JPG DSCF1625.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37866-2c7a82b18be9e10ae5945eb304650c13.jpg)
Coming into the Brooks Range.
![DSCF1628.JPG DSCF1628.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37867-fffa83ba231119a13e51eb7191a5d2c7.jpg)
Mount Sukapak.
![DSCF1632.JPG DSCF1632.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37868-20cd9074af32d719f10f00764191daed.jpg)
![DSCF1633.JPG DSCF1633.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37869-4f5f4e52f84f3a45159b466010ee6ac2.jpg)
A little more rain. I believe it rained on me every day that i was in Alaska, except the day i visited Deadhorse, where it was nearly freezing.
![DSCF1638.JPG DSCF1638.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37870-0bae22a45eca0d9dd49f38c653d2f24a.jpg)
The Chandalar Shelf, going East into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Just a few miles South of Atigun Pass on the crest of the Brooks Range. I'm past the northern tree line here.
![DSCF1640.JPG DSCF1640.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37871-118cb7793c5f141fb8e80d676f15dade.jpg)
On the North side of Atigun Pass. In the pass there are light arrows that point the direction for small planes to fly when it is cloudy. The road is very rocky through the pass, a small adventure on the motorcycle.
![DSCF1641.JPG DSCF1641.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37872-0ad460088676301f0986ab445a744a60.jpg)
Getting late. After eleven pm now.
![DSCF1643.JPG DSCF1643.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37873-87953f5831391efcee340d914618d477.jpg)
At the free campground at Galbraith Lake. This was one of my favorite places. Check how the license plate is totally covered by the mud from the road.
![DSCF1644.JPG DSCF1644.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37874-941a0a248bec5cfab8d479196701ef33.jpg)
![DSCF1654.JPG DSCF1654.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37875-6a36929c7596d09519ccd50a32cdce91.jpg)
I like the mud pattern on my shins.
![DSCF1656.JPG DSCF1656.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37876-6055b1eb7f7d214157d070c2e628fd20.jpg)
Views from camp.
![DSCF1661.JPG DSCF1661.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37877-36ddf240f4f42bfb169bb6066c925f19.jpg)
![DSCF1662.JPG DSCF1662.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37878-d08f04b899ce02ea0561bf4d1fb74995.jpg)
![DSCF1663.JPG DSCF1663.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37879-eee887b511549a619cb4aac121b54a76.jpg)
I'm North of the Arctic Circle. Theoretically the sun doesn't actually set here, it just goes behind the mountains. This picture is taken some where after one am.
![DSCF1665.JPG DSCF1665.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37880-ec8a714624964d28969272f85aaab275.jpg)
![DSCF1668.JPG DSCF1668.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37881-a737c4599a61c4b713674425fe401e62.jpg)
![DSCF1671.JPG DSCF1671.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37882-b86b2e358612b70a428184228e9f37d8.jpg)
![DSCF1673.JPG DSCF1673.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37883-3be790e68bb924d31add3e0b710dc8fa.jpg)
![DSCF1676.JPG DSCF1676.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37884-e265beab47e2af4c9150d5e2539e8929.jpg)
![DSCF1677.JPG DSCF1677.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37885-48d9ae8e922a626c07e0788438408dda.jpg)
![DSCF1678.JPG DSCF1678.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37886-5f78db1f58a2e9914ddc924fe9fb48d7.jpg)
The next morning. It was appreciably colder on this side of the Brooks. I felt it change as i rode over the pass.
![DSCF1683.JPG DSCF1683.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37887-df8d1a2b22240d5e94ef73002b00f6ab.jpg)
Leaving the Brooks.
![DSCF1688.JPG DSCF1688.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37888-339b9b8f07366ee20d1f026664098fb1.jpg)
Out on the tundra. Looking back South. In the center you see the Brooks on the horizon.
![DSCF1696.JPG DSCF1696.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37889-f74431c9a22a7593c57b84a37f2065cb.jpg)
The tallest bushes only grow as high as me here. I got off the bike to warm my hands up. Even with the winter gloves, at 55 mph it was so cold i had to stop to warm up my hands. Twice. Again, this is not the highway, just a service road where i'm walking with my hands balled in my pockets.
![DSCF1701.JPG DSCF1701.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37890-d9d8b4ead99d33973b787149d63e18dc.jpg)
The Sagavanirktok, or Sag River. Again, the Brooks on the horizon, looking South.
![DSCF1704.JPG DSCF1704.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37891-ec96057c5e32c26fbe9c54be2928c9d2.jpg)
The gas station in Deadhorse. I made it.
