The Third Phase: ALASKA

COMING INTO THE COUNTRY

Beside Alaska's beauty, I was struck again by the vastness of its wilderness. In Washington Cascade and Olympic mountains you only need to hike a short distance in designated Wilderness or Forest Service lands before you come across wires or roads that lead you back to civilization. You hardly left. In Alaska, you only need to travel a short distance out of populated areas to plunge you into vast untracked wilderness of a completely different scale - larger than most states. Six of the ten largest US National Parks, and the top four, are in Alaska. This doesn't count other untracked areas.

Alaska is HUGE! Two and a half times the size of Texas, and superimposed on the continental US it stretches from the S.F. Bay area to northern Minnesota and down to Florida.

Over half of all visitors to Alaska arrive on cruise ships up the Inside Passage. Many travel north as far as Denali N.P. outside Anchorage, or south to Kenai Peninsula, both in South Central Alaska. (See map below). Only one-half of one percent of 2019 visitors traveled north of the Arctic Circle to the Brooks Range and Gates of the Arctic N.P. or beyond - our next destination.

My book for this trip was "Two in the Far North" by Margaret (Mardy) Murie. She was raised in Fairbanks in the first decades of the twentieth century, married the biologist Olaus Murie, and in the twenties through forties traveled the Interior and Far North by dog-sled in the winter assisting with his research. Mardy became a conservationist and author who helped preserve millions of acres of land in Alaska. She testified before Congress for the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and passage of the Wilderness Act. Our itinerary will stop at several places they traversed. A wonder to see through her eyes a century ago in the dead of winter. Well worth the read.

After leaving our friends in Juneau, we flew to Fairbanks on the solstice. This is still south of the Arctic Circle but the sky never darkened. Here In the Country, we discovered Alaskans are an odd group. Outside the native population, they seem here for the love wilderness, to exploit resources, to be self-reliant, or are a bubble off - or several of the above. Checking into our Fairbanks hotel our host couldn't make eye contact and hardly spoke - and this is in "hospitality" work. We took an Uber to a nearby pizza place as downtown has no there there. The driver had a mountain-man beard (as do most men here), a nervous twitch, wild eye, and spoke obtusely.

Typical Fairbanks truck at dinner. Enlightened and woke.

The next morning we boarded our tour bus to travel the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle. Our bus driver was a chatty pleasant fellow, but awkward. He was tall and heavy-set, but explained that before he moved here he was eighty pounds heavier. From him we learned about dry-cabins, damp-cabins, and wet-cabins, among other homesteading essentials. Dry means they have no water, all water is carried in for bathing and cooking, and necessities are in an outhouse. Wet-cabins are fully plumbed, and damp is in-between, maybe domestic water but still an outhouse. We heard that most everyone outside the cities live in a dry-cabin. We also were informed about the pipeline and stopped to examine one section for a stretch-the legs-break.

Little Tour Bus and driver

Alaska Pipeline with "radiators" on the posts to dissipate heat from permafrost.

We changed transportation at the Arctic Circle to continue on to Coldfoot. Most of the twelve or so passengers were only going to cross latitude 67 - over sixteen hour RT ride for their Instagram moment.

Alaska Taiga with stunted Black Spruce and the Pipeline snaking in the distance

Our Instagram moment (If we had Instagram)

The Dalton Highway, also called the Haul Road, is 400 miles long through otherwise inaccessible wilderness from Fairbanks to Deadhorse on the Arctic Ocean. It is the only road in the Far North, and except for some local roads on the coast there is nothing west of Anchorage to the Bering Sea. Three quarters of the state is roadless. This is why the remarkable Bush Pilots are such a fearless necessity.

