We stashed a bunch of gear at Dan's cabin to lighten up the load for the trip up the Dalton Highway. We did not get out of the tent until 7:30 so we did not get on the road until about 9 am. It was about 100 miles to Fairbanks and another 6 miles to Fox where we filled up with gas. Ron put gas in the 2 gallon can he bought in Montana. It was cool and partly cloudy with temps varying from 60 to about 65 until later in the day.
We took off for Coldfoot, about 250 miles away. The topography reminded me a lot of the Colorado mountains. The road started off gravel but ended up being paved most of the way to Coldfoot. It rained on us on and off in the afternoon and evening. The first rain was in a gravel section so everything is covered in a light coat of mud.
We are staying at what is called the Slate Creek Inn at the Coldfoot camp. It has been various mining and construction camps over the years and was most recently resurrected in 1970 for pipeline construction. It is a series of single wide house trailers strung together with about 40 double rooms 9'X15" but they include a bathroom. The cost is $100 a person. Gas is $4.50 a gallon and an all you can eat buffet is $19.95 and won't win any awards. There must be a dozen other bikers staying here with a bunch of stories. There are mostly BMW's and KLR's. The folks coming from Prudhoe today had a rainy ride up on Monday and there is a lot of construction with graders taking a cut and leaving a loose rocky lane with a berm in the middle. They are all covered with a mix of mud and some chemical that everyone is worried about because the word is that it is corrosive. One couple from Florida are riding two up on a BMW1200GS and are doing quite well. Another guy went down and broke his nose but he was wearing a beanie type helmet. The report is that the weather should clear for the next couple of days.
For those of you wondering about the mosquitoes, they are not bad this year at all. They were the worst in Grand Prairie, Alb.
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