![DSCF1706.JPG DSCF1706.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37892-72db4877e507ea4bb02913a685c37a0a.jpg)
Smack in the middle of July.
![DSCF1751.JPG DSCF1751.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37906-a7c5a5fc9492380ed4049656923ed1da.jpg)
Looking at the pipes, riding the shuttle to the ocean.
![DSCF1709.JPG DSCF1709.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37894-bb21deb30e111aeaccc1f945611fcfc0.jpg)
The balls hanging off the pipe absorb vibrations.
![S0011717.JPG S0011717.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37895-cfe5845d3de780873f5eb3f89ff4f1b4.jpg)
The ocean. Interesting to think that Russia's that direction. And an ice cap.
![003.JPG 003.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37893-88c4c9075c3860e23907bbc53fc24008.jpg)
![S0021719.JPG S0021719.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37896-56e4fd8c1f634fb73313e4d7ef08b646.jpg)
I'm still wearing just about every layer i've got. I was freezing.
![DSCF1728.JPG DSCF1728.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37897-d3e6656050c260da52fc66ac9493115d.jpg)
One of the other guys that rode the shuttle went for a dip. He'd just graduated college and driven here from Boston, having dunked his self in the Atlantic and Pacific on the way.
![DSCF1734.JPG DSCF1734.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37898-81a789521afda597fd7cd21792fc1594.jpg)
Some of the buildings. The bigger ones have hundreds of people working in them.
![DSCF1735.JPG DSCF1735.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37899-06265d5a674b1f31bf708552766f96d2.jpg)
![DSCF1736.JPG DSCF1736.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37900-a361020f79adcb04296824badd912ff1.jpg)
![DSCF1741.JPG DSCF1741.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37901-cdcf077ea69a76c9460fdf32fffe7324.jpg)
Arctic geese.
![DSCF1746.JPG DSCF1746.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37902-1db813ce910f0900c09b8e60a25c6da8.jpg)
![DSCF1747.JPG DSCF1747.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37903-12229f9a1a0033ebf7c931260487b8f0.jpg)
![DSCF1748.JPG DSCF1748.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37904-e5a7982cdf3e893d7a759b40c7812d4f.jpg)
The post office. It adjoins the general store.
![DSCF1749.JPG DSCF1749.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37905-908ecdcafcc5311e186a789ebc18aec9.jpg)
Riding back South i saw this guy.
![DSCF1752.JPG DSCF1752.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37907-baa3e4eb3d008dd099a8951df6af8e20.jpg)
Some bluffs along the Sag River.
![DSCF1755.JPG DSCF1755.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37908-18f14bdd9ddb11e8201328e8f5552e97.jpg)
![DSCF1757.JPG DSCF1757.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37909-4e787cd966559ac7f51f5d800d886ee4.jpg)
It's so freaking flat out here. For more than a hundred miles, all the way to the ocean.
![DSCF1771.JPG DSCF1771.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37925-67711ca8b6dcbce86600f3318280fe96.jpg)
![DSCF1772.JPG DSCF1772.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37926-6ddf416bc55cf4db05aaa1e0ab43cd3c.jpg)
Nearing the Brooks again. The ride wasn't so cold on the way back. About half an hour from Deadhorse i started to warm up.
![DSCF1773.JPG DSCF1773.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37927-e047655695071d4f3a15b475af7583ea.jpg)
![DSCF1777.JPG DSCF1777.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37928-ea9e4214a43263b4b61b663aceba9249.jpg)
Sag River and the Brooks Range.
![DSCF1779.JPG DSCF1779.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37929-4f18e01e14ac9db6e565ccf778b11adb.jpg)
![DSCF1781.JPG DSCF1781.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37930-5c2fc1321591c2026b23c9bafed2a9db.jpg)
Coming back to the mountains.
![DSCF1782.JPG DSCF1782.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37931-3cb4b8ac6e3fa1f601d26d6bba538d13.jpg)
![DSCF1784.JPG DSCF1784.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37932-cf49982f015b733c34b870e502ac7100.jpg)
![DSCF1786.JPG DSCF1786.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37933-9345a2df44c8fbfcf171318586084625.jpg)
![DSCF1789.JPG DSCF1789.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37934-1602b88aca7626d3e0bddf2bd46c5f6c.jpg)
![DSCF1791.JPG DSCF1791.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37936-8f3db64b702f7c232acd444224c79100.jpg)
![DSCF1793.JPG DSCF1793.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37937-dfc6544b10536b7c1f106a4f1963d0c0.jpg)
North side of the Brooks Range.
