Monday August 9

Into The Arctic

The Arctic Circle was a 4 hour drive each way from Fairbanks. The road follows more or less along the pipeline and was primarily dirt….. and after some showers, mud.

Took off around 9am and found I was exhausted after 3 days of all out, all day, activity and actually had to nap a couple of times along the way. On one occasion, parked basically in the middle of nowhere, the key would not turn and restart the truck. After several attempts the engine would just not start. This had happened to me before at home so I wasn’t panicky yet. The problem had to do with the ignition not reading some type of anti theft chip in the key. After about 20 minutes of restless sitting around it finally started…….whew. Something quirky there. “Yeah, hello Triple A???”

At one point I pulled the truck over at this scenic viewpoint and looked out. The weirdest thing was how quiet it was. I gave the call of the wild and it echoed for a while off the surrounding mountains.

The mud was so caked all over the camper and truck it was unreal. The side of the truck looked like the side of a chum salmon.

Anyway, I made it and have the pics to prove it. I drove out of the driveway in Sterling, MA and drove to the Arctic Circle in Alaska. That’s wacky.

Animals I saw included the Hoary Marmot and a Blue Grouse. also cool crossing over the mighty Yukon River.