September 3, Fairbanks to Coldfoot, Alaska -250 Miles

We rode the first 75 miles from Fairbanks on the "Elliott Highway".  This was a beautiful ride, with a good start in changing Fall Colors.  Among the dark green Spruces, there were Aspens, Birch, and Poplar, with bushes of Tamarack and Red Willow starting to turn also.

The Elliott Highway itself was a joy to ride, having a newly put down paved surface.  And best of all, this was a very curvy road, with long fast sweeper curves.  Kay enjoyed this road also, being easy to drive the motor home and trailer, along with the outstanding scenery.

At a junction, we changed to the "Dalton Highway" which leads to Prudhoe Bay, 414 Miles.  This starts out a dirt and gravel highway, and it wasn't too hard to ride.

This road also had outstanding Fall Color, with mountain after mountain providing spectacular views.

Deane and Norm found the gravel road quite easy to ride, since their training on the Dempster Highway.  What could be worse than that?  Deane was riding the V-Strom like a big dirt bike, and Norm surprised himself by power sliding a couple of turns.

The gravel road lasted about 90 miles, but was dry most of the way and not too dusty, so not too bad.  Then we got back on paved road that was reasonably good, with some repair breaks of loose gravel.  We thought - How bad can it be to ride to Prudhoe Bay?

Along the way we rode through an area where forest fires had burned, and were still burning.  Right beside the road, as well as far away, there were still smoldering places.  This stretch continued for about 25 miles, and dampened out enthusiasm for awhile.  Several hundred thousand acres must have been involved in this one.  However, we soon were back into beautiful riding and driving, although quite smoky from the forest fires.

We soon came to the mighty Yukon River, and it is a sight to see,  wide, deep, and carrying a lot of water.  This river surely compares with some of the great rivers on the North American Continent.

Also, we have been riding right along the Alaska Pipeline, maybe 50 to 200 yards away from the highway.  It is very impressive, and here crosses the Yukon under the specially designed bridge.

The last part of the highway to our destination, Coldfoot, Alaska, was all paved, so not bad.  (Coldfoot was named for the gold rush stampeders in 1900 who got "cold feet" when they saw winter coming, and turned back from here to go home.)

All in all, a very nice riding day.

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