![DSCF1796.JPG DSCF1796.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37938-df5280f6c2fb2ed03db8c9eac22d9f7b.jpg)
![DSCF1797.JPG DSCF1797.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37939-e01364bc7909836c4bda4a41dbcb6cbb.jpg)
Lakes in the tundra.
![DSCF1798.JPG DSCF1798.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37940-c694669d5224c3a3008a05078eb5052d.jpg)
![DSCF1800.JPG DSCF1800.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37941-aadc2cdc96693f54c1e5ec0aa335acaf.jpg)
After crossing the pass again I stopped before getting to Coldfoot to do a packrafting trip here. Spent a week in Gates of the Arctic National Park. These pictures are from the spot where i left the highway.
![DSCF1801.JPG DSCF1801.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37942-6417b61202787188d535f8b6452f64a0.jpg)
![DSCF1806.JPG DSCF1806.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37943-0ba3ca48cf3863f3a09dd65045fb3de8.jpg)
The Dietrich River bar. The gap is Kuyuktuvuk Creek, where i would hike in.
![006.JPG 006.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37935-e9934c3ddcacd6faddbf75ac7952a2fa.jpg)
Just one of the many braids of the Dietrich River
![DSCF1809.JPG DSCF1809.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37944-e57d9a725fa9801b663fddb7daa080b6.jpg)
![DSCF1813.JPG DSCF1813.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37945-880ae20badbe6453f42196445968a0be.jpg)
![DSCF1815.JPG DSCF1815.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37946-46df1d4d66eeec3254f361c63951ca6c.jpg)
It's a good thing it was light enough out that i never needed this.
![DSCF1816.JPG DSCF1816.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37947-d98d6d0401e58c49f4bca3b069b89b7e.jpg)
The bike's undercarriage.
![DSCF1818.JPG DSCF1818.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37911-082d88b886a0c07d1db8b3eef63cffbd.jpg)
These are some picture of the Brooks that i took on the way back to where i had left my bike.
![DSCF2289.JPG DSCF2289.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37913-300899b1d0d07bf6618e85d0a48d3ce0.jpg)
![DSCF2290.JPG DSCF2290.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37914-60b151c763dcb2b4cb68eabd1b765a2a.jpg)
![DSCF2291.JPG DSCF2291.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37915-31d429148d660264f92b1014239c6199.jpg)
![DSCF2293.JPG DSCF2293.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37916-fc683a44ab7b83fea7620c59e5ae4986.jpg)
![DSCF2295.JPG DSCF2295.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37917-57c5938bf65add169f88938c94858e51.jpg)
![DSCF2297.JPG DSCF2297.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37918-0f7369f030b9c6ee60c10688c33773e1.jpg)
![DSCF2298.JPG DSCF2298.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37919-0c132b0ffdd8a39dabfc0bca7ddcf796.jpg)
![DSCF2299.JPG DSCF2299.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37920-995a2d71ede9212165bd8c79bd1b2371.jpg)
Stopped at the Arctic Circle on the way back down.
![DSCF2302.JPG DSCF2302.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37921-dd5c5477dcda813d66ef5675b309d5ce.jpg)
The night after getting back to my bike i stopped at the 'campground' about five miles North of the Yukon River. It's just a very large gravel circle. But it has tables and fire pits, and a bath room, trash, and potable water. From here i rode back to Fairbanks the next day.
![DSCF2312.JPG DSCF2312.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37922-83c4afc9120b44daf9d4f914e2aa657e.jpg)
![DSCF2314.JPG DSCF2314.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37923-cab3888473339e696a96e2c717901af5.jpg)
I loved it.
Some of the fires that Alaska had this summer.
![DSCF1596.JPG DSCF1596.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37857-1dcedbc0dba940c846e35f5b556a9ce1.jpg)
![DSCF1601.JPG DSCF1601.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37858-c73f52225c7d4a4fd0f5868f108ebe33.jpg)
Coldfoot and a shop at the Yukon River are just about the only two places along the highway to get gas between Fairbanks and Deadhorse. I had to take an extra gas can for the last 240 mile stretch .
![DSCF1606.JPG DSCF1606.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37859-6062526e03ad6ca8cbd2beb5c0199897.jpg)
Dirt road for days.
![DSCF1607.JPG DSCF1607.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37860-2074d8373a9679b8b6d7f979b164ed19.jpg)
The pipeline. The road here is not actually the highway, just the access road. I walked over here for a closer look.
