Thursday, August 25, 2016

We only slept for 2.5 hours last night. Oh, the joys of working night shift. At least the lack of sleep last night will make it easier for us to sleep the whole night tonight, effectively switching us to a day schedule. We eventually got out of bed around 7:00AM to finish up our chores and packing. We were on the road by 9:20AM. It was a super wet, drizzly day - one where the clouds are socked to the ground, a rainy fog so to say. Hopefully, the decent weather forecast for the Brooks range holds because I wouldn't want to be tramping around tussock and tundra in this kind of weather! The roads weren't too bad, though, and before long we were in Wasilla stopping at Sportsman's Warehouse to make sure we had everything we needed.

Barley helping us pack

Mat drove first. I tried to nap but the chai latte I just finished to warm up prevented me from falling asleep. I eventually gave up and decided to eat one of the sandwiches Mat prepared instead. We were almost in Cantwell when Mat became too tired to drive so we switched and I drove us the rest of the way to Fairbanks, stopping only in Healy for gas. We got to Kristy's place around 4:30PM, we said goodbye to Hayduke and hit the road quite quickly. Kristy was kind enough to offer to drive, which was great because we were both hitting our walls by this time. We got out of town and stopped at Hilltop Cafe, a truck stop just out of Fairbanks, the last spot of cell reception on the haul road, known for their burgers and pie. It was delicious!

Campsite for the night

It wasn't long after hitting the road again around 7:00PM before Mat and I were nodding off. The rain had let up considerably after passing north of the Alaska range but now even the clouds let up and pockets of blue were everywhere. This is our second time on the haul road, the last time being about a year ago. We had our requisite spare tire and extra gas cans. The colors were turning already: yellow-green willows amongst the dark green pine with faded orange and rust tundra. Not brilliant colors yet but well on their way. Combined with the low lighting and scattered dark purple clouds, it was quite the beautiful scenery to behold.

Mat tries his luck in the swift creek we camp next to

We passed by the familiar landmarks of the Dalton Highway sign and Finger Rock. By 10:15 PM we crossed Fish creek just south of the Arctic Circle. Even though the Arctic circle sign featured a lovely campground, Mat was more interested in dropping a fly line in the waters so we drove down the little side road to check it out. We found a spacious site with a fire ring, all to ourselves. We parked, pitched our tents, Mat grabbed his Grayling set up and Kristy and I grabbed camp chairs and the leftover pie. We all headed down to the creek and kicked back until it got too dark to see. The tannin-stained creek was running high and fast so Mat didn't have any luck. We crawled into bed around 11:30PM with just a few stars making an appearance in the dusk. Mat and I pulled out our feather pillows we brought in the car for naps and Mat grabbed the Little Buddy portable propane heater and set it up inside the vestibule. I felt like I was glamping with all the warm and cozy amenities!

"Glamping" with our Little Buddy and feather pillows

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