Dalton Highway - Faribanks to Deadhorse - 500 miles

At first, the highway was called the Haul Road because almost everything supporting oil development was "hauled" on tractor-trailer rigs to its final destination.  In 1981, the State of Alaska named the highway after James B. Dalton, a lifelong Alaskan and expert in arctic engineering who was involved in early oil exploration efforts on the North Slope.

In 1994, public access was allowed all the way to Deadhorse for the first time.

The road is narrow, has soft shoulders, high embankments, and steep hills, lengthy stretches of gravel with sharp rocks, potholes, washboard, and clouds of dust or slick mud... and snow any time of the year.

The ever-present pipeline

The pipeline has zig-zags in it for no apparent reason.  I confirmed with a road crew worker that they are intentional to help control the flow of oil in the pipe.

Mile Post 98

MP 115

The Roller Coaster - a series of steep hills named by truckers in the early years of pipeline construction, including Sand Hill, Roller Coaster, Mackey Hill, Beaver Slide and Gobblers Know  Truckers today use the same names.

I later learned from an oil worker in Deadhorse that all the landmarks along the road are named so the truckers can report their current location to other truckers.  As the road is narrow, the truckers need to know if there is a wide load upcoming where there may not be room to pass.


Grayling Lake - An ancient glacier carved this U-shaped valley and left a shallow lake.  Moose feed on the plants in summer.  Charcoal, stone scrapers, and other artifacts found nearby indicate that Native hunters used this lookout for thousands of years.

Coldfoot - yep, this is all this is.  The original gold rush town of Coldfoot was located on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River near the mouth of Slate Creek.  It got its name in 1900 when early prospectors reportedly got "cold feet" and left before winter set in.  (Gas was $4.60/gal)

Sukakpak Mountain (MP 204) - A massive wall rising to 4,459 feet.  Sukakpak is an Inupiat Eskimo word meaning "marten deadfall." 

Wiseman is an historic village established in 1907 when miners discovered gold in nearly Nolan Creek.  Many residents today subsist by hunting, trapping and gardening.

And then it started to snow .....