The Dalton Highway and the Alaska Pipeline

The James W. Dalton Highway (Alaska Hwy 11) has a reputation for being unforgiving. The 414 mile road that begins in Livingood, Alaska was built in 1974 to support the Trans Alaskan Pipeline and winds through some of the most isolated portions of Alaska. Trucks hauled good and supplies for the pipeline so it is often called the Haul Road.

The Dalton Hwy was leads to Deadhorse, Alaska, near Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean. The road itself has become sort of a personality since being featured in several recent TV shows. You might recognize some of these shows – Ice Road Truckers, Worlds Most Dangerous Roads, and others have been filmed on the Dalton Hwy.

Some would ask why anyone would want to travel a road that is so unforgiving. For us, well maybe I should say me since Carolyn wasn’t too excited about it. But there were a couple answers. If you’ve been reading the blog post, you’ve probably noticed all the wildlife photos. I really like to watch critters and to photograph them and this is one of the only places to see wild Musk Ox and herds of Caribou. I guess the other reason simply the adventure of traveling a road that most people pass by.

We drove northwest from Fairbanks on the Elliot Hwy from Fairbanks with no real objective except to see parts of the Trans Alaskan Pipeline and to see what the Dalton Hwy was really like. If it was as bad, we would turn around. If it was bearable, we would keep going. How far, we didn’t know but it’s all part of the adventure…

Our first stop was at a Trans Alaskan Pipeline educational area. The area was an actual section of pipeline with several informational placards and a cutaway section of the pipe with a cleaning “pig”. A few pipeline facts”

• The Trans Alaska Pipeline System starts in Prudhoe Bay and stretches through rugged and beautiful terrain to Valdez, the northernmost ice-free point in America.
• Length: 800 miles. Some 420 miles of the 800-mile-long pipeline is elevated on 78,000 vertical support members due to permafrost. pipeline and terminal operations 24/7. 380 miles of TAPS is buried
• The Trans Alaska Pipeline System is protected by three separate leak detection systems that are monitored at the Operations Control Center in Anchorage.
• Cleaning pigs sweep the pipe of built up wax, water or other solids that precipitate out of the oil stream. They also prevent the built-up of corrosive environment and makes the oil easier to pump.
• Controllers can stop pipeline flow within four minutes.
• Maximum daily throughput was 2,145,297 on January 14, 1988.
• Oil pumped from the Prudhoe Bay field, which is 10,000-to-20,000 feet deep, is about 145 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Using heat exchangers that work like a car’s radiator, the oil companies cool the oil to about 120 degrees before it enters the pipeline.
• Air temperature along route: minus 80 F to 95 F.
• Almost 17 billion barrels have moved through TAPS.
  
  

  

  420 miles of the pipeline is above ground - 320 miles is buried.

  

  PIG that is sent through the pipeline to clean wax buildup.

The pipeline is never far from the Dalton Hwy.

Zig zags are added to compensate for expansions and contractions.

We drove north again and soon arrived at the official start of the James W. Dalton Highway. We stopped for pictures and soon were joined by three guys on motorcycles. They were from California and this was a trip they had talked about for a few years. They were dusty from driving the dirt roads so didn’t have to tell me they had reached Deadhorse and were south bound. For them, this stop was to take photos of their victory.

We moved north, and joked the Dalton Hwy was not too different than French Line Road, the dirt/gravel road with potholes and washboard I grew up on. We bounced along and swerved to miss as many of the bumps as we could. As I said to Carolyn, we straddled some, swerved around some and hit some. We didn’t meet too trucks but when we did, we would pull to the side of the road to let them by. Many drivers would smile and wave as they passed.

We reached the Yukon River a little after 5PM. The BLM information center was closed but the Yukon River Camp was across the road – they had a fuel pump so we topped off with $5.49 regular gas and continued toward the remaining 60 miles to the Arctic Circle.

We arrived at the Arctic Circle a little after 7PM and drove through the BLM campground. Camping is free and there is a vault toilet for those who don’t have there own facilities. Needless to say, this isn’t a highly maintained campground but we found an acceptable spot and leveled our Roadtrek with a few leveling blocks.

