We started our day off taking a tour to the Arctic Ocean. Because the oilfields lease 60 miles of coastline, there is no public access to the beach, and an official tour is the only way to actually go to the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay. We were not going to miss that opportunity, and it was worth every penny. Our tour guide gave us a history of the Dalton Highway and the oilfields, talked about the ecology of the area and encouraged everyone to get in the cold water, which we did.
The Dalton Highway was constructed to build and service the trans-Alaska pipeline, which carries the oil from Prudhoe Bay all the way down to Valdez, where it can be shipped out by boat. Initially called the Haul Road, it is still primarily used by truckers servicing the oilfields or the road itself, in addition to adventurous drivers, motorcyclists, and cyclists. In the heyday of Prudhoe Bay, over two million barrels of oil were extracted per day, though that has now declined to less than 500k.
No one lives in Deadhorse, there is no private property, so everyone who is here is a worker. Our tour guide told us it’s jokingly called Dudehorse, and they say there is a woman behind every tree up here (there are no trees for 200 miles).
We met a lot of nice folks on the tour including a couple from Fairbanks who offered us hospitality when we get down there. Everyone we’ve met in Alaska has been extremely friendly.
After the tour, we packed up and hit the road!
This first section is paved and flat, though it was a false flat with 1-2% grades. Literally no coasting ever, and a consistent crosswind or headwind. I told Paul he is like Wout van Aert and I’m Simon Yates and he’s shuttling me across the flat sections (only two people reading this will get that reference, but I’m missing the Tour de France right now and I’ve got road racing on the brain). It was deceptively tiring, but we only planned for 35 miles a day in this first section and we surpassed that today.
We saw a herd of caribou in the morning and a herd of Muskox in the afternoon. It was cold most of the day, and we took shelter from the cold wind by camping near a gravel pile off the road a bit. All in all, a pretty good first day.
New life birds: Tundra Swan, Pacific Loon, Glaucous Gull, Semipalmated Plover
Great start to your trip. Can’t wait to read about all your adventures. I’m assuming the two people getting that reference would be your Dad and your brother? 🤪