Travel Log to Alaska in 1993 (Coldfoot, Part 1)

In this section we reached our destination in Coldfoot, Alaska
Link to the Coldfoot Website
Dalton Highway (The "Haul Road")
The Arctic Circle

05/28-30/93

I am getting a little behind on writing our travel log. We did in fact leave Fairbanks for Coldfoot on the 28th. Our departure from Fairbanks was at 0730 and we arrived in Coldfoot at about 1700. We were pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the Elliott and Dalton Highways. Apparently the condition of the Dalton can change from day to day depending on the weather and the number of large “haul trucks” using the highway. The surface of these highways consists of packed dirt and gravel. Since the highway base is on a layer of permafrost it is somewhat unstable and can cause the surface to have ripples or heaves. We saw a lot of new things on the trip including miles and miles of the Alaska pipe, some wildlife (not the nightclub type), endless tundra areas and boreal forests, mountains, etc. With daytime temperatures in 60s to 70s the snow is melting fast on the mountains including the Brooks range. We stopped many times on the trip to look at new sights and take photos. Of course one of our stops was at the Arctic Circle where we got a photo of Marian standing above the circle and me below the circle.
Coldfoot is about what we expected. It is the last place on the Dalton highway where one can get any services. There is a sign as you pass the Coldfoot turn off on the Dalton that says “last services”, not “last services for x number of miles” but just “last services”. There is a sign in the Coldfoot cafe that says “the last truck stop above the Arctic Circle”. As you probably know the Dalton highway is the only highway that goes above the Arctic Circle on our continent. Well more about Coldfoot. When we arrived our first order of business was to ready our trailer so we would have a place to stay. Well that wasn’t as easy done as said. There were some things broken inside the trailer resulting from it’s round trip journey to Fairbanks which I told you about earlier. Next we didn’t have the right ball hitch on the Govt. truck to move the trailer to its slot so we had to get it done by Coldfoot Services which works on Coldfoot time (whenever time). It was moved to the slot we selected later in the evening. I will admit that it is hard to get a perspective on time here since it is light all of the time and the amount of light change is very small from hour to hour. Next we had to “jerry rig” the battery on the trailer since we didn’t have the right battery connectors. Then . . . when we connected the water is began spraying all over the outside back of the trailer. Then . . . when we connected the AC there wasn’t any. After filling the propane tanks and connecting the gas lines - you probably was thinking that the trailer exploded. No, the gas worked just fine. Well to make a very long story a few sentences. At about two in the morning we were able to disconnect the water heater and remove it. Apparently water was left in the hot water tank last year and with the -30F temperature and 10 foot snow in Coldfoot the tank ruptured. To remove the hot water heater we had to disconnect the water supply and turn off the gas. Our trailer is now without water or gas to cook with until we can get a new heater. Since we are here in no-mans land you can’t run down the local RV place and get a new one so a heater will have to be purchased in Anchorage, shipped to Fairbanks and some way get sent to Coldfoot. Guess who gets to install it. If I had one more inch on my belly I couldn’t squeeze into a small opening where the gas and water lines attach to the heater. I’ll have to watch my diet so that won’t be an obstacle to it’s installation when we finally get the heater. Oh yes about the electricity. Today, 30 May, we were able to get that fixed. At least we can cook on our camping stove, carry water in, and have lights & refrigeration. Last night we took our meats over to the cafe and they were kind enough to put them in their refrigerator until our electricity was fixed. They apparently put in a new electrical hookup system here but hadn’t checked it out completely. There is only one other trailer here besides us right now. Our trailer is a very nice one and is only three years old. We are the third occupants. Even with all of the events that have taken place we are pleased with it and in fact it is very comfortable with the “work arounds” we have in place. One thing that I didn’t mention. Even though we didn’t get to bed until after two AM this morning we were never in darkness. At 0200 here it was about the same light as seven PM light in Washington. It is really hard getting use to not having darkness. It is a little hard to sleep since our bodies are normally triggered by darkness to tell us that we should start thinking about going to bed.
Today (29th) we spent a number of hours at the visitors center getting it prepared to open on the 1st. A lot was accomplished but there are many more things remaining on the “to-do” list. The center was buried in snow this winter so various things required repair (still do). Marian planted flowers all around the center so it will look attractive to our guests. Sandy, the BLM seasonal employee, is very easy to work with. After our work at the center today Sandy took us on a walking tour of “Metropolitan Coldfoot” and showed us where things were located. We also walked to Old Coldfoot, down to the river, the airstrip (dirt), & etc. We met a high percentage of the people in Coldfoot including the seasonal employees with Coldfoot Services which provides everything that is available to be provided in Coldfoot.
We have had some coffee & cookies and it is 0120 on the 30th now. I had better close this log and continue with the events of 30th a little later in the day. One morning soon we will get some photos late at night (early in the morning) so we can remanence about the “land of the midnight sun” when we return to the lower 48 or “down south” as the locals say.

