On the way to Prudhoe Bay......i typed this out 2 days ago but couldn't post it!

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Friday the 30th of July.

Hello Wonderful People,

Well today was a long one for us and I now sit in my tent at 10:30 at night typing today’s news onto a word sheet so I can copy & paste tomorrow in Prudhoe Bay ,……actually Deadhorse Alaska ……the Oil companies won’t allow us to get to Prudhoe unless we book 24 hours in advance and pay $45 each to be escorted the last 4 miles! Yup…..even 9/11 affected us here too!
Anyway, we rode through the arctic circle again today and that’s become quite evident in the fact that the sun is still well above the horizon at 10:30pm. In fact I don’t think it’s going to bed tonight. En-route today we took a small detour to a town(?) called Wiseman. Try googling it if you can, it really is beautiful. The further north we rode past the arctic circle, the more stunning the mountains became (Brooks Range) with wide sweeping valleys and mountain streams that gurgled their way around granite rocks. In fact the whole area reminded me of Glencoe in Scotland intermixed with parts of Snowdonia so much so that I really was almost home for a while….maybe too many days on the road has me hallucinating so check out some photos.
Adam and I are now weighing up the options of doing the North Canol Road in the Yukon next. Here’s the problem…..Our knobby tires will be well worn down by the time we get the 2000kms south to Ross River Yukon. We can always stop by Yukon Honda at Whitehorse and spend another $250 each on a rear tire but that’s a lot of money for just one road. We’re still weighing this option out at present and will let you all know our decision in a day or so.
In the meantime we are camping at Galbraith Lake (N68.48807 W149.48738 for those of you with Google Earth) on the Dalton highway Alaska overlooking a stunning valley about 230kms from Deadhorse. The plan is to ride north at 6am tomorrow and then turn south and get around 500kms south before the weather turns ugly. At present the road has been a dream to ride as it’s partially paved with dirt sections. The only problem is that we don’t a repeat of the Dempster if it rains …..MUD!
Our intention is to be off the Dalton by Sunday and heading south past Fairbanks and possibly Dawson or Haines. More news to follow as we come to a decision. Right now we’re very excited about the fact that Prudhoe Bay is only 3 hours away so Saturday will be our most northerly point!
Hope you’re enjoying this blog and some of the photos (I have hundreds) but please remember that Saturday will see the culmination of all that I was to achieve for the Heart & Stroke Foundation so please go out there and grab people off the streets and make them donate. Or even take them to the Kids Hospital in Calgary to see the good work these guys are doing.
Oh yes, I almost forgot…….Jackie, Thanks so much for the “low maintenance” haircut back in Canmore a few weeks ago. It’s been great for travelling (even though I get bad helmet head).

More blog in a day or so ……..Regards,
Nevil

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