![DSCF1612.JPG DSCF1612.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37861-ece431f931cf2c0bd6f405e1df267520.jpg)
![DSCF1615.JPG DSCF1615.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37862-a656f6f0671db25eda73008eb4474701.jpg)
The Yukon River.
![DSCF1616.JPG DSCF1616.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37863-a2cb99efa5129eb3a81131050d76d30e.jpg)
Fireweed grows in areas that have been cleared.
![DSCF1619.JPG DSCF1619.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37864-10f35cf68d8b532666b859d84dfc5d44.jpg)
![DSCF1621.JPG DSCF1621.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37865-ad5db4dda6142bb2b3b477c86c6ef075.jpg)
A little crazy to think that it just runs West like this for several hundred miles, no more roads.
![DSCF1625.JPG DSCF1625.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37866-2c7a82b18be9e10ae5945eb304650c13.jpg)
Coming into the Brooks Range.
![DSCF1628.JPG DSCF1628.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37867-fffa83ba231119a13e51eb7191a5d2c7.jpg)
Mount Sukapak.
![DSCF1632.JPG DSCF1632.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37868-20cd9074af32d719f10f00764191daed.jpg)
![DSCF1633.JPG DSCF1633.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37869-4f5f4e52f84f3a45159b466010ee6ac2.jpg)
A little more rain. I believe it rained on me every day that i was in Alaska, except the day i visited Deadhorse, where it was nearly freezing.
![DSCF1638.JPG DSCF1638.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37870-0bae22a45eca0d9dd49f38c653d2f24a.jpg)
The Chandalar Shelf, going East into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Just a few miles South of Atigun Pass on the crest of the Brooks Range. I'm past the northern tree line here.
![DSCF1640.JPG DSCF1640.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37871-118cb7793c5f141fb8e80d676f15dade.jpg)
On the North side of Atigun Pass. In the pass there are light arrows that point the direction for small planes to fly when it is cloudy. The road is very rocky through the pass, a small adventure on the motorcycle.
![DSCF1641.JPG DSCF1641.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37872-0ad460088676301f0986ab445a744a60.jpg)
Getting late. After eleven pm now.
![DSCF1643.JPG DSCF1643.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37873-87953f5831391efcee340d914618d477.jpg)
At the free campground at Galbraith Lake. This was one of my favorite places. Check how the license plate is totally covered by the mud from the road.
![DSCF1644.JPG DSCF1644.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37874-941a0a248bec5cfab8d479196701ef33.jpg)
![DSCF1654.JPG DSCF1654.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37875-6a36929c7596d09519ccd50a32cdce91.jpg)
I like the mud pattern on my shins.
![DSCF1656.JPG DSCF1656.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37876-6055b1eb7f7d214157d070c2e628fd20.jpg)
Views from camp.
![DSCF1661.JPG DSCF1661.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37877-36ddf240f4f42bfb169bb6066c925f19.jpg)
![DSCF1662.JPG DSCF1662.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37878-d08f04b899ce02ea0561bf4d1fb74995.jpg)
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I'm North of the Arctic Circle. Theoretically the sun doesn't actually set here, it just goes behind the mountains. This picture is taken some where after one am.
![DSCF1665.JPG DSCF1665.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37880-ec8a714624964d28969272f85aaab275.jpg)
![DSCF1668.JPG DSCF1668.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37881-a737c4599a61c4b713674425fe401e62.jpg)
![DSCF1671.JPG DSCF1671.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37882-b86b2e358612b70a428184228e9f37d8.jpg)
![DSCF1673.JPG DSCF1673.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37883-3be790e68bb924d31add3e0b710dc8fa.jpg)
![DSCF1676.JPG DSCF1676.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37884-e265beab47e2af4c9150d5e2539e8929.jpg)
![DSCF1677.JPG DSCF1677.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37885-48d9ae8e922a626c07e0788438408dda.jpg)
![DSCF1678.JPG DSCF1678.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37886-5f78db1f58a2e9914ddc924fe9fb48d7.jpg)
The next morning. It was appreciably colder on this side of the Brooks. I felt it change as i rode over the pass.
![DSCF1683.JPG DSCF1683.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37887-df8d1a2b22240d5e94ef73002b00f6ab.jpg)
Leaving the Brooks.
![DSCF1688.JPG DSCF1688.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37888-339b9b8f07366ee20d1f026664098fb1.jpg)
Out on the tundra. Looking back South. In the center you see the Brooks on the horizon.