05/30/93 (continued)

There is a water leak in the fresh water holding tank so we have been soaking up water with towels for most of the morning. When we are able to connect up to the main water source this problem should go away. Marian has been doing laundry in a pot on the Coleman stove and hanging the cloths on a makeshift line stretched between the trailer and the truck. We will not be working at the Center today so this gives us a chance to get settled into our new home. It is a simply beautiful day with bright sun, clear sky's, and a cool breeze (no mosquitoes right now).
Thank goodness we brought a tape recorder and some pre-recorded tapes since we cannot pickup any AM or FM stations at all. This even covers night time reception when you would think that some skip station could be heard. We should have the tapes memorized by the time we leave here. I now wish that we had brought a short wave radio so could listen to the Voice of America and maybe Radio Moscow.
Sandy dropped by and after talking for a while we all ate dinner together. Since we don’t have gas in the trailer yet we fixed the dinner on our Coleman stoves. We are all stuffed. Sandy brought over several bags of cookies, cakes and other sweets & fruit that the Pipeline people had given her. I keep talking about the difficulty in getting use to daylight all of the time. Tonight we were cooking out at 10 PM and ate at about 11 PM.
Tomorrow morning we will go over to the Center and continue our preparations for opening. We should have it in pretty good shape after our work tomorrow. Sandy has to complete putting together the slide show. Since we are newcomers to the Arctic we will have to listen to Sandy giving the presentation a few times before we give it.

05/31/93 - 06/01/93

It is a little after twelve midnight and we just ate and took our showers. Since we don’t have water in the trailer yet we have to go over to the Coldfoot Services shower. This morning we worked at the Center putting on the final touches for the formal opening. After our work at the Center we used a BLM truck and made our way up the Dalton for about 100 miles. This was a very interesting trip. A little ways down the road we stopped off in the town of Wiseman (about 25 people) and talked with some of the town folk. We got to the end of the road leading into Wiseman and encountered a swift flowing creek. It didn’t look like a creek we would want to cross in a vehicle. There was a small wooden bridge so we walked into town. There is absolutely no new construction in town, in fact most of the houses date back to the early 1900’s. Bill & Katie Mackey live is a modest old house and works as a dog mushier. He works with Sourdough Outfitters and takes tourists for multi-day dog sled adventures in Gates of the Arctic National Park during the winter months. His father was the man who started the original Coldfoot Services. He started with a converted school bus and served drinks and sandwiches to Dalton Highway truck drivers as they made their way to and from Prudhoe Bay. Another young man, Jack Reakoff, showed us the original home of Big Jim who was a prospector at the turn of the century who had a gold claim in Wiseman. Jack earns his living hunting and trapping. Children in Wiseman and other out of the way places here in Alaska are home taught. There are no formal schools in the small towns so the state provides an educational program that the parents administer. A state education person comes out to the homes periodically to ensure that the children are progressing. I could spend a number of paragraphs on this subject. After Wiseman we passed the Sukakpak Mountains. In this area there were many pingos and ice ledges visible. Pingos, heaves & polygons are similar and formed by the permafrost causing the soil to buckle and form small to very large mounds. In washed out places you can see the frozen layer underneath the thin crust of tundra. This formation is called an ice ledge. Since we were in a government vehicle we proceeded past Disaster Creek which is the end of the line for public travel on the Dalton. The scenery past Disaster Creek is primarily Arctic tundra and completely treeless. At this point you are
in the Brooks Mountain Range next to Gates of the Arctic National Park. The Brooks Range form the northern most extension of the Rocky Mountains. Since we are now well up into the Arctic the snow is still pretty heavy on the mountains. Within another month most of this snow will melt except on the highest peaks. The Arctic tundra will be transformed into a new world from its winter shield of snow. We traversed the Atigun Pass and while stopped to photograph some Dall sheep high on the slopes noticed that one of our tires was going flat. After putting on a spare tire we decided not to tempt fate and headed back for Coldfoot. To put it mildly, you are near the end of civilization on this section of the Dalton (that’s why it is not open to the public). The road is very dusty, rough, sharp rocks, & etc. BUT it is a totally new experience to see such a place like this. We will repeat this trip in a few weeks but will keep going deeper into the Arctic or until something happens to stop us.
Today (it’s 0100 now on 1 June) we will formally open the Center for tourists. More folks seem to be coming up north now than in the past so we are expecting a heavy tourist season. Marian & I have to learn the Arctic as fast as possible so we can answer questions posed by the tourists. At this point we feel more like tourists than the ones providing the interpretive presentations & answering questions.
Like I just said, it’s after 1 AM so we are going to hit the hay even though it is daylight.

