Day Fifteen, Arctic Circle Drive/Fly

Connie and I set the alarm this morning for 3:50 A.M., got ready and walked up to the office for our ride to the airport and the Northern Alaska Tour Company.  We left at 5:00 by bus to Coldfoot, AK.  Coldfoot is 175 miles north of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway.  We had several events on the way.  We crossed the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle.  There was also some road construction.  The photo to the right is of Joe's Trading Post.  Joe was from Red Oak, IA and came to Alaska 40 years ago.  They have 5 children of their own and adopted 18 others.  Joe is beyond the power grid and runs a generator for power and probably hauls in his water.  Interesting people.

The Dalton Highway runs along the pipeline; we have another picture of it for you.

The photo above is of the bridge across the Yukon River.  The bridge has a wooden deck.  The photo to the right is of the sign that marks the Yukon Crossings.  They claim that this bridge is the only bridge across the Yukon River.  That must be just in Alaska because we crossed the river in Whitehorse.

Here's the photo that I took the trip for.  We are standing at the Arctic Circle.  The Artic Circle is defined as that point in latitude where the sun doesn't set on the spring equinox.  We are still 60 miles south of Coldfoot.

Coldfoot is less than half way to the Prudhoe Bay from Fairbanks.  If you don't turn around here you will end up at the end of the road - Deadhorse.  Coldfoot was a big town of 500 during the gold rush of 1898, but when the gold dried up, so did the town.  Today the only population is those people that work at the truck stop and inn.

The photo below is of our tour guide and bus driver, Marit.  She's a student at the University of Alaska.

From Coldfoot we flew back to Fairbanks.  It took us over eight hours to drive it and just one hour fifteen minutes to fly it.

The photo to the left is of the Brooks Range of mountains.  At Coldfoot we are at the foothills of the Brooks Range.  Below is a photo of the Yukon River. 

Remember to "right click" on any photo to open it in a new window as a larger photo.

Final and only approach to Faribanks airport.  We left the RV park at 4:30 A.M. and got back at 3:30 P.M. and got another item checked off our "Bucket List."