Up early for our assault on the great north. We headed up (north) the glacial valley. Windy and rainy. Tops of the mountains were not visible but it still was wonderful to look upon. Then, as we climbed the Brooks Range, rain turned to snow. Dirt road, very steep grades.
Did I mention that our RV has special tires ? They are really just small semi tires. Good highway tread but, for sure, not for snow and ice. Closer to slicks.
As the snow piled up, the road became more snow packed than dirt. Huge, and spectacular, scenery. The last climbs to Atigun Pass are really steep grades that really took all my driving skills. This road was not made for RV's. Across the top of the pass and then down. Even steeper grades ! Down off the pass, everything was a whiteout. Blizzard conditions. If they did not have sticks on the side of the road for snow plow operators, I would not have been able to tell where the road was supposed to be.
It is now another 100 miles to the end of the road at Deadhorse AK. Can't see any tundra, can't see anything. Stuart puts aside the desire to drive to the end of the world. So we (very carefully) turned around and headed up the pass from the great white north and headed south. I cannot remember being is a situation before where I was so careful and concerned while driving. Yes, even I was worried.
But we made it up and down over the pass without incident. When we finally reached the glacier valley, I was relieved and Shar uncovered her head. Then the LONG drive south. We went all the way to Fairbanks. You need to remember that, this far north, it never gets dark this time of day. Where we were, the sun never sets. But, because of the winter storm, we could not actually see the sun. So we grabbed a spot in Fairbanks at the Chena River Campground right in town. Actually a very nice campground.
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