July 12
44 miles
3500 feet elevation gain
Setting up camp in mosquito country is a mad dash. Normally we’d pitch the tent, get the pad blown up, fluff the quilt, blow up the pillows, etc. before we get inside. These days, it’s a rush to pitch the tent, throw everything inside, hop in, zip up, and then spend five minutes killing all the mosquitos that managed to follow us in. Then we change and blow up the pad with us inside. There really isn’t space for this, but the alternative is getting eaten alive, so we do what we have to do to get a little reprieve. No sooner than we got set up tonight, it started to rain. I love fortuitous timing like that. The mosquitos like to gather in the vestibule, so that we each look out our doors to see 100 or more hovering in wait for us to emerge.
We are officially done with the Dalton Highway! Over 400 miles, and today was probably my least favorite. The climbs were long, 5-6 mile stretches of uphill in the heat and more traffic than we’ve had. What a treat it was to come upon the sign marking the beginning of the highway, because I thought we still had a couple miles left.
At the sign, we met some cool guys who just drove up and back, one of whom is here exploring his 49th state. He has a YouTube channel called Adventures with Vizzy.
We also met another overlander, Fred from France (@sans.destination.finale), who gave us some water and had a very sweet rig. He even sprayed us with bug spray as we were getting swarmed.
And we met a cyclist from France, heading the opposite direction. I didn’t catch his name, but he told me that he and his wife rode from Ushuaia, Argentina to Mexico in 1983. His wife passed away ten years ago, but he is finishing the journey from the bottom to the top of the Americas solo.
So, while the riding kind of sucked today, we met good people so that was the highlight. And we saw a beaver near camp. From the tent, I can hear 2 Great Horned Owls calling back and forth. I’ve also been hearing the songs of Hermit Thrushes in the trees, which reminds me of the Appalachian Trail. We are now on the Elliott Highway, about 70 miles from Fairbanks. It will be more paved now, so maybe we’ll get some good miles in tomorrow.