Our little screen worked perfectly to keep the mosquitos and gnats at bay.

After dinner, we took a walk around the campground. We met a young couple who had quit their jobs and were traveling. I’m bewildered how anyone could quite a perfectly good job and can only imagine that it’s a generational thing. They were tent camping but would fold the seat down and spend this night in the their SUV so they could run their A/C. It was HOT! Can you believe 86 F at 10 PM?

We also talked to Marcelle, a French Canadian motorcyclist who was southbound. We were still considering our next move (should we continue north or not) so we asked about road conditions and anything else we might expect. Marcelle, told us about improved roads and the 30 mile-long road reconstruction just south of Deadhorse. He also said he left Deadhorse a day early because of forecast rain. The mosquitoes were out but the GNATS...the gnats were even worse so we set up our little screen tent. Over the next few days, those gnat bites turned itchy and drove us nots. If do-overs were possible, we would have worn long sleeve shirts and jeans..

So which way should we go? I wanted to go north of the Brooks Range to see the scenery and possibly the caribou and Mush Ox herds but the thought of driving on many miles of wet, muddy roads wasn’t appealing. We decided to call camping at the Arctic Circle our victory and go south. The only wildlife we would see was and Arctic Hare.

This Arctic hare was the only wildlife we would see.

Almost immediately, we were stopped by road construction. The flagger was covered from head to toe with mosquito/gnat protection. It was hot so it must have been a bit miserable but at least he would be protected from the little buggers.

In just a few minutes, the pilot car would arrive and chauffeur us through 12 miles of construction.

We arrived at the Yukon River about noon and stopped at the BLM Information Center. The attendant said the road north of the Arctic Circle was generally kept in better repair since that’s where most of the trucks work. We also received and official certificate stating we had crossed the Arctic Circle. YEA!!!

Southbound we go. We were stopped a couple times by flaggers who were truck escorts. They were pulling buildings that would be set up in Prudhoe Bay. One of the escort drivers told us each was 21 wide by 80 feet long. The trucks were huffing and puffing under the huge load but there was a pusher truck closely following when a little help was needed to make it up the hills.

About 20 miles north of Fairbanks, we stopped beside a river to stretch our legs. I was going to pan for gold but was side-tracked when I spotted a wild raspberry patch. We picked enough to add to the next morning’s cereal.

We arrived back in Fairbanks about 6PM and stopped by Anytime Fitness to take a shower. Whew, that felt good!

The Roadtrek could use a bath too.

We spent one last night in the Walmart parking lot and decided to make one last stop before leaving Fairbanks. The Univ of Alaska Fairbanks Large Animal Research Center has a small herd of musk oxen and reindeer.  We didn't go far enough on the Dalton Hwy to see them, so we drove to the research center to take the tour and learn about these animals that survived the Arctic conditions for many thousands of years. 

The goal of the station is to establish and study a small herd of musk oxen, reindeer and cattle. I suppose this isn't much different than any other Land Grant University around the country that studies cattle, sheep, poultry and other agricultural animals.

The tour went on even though it was raining.

Musk ox are not large animals - more like short and stout. The male adults are about four feet tall at the shoulders and weigh 800 to 900 pounds. Their long shaggy hair allows them to survive in the frigid arctic climate. The outer hairs, called guard hairs, cover a second, shorter undercoat that provides additional insulation in winter. This fine undercoat of the musk ox is called qiviut (kiv-ee-ute) in the Eskimo language, which is translated as “down” or “underwool”. Each musk ox produces 4 to 7 pounds of qiviut each year. A pound of raw qiviut, is so fine that it can fill a 30-gallon garbage bag, sells for $150 to $200 research station personelharvests the quaint sends it to a company who cleans and processes it into yarn. 

Unlike the musk oxen, the reindeer heard seemed to like staying out of the rain and stayed under the shelter of a clump of trees. So what's the difference between reindeer and caribou? Not much. Maybe the biggest difference is Reindeer are domesticated, caribou are wild.

It was a good tour and worth the $10 fee.