![DSCF1696.JPG DSCF1696.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37889-f74431c9a22a7593c57b84a37f2065cb.jpg)
The tallest bushes only grow as high as me here. I got off the bike to warm my hands up. Even with the winter gloves, at 55 mph it was so cold i had to stop to warm up my hands. Twice. Again, this is not the highway, just a service road where i'm walking with my hands balled in my pockets.
![DSCF1701.JPG DSCF1701.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37890-d9d8b4ead99d33973b787149d63e18dc.jpg)
The Sagavanirktok, or Sag River. Again, the Brooks on the horizon, looking South.
![DSCF1704.JPG DSCF1704.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37891-ec96057c5e32c26fbe9c54be2928c9d2.jpg)
The gas station in Deadhorse. I made it.
![DSCF1706.JPG DSCF1706.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37892-72db4877e507ea4bb02913a685c37a0a.jpg)
Smack in the middle of July.
![DSCF1751.JPG DSCF1751.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37906-a7c5a5fc9492380ed4049656923ed1da.jpg)
Looking at the pipes, riding the shuttle to the ocean.
![DSCF1709.JPG DSCF1709.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37894-bb21deb30e111aeaccc1f945611fcfc0.jpg)
The balls hanging off the pipe absorb vibrations.
![S0011717.JPG S0011717.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37895-cfe5845d3de780873f5eb3f89ff4f1b4.jpg)
The ocean. Interesting to think that Russia's that direction. And an ice cap.
![003.JPG 003.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37893-88c4c9075c3860e23907bbc53fc24008.jpg)
![S0021719.JPG S0021719.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37896-56e4fd8c1f634fb73313e4d7ef08b646.jpg)
I'm still wearing just about every layer i've got. I was freezing.
![DSCF1728.JPG DSCF1728.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37897-d3e6656050c260da52fc66ac9493115d.jpg)
One of the other guys that rode the shuttle went for a dip. He'd just graduated college and driven here from Boston, having dunked his self in the Atlantic and Pacific on the way.
![DSCF1734.JPG DSCF1734.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37898-81a789521afda597fd7cd21792fc1594.jpg)
Some of the buildings. The bigger ones have hundreds of people working in them.
![DSCF1735.JPG DSCF1735.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37899-06265d5a674b1f31bf708552766f96d2.jpg)
![DSCF1736.JPG DSCF1736.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37900-a361020f79adcb04296824badd912ff1.jpg)
![DSCF1741.JPG DSCF1741.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37901-cdcf077ea69a76c9460fdf32fffe7324.jpg)
Arctic geese.
![DSCF1746.JPG DSCF1746.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37902-1db813ce910f0900c09b8e60a25c6da8.jpg)
![DSCF1747.JPG DSCF1747.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37903-12229f9a1a0033ebf7c931260487b8f0.jpg)
![DSCF1748.JPG DSCF1748.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37904-e5a7982cdf3e893d7a759b40c7812d4f.jpg)
The post office. It adjoins the general store.
![DSCF1749.JPG DSCF1749.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37905-908ecdcafcc5311e186a789ebc18aec9.jpg)
Riding back South i saw this guy.
![DSCF1752.JPG DSCF1752.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37907-baa3e4eb3d008dd099a8951df6af8e20.jpg)
Some bluffs along the Sag River.
![DSCF1755.JPG DSCF1755.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37908-18f14bdd9ddb11e8201328e8f5552e97.jpg)
![DSCF1757.JPG DSCF1757.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37909-4e787cd966559ac7f51f5d800d886ee4.jpg)
It's so freaking flat out here. For more than a hundred miles, all the way to the ocean.
![DSCF1771.JPG DSCF1771.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37925-67711ca8b6dcbce86600f3318280fe96.jpg)
![DSCF1772.JPG DSCF1772.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37926-6ddf416bc55cf4db05aaa1e0ab43cd3c.jpg)
Nearing the Brooks again. The ride wasn't so cold on the way back. About half an hour from Deadhorse i started to warm up.
![DSCF1773.JPG DSCF1773.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37927-e047655695071d4f3a15b475af7583ea.jpg)
![DSCF1777.JPG DSCF1777.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37928-ea9e4214a43263b4b61b663aceba9249.jpg)
Sag River and the Brooks Range.
![DSCF1779.JPG DSCF1779.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37929-4f18e01e14ac9db6e565ccf778b11adb.jpg)
![DSCF1781.JPG DSCF1781.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37930-5c2fc1321591c2026b23c9bafed2a9db.jpg)
Coming back to the mountains.