06/01/93 (Continued)

Marian and I went over to the center before noon today and got started on some computer work, cleaning, & etc. Sandy instructed us on the operation of ANHA including report forms, cash accounting, & cash register operation. She also went through a dry run of the slide presentation. There were several drop-in’s today and three BLM men stopped by to go over some of the requested maintenance items. We kept the Center open for guests until 2230.
Even though the few sentences above sounds like a pretty light day, it wasn’t. I won’t go into details on the etc. but we did keep very busy all day.
We now have a next door neighbor here in the trailer park. I suppose as the summer progresses more trailers will move in. The folks next door are from Florida.
Still no sign of our hot water heater. As I have said previously we will be without running water and a stove until it arrives. We were told that it “should be here anytime”. I am not sure what “anytime” means but I hope that it means tomorrow.
Tomorrow is mail day so we will rush down to the Coldfoot post office and see what awaits us as soon as it opens. We will wash the truck tomorrow morning since it is dusty and muddy here the truck is brown instead of red.
We will go over to the Center at about noon to one and be there until ten or eleven in the evening. A tour bus is scheduled for tomorrow night and we will likely have drop-in’s during the day. Of course there are still a number of things that need to be done in addition to taking care of our guests.

06/02/93

It is six PM and we are on a break before the tourists arrive at eight thirty. Marian & I went for a short walk in the woods. We must learn about the plant and animal life so we are better prepared to talk about it at the Center. We slept until almost nine this morning so maybe we are getting into a routine. Marian & I are getting more use to daylight at night. We rarely get to bed before midnight or after. I spend most of the day working on computer database setups and making labels & signs. Marian worked with Sandy on setting up interpretive displays and many other tasks that needed to be done around the Center. I think that we are in pretty good shape for the tourists now. Tonight we will have 20 or 30 folks off the Arctic tourbus who will come over for the interpretive slide show presentation & conversation.
Still no hot water heater so we are still cooking over the Coleman and washing in buckets of water. Earlier in the week I think that I explained the connection between the water heater and our lack of trailer water/gas. Tonight we will have fried potatoes and bacon and probably some cookies. One of the men who works on Pump Station 5 brought a big sack of sweets to the Center a couple days ago and we are still eating on them.

06/03/93

Well it’s midnight and we just returned from taking a shower and enjoying a big piece of pie at the cafe. We have had a full day. Our first chore this morning was to wash the truck and get a few layers of dust and mud off it. I worked some more on setting up computer databases which we will use at the center to keep up with the tourists statistics & etc. This afternoon we were at the Center until about 6 PM. Marian worked with Sandy in setting up some more interpretive displays. We came back to the trailer and had dinner then returned to the Center. There were two tour busses in this evening and about 45 tourists at the Center. Officially we are off today but what do you do on your days off in Coldfoot? Not much. Probably this coming Saturday we will borrow the BLM truck and head into the wilderness.
We are almost getting use the midnight sun. I have a little cave that I sleep in at night. To better explain. I can open the bathroom door against the bed and hang some cloths down from the top bunk and snake into the bottom bunk. I fool myself into thinking that it is nighttime that way.
By the way we are still more or less camping out in the trailer still with no inside water or propane. I don’t know what happened to the hot water heater which was suppose to be here by now. Probably the truck driver forgot to take it off and someone in Prudhoe Bay is wondering why they have the thing. The electricity here is generated on-site and they don’t have the frequency quite right. Our electric clock runs about a half hour slow per day. Time is no great consequence here anyway.
Tomorrow we will go into the Center early afternoon even though we are officially off until this coming Monday.

06/04/93

This was a sleep-in morning. We went to bed after midnight and didn’t get up until ten this morning. It sounds like a broken record but I spent most of what was left of the morning working on the Computer. There is a MAC-SE here and I have my Powerbook. The fonts in these machines are not quite compatible so I am having to re-do all of the databases and programs that I want to work on both machines. I think that I have found how to do it without changing the System configuration on the machines. We went over to the Center for awhile today and will go back over this evening. As I said earlier we are off-duty until Monday but there are still things to do and we really don’t have any pressing appointments. Tomorrow I think we will take the BLM truck and do some exploring.
At last nights presentation it got pretty warm in the room. A lot of the people were saying “we are in the Arctic, where is the cold weather”. We are in fact having pretty warm weather which surprised us too. It was 85 in Fairbanks yesterday. Most of the snow has now melted off the mountains which we have a view of here in Coldfoot.
Marian did another “Pot” washing today and the cloths are hanging out. It is handy to have the sun shining for so many hours. We placed a call to Fairbanks today to see if they could put a trace on the elusive water heater.

06/05/93

Today we went up the Dalton. We had a great time and were fortunate enough to see some wildlife. First we saw two Black Bears cross the Dalton just in front of us, then a little bit further down there was a Grizzly lumbering down the highway. When he saw us he reared up on his hind legs and looked around. He then headed for the bushes. Next while we were stopped to photograph some flowers a Red Fox came walking by. We next saw a Long tailed Jaeger diving over the tundra. Then as we passed over Atigun Pass there were Dall Sheep high upon the peaks. We saw a lot of other birds but couldn’t identify them other than several types of Gulls. I took photos of all . . . Then. . . when I was rolling the film it snapped out of the cassette and I lost all of the shots. Boy was I mad...We probably won’t get that close (anyway I hope we don’t) to black and grizzly bears again. To say the least this was an exciting day for us. We traveled to within 60 miles of Prudhoe Bay on the Dalton. The trip was rough and dusty but worth it.