Day 23 - July 2nd

We reached the Arctic Circle!!
Our journey started at 0630 AM loading onto a bus with 28 tourists and our tour guide, Aaron. We began our journey on the Elliott Highway which was paved until we came to the rugged Dalton Highway which we turned onto. The Dalton Highway is not paved and we travelled on it for approx 400miles. It travels through remote country where the amenities common in today’s modern world are rare or non-existent.
The Dalton HWY was developed in just 5 months and was only open to commercial traffic until 1981 when it was then opened to the public. The road is narrow, has soft shoulders, high embankment and steep hills. There were lengthy stretches of gravel surfaces with sharp rocks, potholes, washboard and deepening the weather, clouds of dust or slick mud, dangerous curves. Travelling this road is definitely not for motorcycles although we did have quite of them zip pass us! This is the road seen in the show “Ice Truckers”. We passed some old mines from the 1800’s which were at one time abandoned, however people are now working some of these sites as gold is more expensive and helps them make a living. Aaron pointed out some tall narrow trees that we had seen many times during our time in Alaska. These are known as Black spruce trees and have a difficult time developing due to the permafrost in the ground that prevents the roots growth. We had our first glimpse of the remarkable Trans Alaska Pipeline developed in 1974-77. During this time We passed mighty Yukon river the northland’s most famous waterway which was used during the gold rush where wood-fired stern wheelers ferried gold seekers and supplies for trading posts. Aaron talked to us about the arctic tundra and which we walked on and is very soft and spongy. He then dug a whole in the ground for us to feel the permafrost which is approx 6“ down. The permafrost caused many problems for the pipe line and much of the pipeline was put above ground the gas in the pipes would melt the perma frost causing the pipes to sink deeper into the ground. After 8 hrs of travelling we were finally there, “The Arctic Circle”!!! Aaron played a short tune on his trombone as we each crossed the border line from the USA into the Arctic Circle. When we were finished taking photos, Aaron had a special treat to help celebrate our adventure, some “tundra and permafrost” which was actually a yummy brownie with cool whip on top. We did not see any wildlife during the day and once again there were very few mosquitoes.
At the end of the trip we were provided with an official Arctic Circle Adventure Certificate. We were travelling a total of 17hrs today, a long day, but we all felt it was very much worth it. How many times will a person ever have the chance to visit the Arctic Circle!!!