Having come this far north, we decided we could not leave the area without crossing the line into the Arctic Circle, which is 200 miles North of Fairbanks. Since that would be a bit long for a one-day round-trip drive, we decided we would find the town nearest the Arctic Circle and stay overnight. That town turned out to be Coldfoot (population 13), which is 60 miles further north. Another 238 miles further north is Deadhorse, Alaska, where the Dalton Highway ends at the Arctic Ocean, but we didn’t want to go quite that far!
We didn’t leave in much of hurry to get there, figuring 260 miles would be about 5 hours, and there wouldn’t be much to do once we got to Coldfoot anyway, as it is basically a way station for travelers going further north. What we didn’t count on was the condition of the roads. The Dalton Highway which takes you to Coldfoot and beyond is mostly unpaved. That can mean anything from hardpan dirt road, to muddy road (if it’s been raining), to gravel road with lots of ruts. Even the paved portions were nothing to brag about, so let’s just say, it was slow going. Adding to that, we made several stops along the way, so even though we left at 10:00, we didn’t arrive until after 5:00.
Our first stop was the Alyeska Pipe Line visitor center where we learned how the pipeline came about, how it was constructed, and how long it is (800 miles). We saw the pipeline alongside the highway for most of our journey to Coldfoot. The lodge where we stayed in Coldfoot was actually converted housing for pipe line workers back in the 1970’s. It is still sort of set up bunk style with single beds in the rooms, and many without private bathrooms or showers. We were fortunate enough to get a room with both, although the day we went wasn’t that busy. There is only one place to eat in Coldfoot, which is part of the lodge. It is buffet style until 9:00 to accommodate all the tour buses that come through, so we ate buffet, and it was actually pretty good! After dinner we toured the visitor center, and that was about it for our stay. But, hey, when in our lives again will we be able to set foot inside the Arctic Circle? It’s too bad we won’t be there on June 21 when the sun is up for 24 hours, without any dusk. (In Fairbanks there will be just over 2 hours of dusk on that day, and we will be celebrating at The Midnight Sun festival downtown – including a 10K for me that starts at 10:00 p.m.!)
We didn’t leave in much of hurry to get there, figuring 260 miles would be about 5 hours, and there wouldn’t be much to do once we got to Coldfoot anyway, as it is basically a way station for travelers going further north. What we didn’t count on was the condition of the roads. The Dalton Highway which takes you to Coldfoot and beyond is mostly unpaved. That can mean anything from hardpan dirt road, to muddy road (if it’s been raining), to gravel road with lots of ruts. Even the paved portions were nothing to brag about, so let’s just say, it was slow going. Adding to that, we made several stops along the way, so even though we left at 10:00, we didn’t arrive until after 5:00.
Our first stop was the Alyeska Pipe Line visitor center where we learned how the pipeline came about, how it was constructed, and how long it is (800 miles). We saw the pipeline alongside the highway for most of our journey to Coldfoot. The lodge where we stayed in Coldfoot was actually converted housing for pipe line workers back in the 1970’s. It is still sort of set up bunk style with single beds in the rooms, and many without private bathrooms or showers. We were fortunate enough to get a room with both, although the day we went wasn’t that busy. There is only one place to eat in Coldfoot, which is part of the lodge. It is buffet style until 9:00 to accommodate all the tour buses that come through, so we ate buffet, and it was actually pretty good! After dinner we toured the visitor center, and that was about it for our stay. But, hey, when in our lives again will we be able to set foot inside the Arctic Circle? It’s too bad we won’t be there on June 21 when the sun is up for 24 hours, without any dusk. (In Fairbanks there will be just over 2 hours of dusk on that day, and we will be celebrating at The Midnight Sun festival downtown – including a 10K for me that starts at 10:00 p.m.!)
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