The Dalton? I'd Hit It!

P-Rock - struggling to out-do Blackie this evening

Day 12 - The Arctic Circle Run

No map today, Google don't do dat - at least easily enough for a Slacker...

Today certainly turned out to be a most interesting day in many many aspects. First off, my blog title comes from Blackie tipping his hand on his blog title, which may be the best one of the entire trip. As you probably know if you are following, today we were to take the Elliot Highway to the Dalton Highway (of Ice Road Trucker 2009 Season Fame) up to the Arctic Circle.

We started out by getting up early. Oh, did I mention that it doesn't get dark? Did I mention that the Weather Channel's algorithm for posting Sunrise/Sunset times has a little bug in it? Follower Participation activity #1 - who will be first to identify the bug. So we were up by 6am and had a hearty breakfast before starting out on this adventure with nice, clean bikes. So I must admit this was a very dumb idea. Heck by the end of the trip I was wiping dust off the INSIDE of my visor to see. If you haven't been here you really have no idea just how dirty things get out on the Haul Road.

Our first indication that we might have some interesting issues came at our first gas stop, on the Elliot Highway at a place called "Hilltop". Well it was 87 octane regular, or nothing. So we opted for the crap gas and moved on. As we hit the Dalton Blackie and I stopped for the obligatory photo op at the Sign, where I also lamented at not being able to get to Manley Hot Springs - which was a personal goal. As you may recall, our schedule changes and re-routes caused us to jettison several good features of this trip in favor of the larger good. It is what it is folks. Anyway, the first 20 miles or so of the Dalton proved to be immensely challenging. It was narrow, steep in many places (reportedly up to 12% grade) and dusty as Nebraska without rain. In retrospect, Blackie and I confided that we both were worried about whether or not we'd be able to make this 116 mile (one way) journey intact.

We soldiered on.

As we rolled into mile 56 we got to the Yukon River which was a spectacular site. Your P-Rock blasted onto the Yukon River bridge at a good 50 miles per hour before realizing that it was a wooden decked bridge and pretty squirrelly. We made it across and stopped at our only enroute gas stop for $4/gallon 87 octane-make-my-bike-ping-like-a-can-of-rocks gas. Progressing north the scenery just got more and more spectacular. A few years ago there was a forest fire that must have consumed at least 400 square miles of boreal forest, which was now flourishing with new vegetation. It was obvious that you don't even try to fight a fire like that, so it ran until it died naturally. Amazing to say the least.

Further north, we encountered Finger Mountain, which is something called a 'tor' (Your second follower participation homework) where we got additional great photos. We reached the Arctic Circle in typical P-Rock/Blackie style around 2pm and did the obligatory photo shoot. After that we raced back to Fairbanks for a good (reprise) bike wash and dinner with some Alaskan Summer Ale.

Blackie led us out on the way back, where I was able to catch a picture of the now Ice Road Trucker infamous "Beaver Slide" - complete with loads of dust from oncoming and leading traffic. Pictures really do not do it justice.

I want to toss out a few shout outs. First to Robert with the great witty comments. You can be sure I will stay ahead of Blackie if any bears are present. Next to Robin and Paul. The Anti-Monkey-Butt powder gave me the singular distinction of having the softest, silkiest and most supple butt north of the arctic circle today. I'm calling Guinness about that.

Lastly, Our now infamous PJ's hat did indeed make the trip. I'm not completely sure about opening a PJ's way up here, but if you do I'll suggest you offer Free Wings After Dark all summer long. What a concept!

Keep the comments flowing.

P-Rock, letting Blackie deal with the bear.