RiVa goes off road

Technically I suppose she wasn't really off road because we were on a "highway" the whole time. We took RiVa on Alaska 11 also known as the Dalton Hwy. Maggie (our Magellan roadmate) doesn't even recognize the road. She couldn't/wouldn't find Coldfoot or Arctic Circle or Yukon Crossing or Weisman or any of the many creeks and rivers we passed. Maggie went blank until we told her to be a map, which she sorta was if you don't need any names of anything. She did tell us what direction we were pointing (mostly north).

By the time we got back, RiVa was COVERED in mud. We traveled 190 miles in 7.5 hours. The road from Fairbanks to the Dalton Hwy was good paved road. But the first 25-30 miles of the Dalton hwy was dirt/gravel with pot holes and chatter and very slow going, then a little bit of good paved road then back to tough road. There were a few places where I was afraid that the mud would bog down RiVa and we would be stuck with no way to get help. I white knucled it through those spots and didn't slow down. Other than a little slipping, it was OK. Then there were the STEEP hills that were mud/gravel. RiVa weights quite a bit so I shifted her into low to use the engine to brake. Even in low gear, RiVa would get going faster than I was comfortable with so I will need to have her brakes checked again soon.

There is a visitor's center at Yukon Crossing with a helpful couple. There is a really good visitor's center at Coldfoot.
















There is a place that sells gas at Yukon Crossing right across the "highway" from the little cabin that is the visitor center. That is the last gas until Coldfoot 110 miles beyond. We paid $5.60/gal for gas at Coldfoot and were glad of it. :)

When we got to the arctic circle we got a bunch of pictures of us standing in front of the sign (I'll post them later).

We saw 2 moose. The first one we saw was on the way up. She was beside the road in a pond. She was on the real road, the one before the Dalton Hwy. The other one we saw today. He was about 30 miles below Coldfoot. When he saw us, he crossed the road then disappeared.

The sun never really sets at Coldfoot. It moves around the sky rather than up and over. At 11:30-12:00ish it becomes dusk which lasts for a couple of hours, then the sun raises up a little and it is day again. It is never truly dark at this time of year.

The Dalton Hwy follows the Alaska Pipeline. The Pipeline is awesome.