![DSCF1782.JPG DSCF1782.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37931-3cb4b8ac6e3fa1f601d26d6bba538d13.jpg)
![DSCF1784.JPG DSCF1784.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37932-cf49982f015b733c34b870e502ac7100.jpg)
![DSCF1786.JPG DSCF1786.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37933-9345a2df44c8fbfcf171318586084625.jpg)
![DSCF1789.JPG DSCF1789.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37934-1602b88aca7626d3e0bddf2bd46c5f6c.jpg)
![DSCF1791.JPG DSCF1791.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37936-8f3db64b702f7c232acd444224c79100.jpg)
![DSCF1793.JPG DSCF1793.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37937-dfc6544b10536b7c1f106a4f1963d0c0.jpg)
North side of the Brooks Range.
![DSCF1796.JPG DSCF1796.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37938-df5280f6c2fb2ed03db8c9eac22d9f7b.jpg)
![DSCF1797.JPG DSCF1797.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37939-e01364bc7909836c4bda4a41dbcb6cbb.jpg)
Lakes in the tundra.
![DSCF1798.JPG DSCF1798.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37940-c694669d5224c3a3008a05078eb5052d.jpg)
![DSCF1800.JPG DSCF1800.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37941-aadc2cdc96693f54c1e5ec0aa335acaf.jpg)
After crossing the pass again I stopped before getting to Coldfoot to do a packrafting trip here. Spent a week in Gates of the Arctic National Park. These pictures are from the spot where i left the highway.
![DSCF1801.JPG DSCF1801.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37942-6417b61202787188d535f8b6452f64a0.jpg)
![DSCF1806.JPG DSCF1806.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37943-0ba3ca48cf3863f3a09dd65045fb3de8.jpg)
The Dietrich River bar. The gap is Kuyuktuvuk Creek, where i would hike in.
![006.JPG 006.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37935-e9934c3ddcacd6faddbf75ac7952a2fa.jpg)
Just one of the many braids of the Dietrich River
![DSCF1809.JPG DSCF1809.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37944-e57d9a725fa9801b663fddb7daa080b6.jpg)
![DSCF1813.JPG DSCF1813.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37945-880ae20badbe6453f42196445968a0be.jpg)
![DSCF1815.JPG DSCF1815.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37946-46df1d4d66eeec3254f361c63951ca6c.jpg)
It's a good thing it was light enough out that i never needed this.
![DSCF1816.JPG DSCF1816.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37947-d98d6d0401e58c49f4bca3b069b89b7e.jpg)
The bike's undercarriage.
![DSCF1818.JPG DSCF1818.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37911-082d88b886a0c07d1db8b3eef63cffbd.jpg)
These are some picture of the Brooks that i took on the way back to where i had left my bike.
![DSCF2289.JPG DSCF2289.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37913-300899b1d0d07bf6618e85d0a48d3ce0.jpg)
![DSCF2290.JPG DSCF2290.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37914-60b151c763dcb2b4cb68eabd1b765a2a.jpg)
![DSCF2291.JPG DSCF2291.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37915-31d429148d660264f92b1014239c6199.jpg)
![DSCF2293.JPG DSCF2293.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37916-fc683a44ab7b83fea7620c59e5ae4986.jpg)
![DSCF2295.JPG DSCF2295.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37917-57c5938bf65add169f88938c94858e51.jpg)
![DSCF2297.JPG DSCF2297.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37918-0f7369f030b9c6ee60c10688c33773e1.jpg)
![DSCF2298.JPG DSCF2298.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37919-0c132b0ffdd8a39dabfc0bca7ddcf796.jpg)
![DSCF2299.JPG DSCF2299.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37920-995a2d71ede9212165bd8c79bd1b2371.jpg)
Stopped at the Arctic Circle on the way back down.
![DSCF2302.JPG DSCF2302.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37921-dd5c5477dcda813d66ef5675b309d5ce.jpg)
The night after getting back to my bike i stopped at the 'campground' about five miles North of the Yukon River. It's just a very large gravel circle. But it has tables and fire pits, and a bath room, trash, and potable water. From here i rode back to Fairbanks the next day.
![DSCF2312.JPG DSCF2312.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37922-83c4afc9120b44daf9d4f914e2aa657e.jpg)
![DSCF2314.JPG DSCF2314.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/37/37923-cab3888473339e696a96e2c717901af5.jpg)
I loved it.
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