The Haul Road was built in 1974 through taiga and tundra, and over the 4800' Atigun Pass, in only five months! The sole purpose was to transport building supplies and workers to construct the pipeline adjacent to it, and to the North Slope oil fields. The whole pipeline runs 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to Valdez on Prince William Sound (remember Exxon Valdez). Oil started flowing in 1977. Remarkable what humans can accomplish when short-term profit is involved, sadly less so when the threat is not immediate but existential. The haul road is still mostly gravel and used almost exclusively by long-haul truckers year-round, and at high speeds. It only opened up to the public 1994 after Alyeska, the oil consortium that built it, donated it to the state. Our "little tour bus" would announce itself that way on the CB at every bend or rise in the road to inform the on-coming hurtling behemoths.

Long haul truck hauling ass.

Ten hours after leaving Fairbanks we arrived in the early evening in Coldfoot - but still in bright sunlight. Coldfoot was a small settlement on the Koyukuk River river that Mardy and Olaus passed through after weeks traveling and camping on the frozen Yukon and tributaries. It was named not because of frostbitten feet, but rather after living a winter here, many settlers got "cold feet", IE fearful, and left. Coldfoot now is only a wide spot in the road for truckers to take a break and get a meal. The only accommodation is former pipeline-worker housing - basically trailers cobbled together that still smell of diesel. It's also the home for the Interagency Visitor Center for the Gates of the Arctic N.P. and other federal lands north of Denali. I love Federal Visitor Centers; they are informative, have great topical books/maps and the people are very friendly - this was no exception.

Coldfoot - essentially a truck stop

Our Dorm Room

Robin uncertain about a meal with no wine - only Bud.

The Alaska shaped sign on the bar says "Furthest North Saloon in the US"

After arriving, settling into our dorm room, and dining on the buffet with truckers we boarded a six-seater just before 10:00 at night for an hour plus air-tour of Gates of the Arctic N.P. There are no trails or roads as mentioned, so by air is the only way to see it without weeks of hiking cross-country in bug-infested bear country. Despite the late hour it was gorgeously lit by the circling sun and confused rain clouds.

Flight under heavy clouds over Gates of the Arctic N.P.

Note the lack of trees.

Higher peaks and river valleys that twist and turn in Gates of the Arctic N.P.

Vastness of Gates of the Arctic N.P.

Our next day we scheduled a drive to Atigun Pass, about two hours north on the Dalton Highway. This pass over the Brooks range separates the taiga (with stunted Black Spruce trees) from the North Slope tundra (all growth within six inches above or below the surface). Our driver was a nice young man from rural Colorado. He and his wife are year-round residents for their second season. They homestead, love exploring the outdoors, guide and have an on-line business making jewelry for additional income. Like all up here, they live in a dry cabin. Having only lived in Alaska for two years they were delightfully normal and conversant. When you think about it, Coldfoot is twelve hours from any rescue or assistance if needed. Living in the wilderness, like this young couple, requires self-reliance.

Black Spruce and Sukakpak Mountain heading to Atigun Pass

Pipeling winding up to Atigun Pass

Long Haul trucker cresting Atigun Pass on way to Prudhoe Bay

Returning from Atigun Pass we stopped at Wiseman, about 10 miles north of Coldfoot on the Koyukuk River where Marty and Olaus were finally able to sleep in a warm cabin welcomed by homesteaders after weeks camping in sub zero weather. It still has only about twelve year-round residents. The most famous is Jack Reakoff and his wife. Their refrigerator is in the permafrost crawl space accessed through a hatch in the kitchen floor. They grow their own vegetables, mostly roots for winter storage, and both hunt their own food. He said their diet is about 80% meat. Totally self-sufficient.

Homesteader cabin, Wiseman

Homesteader Cabin, Wiseman

Jack Reakoff explaining the need for self-reliance being twelve hours from anywhere.

Jack Reakoff's living room. Note upper left mountain sheep.

Jack is a strong supporter of a hunt ban as their population is plummeting.

For our last day, our driver's wife took us on a pack-rafting trip, which I'd never done before, but is common here. Basically, you roll an inflatable kayak into a pack, hike to a river, inflate it, and then float the river. Delightfully peaceful for two hours. Robin kept her eye out for moose along the shore having never seen one. During our drive last year through Canada we constantly saw Caution Signs with the moose outline. However, they are elusive and we didn't see any along the river.... or in Canada.