Hi guys!
I just got into Prudhoe Bay last night late after a veryyyy long trip from Anchorage. Our sister company needed some vehicles driven up north, so naturally, I volunteered. It was the most picturesque day, but VERY cold. Our truck thermometers wouldn’t go lower than -40°, and that’s just ambient.
The drive from Anchorage was uneventful. We drove two Chevy 5500’s up and parked them inside our shop for the night, seeing as it was in the -30’s in Fairbanks. It was -36° when I woke up Thursday morning.
Another driver met us at the shop with our new trailer. We loaded up one of the trucks onto the trailer and hit the road. The roads were fairly slick heading up the Steese. The temps plummeted around Livengood/Hess Creek. That was the first time our thermometers hit -40°. The Steese was fairly slick, but as soon as we hit the Dalton, they improved and were gravel.
The fun started here. The sun was out in all her glory, everything was beautifully covered in snow, barely any traffic, and had some good tunes on the radio. We chugged along keeping our eyes out for animals. It wasn’t a hunting trip, but of course, I’m scanning left and right looking for those mythical creatures. We saw plenty of moose. We had record snows this year (at least in South Central), so the moose are all over the roads trying to avoid the deep snow.
It was a little slow going up some of the hills with the trailer, but it made it nice for me since I was following, I could take in the views. We finally hit the Arctic Circle and of course had to get a photo op.
After the Arctic Circle, we made a quick lunch stop in Coldfoot. We asked around about conditions in the pass and decided to go for it. This is where it got REALLY cold. I FaceTimed with my kids and they got a kick out of it because on the 3 minute phone call, my face and bearded had formed a full layer of ice. We were told it was around -45° ambient.
After leaving Coldfoot, we trudged towards the Atigun. The sun was setting around 3:30pm. I finally started to see caribou sign. Thousands upon thousands of tracks. All over, across, around the road. It was a little nerve wracking because it was getting dark, but I was surprised we hadn’t seen any. Luckily, we were in a convoy of about 6 semi trucks and we all had radios, so if anyone saw anything, they’d call it out. Still no actual animals. We did, however, see hundreds of ptarmigan. They were alllll over the roads. It looked like clouds floating off the road every time we’d get near and spook them. Very cool to see. I finally saw one caribou! Well….he was on the side of the road taking an eternal nap with some ravens fighting over him, but that still counts as seeing one, right?
We had finally made it to the pass. Nobody was even chaining up at the bottom, so we just rallied up the hill. And by rally, I mean go a steady 15 mph struggling to pull the heavy load. We had oversize pilot cars in front and behind us leading some massive loads of pipe. Radios were going wild with chatter, there were flashing lights everywhere, it made for a neat pass crossing. It’s definitely spooky doing it at night seeing as it’s pitch black out and all you can see is the carved away avalanches around you.
I only snapped on photo at the top because I was too busy clenching my steering wheel. We made it out just fine and started cruising again. It’s so strange that there is so much snow up in the pass then once you drop down into the valley, the road is literally just gravel. Barely any snow. We made up a bit of time here since it wasn’t too slick anymore. Finally out of all of it, we hit the flats at Pump Station 2. Time to cruise! I swear, from Pump station 2 to Deadhorse, they have the best roads in the entire world. Dead of winter, wind storm, etc, and we were still cruising along with zero issues. Not even a bump. Made it into Deadhorse around 10pm and was finally able to get some rest.
4 hours of sleep and now I’m sitting at the airport waiting to fly home. Can’t wait to do it again, but with my bow next time!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I just got into Prudhoe Bay last night late after a veryyyy long trip from Anchorage. Our sister company needed some vehicles driven up north, so naturally, I volunteered. It was the most picturesque day, but VERY cold. Our truck thermometers wouldn’t go lower than -40°, and that’s just ambient.
The drive from Anchorage was uneventful. We drove two Chevy 5500’s up and parked them inside our shop for the night, seeing as it was in the -30’s in Fairbanks. It was -36° when I woke up Thursday morning.
Another driver met us at the shop with our new trailer. We loaded up one of the trucks onto the trailer and hit the road. The roads were fairly slick heading up the Steese. The temps plummeted around Livengood/Hess Creek. That was the first time our thermometers hit -40°. The Steese was fairly slick, but as soon as we hit the Dalton, they improved and were gravel.
The fun started here. The sun was out in all her glory, everything was beautifully covered in snow, barely any traffic, and had some good tunes on the radio. We chugged along keeping our eyes out for animals. It wasn’t a hunting trip, but of course, I’m scanning left and right looking for those mythical creatures. We saw plenty of moose. We had record snows this year (at least in South Central), so the moose are all over the roads trying to avoid the deep snow.
It was a little slow going up some of the hills with the trailer, but it made it nice for me since I was following, I could take in the views. We finally hit the Arctic Circle and of course had to get a photo op.
After the Arctic Circle, we made a quick lunch stop in Coldfoot. We asked around about conditions in the pass and decided to go for it. This is where it got REALLY cold. I FaceTimed with my kids and they got a kick out of it because on the 3 minute phone call, my face and bearded had formed a full layer of ice. We were told it was around -45° ambient.
After leaving Coldfoot, we trudged towards the Atigun. The sun was setting around 3:30pm. I finally started to see caribou sign. Thousands upon thousands of tracks. All over, across, around the road. It was a little nerve wracking because it was getting dark, but I was surprised we hadn’t seen any. Luckily, we were in a convoy of about 6 semi trucks and we all had radios, so if anyone saw anything, they’d call it out. Still no actual animals. We did, however, see hundreds of ptarmigan. They were alllll over the roads. It looked like clouds floating off the road every time we’d get near and spook them. Very cool to see. I finally saw one caribou! Well….he was on the side of the road taking an eternal nap with some ravens fighting over him, but that still counts as seeing one, right?
We had finally made it to the pass. Nobody was even chaining up at the bottom, so we just rallied up the hill. And by rally, I mean go a steady 15 mph struggling to pull the heavy load. We had oversize pilot cars in front and behind us leading some massive loads of pipe. Radios were going wild with chatter, there were flashing lights everywhere, it made for a neat pass crossing. It’s definitely spooky doing it at night seeing as it’s pitch black out and all you can see is the carved away avalanches around you.
I only snapped on photo at the top because I was too busy clenching my steering wheel. We made it out just fine and started cruising again. It’s so strange that there is so much snow up in the pass then once you drop down into the valley, the road is literally just gravel. Barely any snow. We made up a bit of time here since it wasn’t too slick anymore. Finally out of all of it, we hit the flats at Pump Station 2. Time to cruise! I swear, from Pump station 2 to Deadhorse, they have the best roads in the entire world. Dead of winter, wind storm, etc, and we were still cruising along with zero issues. Not even a bump. Made it into Deadhorse around 10pm and was finally able to get some rest.
4 hours of sleep and now I’m sitting at the airport waiting to fly home. Can’t wait to do it again, but with my bow next time!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
