Deadhorse to the Atigun Pass

Posted by Alex on 13 August 2009

On August 2nd, after a grueling 3:30 am get up and a 6:00 am flight, we finally arrived in Deadhorse in Northern Alaska.

Recuperating our bikes, all boxed up on the short conveyor belt, on which only 3 suit cases were unloaded, we were greeted to the far north by the slightly bizarre sight of three male caribou trotting happily along the runway, this time, we were the ones closed in and the animals were free... After a two hour bike rebuilding session and a little test run to check that all was in order we set off to "downtown" Deadhorse to buy a few essentials before heading off into the infinite tundra stretching South. There was really nothing there apart from Oil Pump stations and refineries, and the odd maintenance van popping from one huge rig to another tending to the huge machines. We had initially planned to cycle up to the Arctic Ocean to start our journey south from the tip top, but found out, much to our dismay that "access to the Ocean" was not allowed, all of this land being owned by the private Oil companies.

So off we set, turning South onto the James Dalton Highway... for the next 414 miles, navigation was to be easy, there is only one road, no intersections, just 400 miles of gravel. The cool wind and recent rain had cleared the air to reveal.... nothing. Flat tundra and small lakes stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was really quite daunting to set off into this vast emptiness, but the wind was good and the sun was shining so off we went. After about 40 miles of cycling, it seemed we made no progress due to the complete lack of any identifiable landmarks we decided that that was enough for our first day. We set up camp next to a little creek and prepared our dinner, freeze dried chicken teriyaki for me and beef strogonoff for Fin. Unfortunately, we were not alone to be feasting, a cloud of mosquitoes was also indulging... We rapidly retired to our tents to watch with great satisfaction as the little bloodsuckers tried in vain to get to us. The sun was still high in the sky at 9:00pm but we were not going to wait for it to dip below the horizon. We passed out in no time at all.

Waking up on day two, we found that mosquitoes were no less relentless in their quest for blood, so we quickly packed up camp and after a quick breakfast of porridge and tea, we were on the road again... after a few hour of cycling, the first hills appeared on the horizon. it was exciting in that we were going to get a change in scenery but it also meant that the uphill cycling was about to start. another few hours of cycling found us pedaling our 50kg up the hills and down the other side only to start the process over again on the next hill. We could see the road draped endlessly over countless hills as far as the eye could see and the knowledge that each one of these mounds was going to have to be passed was quite sobering.

On the third day, we were granted a little relief, even if it was only psychological, smokes from raging fires down south had slowly made their way up to us and thus reduced our view to the nearest hill, impeding us from looking ahead in desperation.  On the fourth day however, the outlines of large peaks made it obvious that we were entering the Brooks Range and that the infamous Atigun Pass, high high point of the Dalton highway was not far. Sure enough, at 3:00pm, after what seemed like a mile high climb, we arrived at the foot of the pass. Ahead of us, the road curled around the side of a large mountain to disapear behind it. That was all we could see for now. We got going. Inching up the steep gravel road with trucks roaring past us at breakneck speed made us feel very slow. After an hour of perspiration and repeated dust baths we reached to TOP of the pass...

14 comments. Tags: tundra, oil, caribou, bears, alex. Location: 70.2111,-148.404