A journey beyond the Arctic Circle (Alaska)

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My trip to Alaska was one of the best trips ever. It is one of the very few places in the world where you can find true wilderness and still accessible by road. This place comprises vast breathtaking mountains and tundra planes, diverse wildlife, dense forests, valleys, rivers, frozen lakes, glaciers and many more. There is something for everybody. Thanks to all those people who shared a lots of information about this place on internet which changed our point of view from a life threatening place to an adventurous and beautiful place.

It was a budget trip in last week of May, 2014. We were group of five and the trip was focused on Dalton highway. We started from Fairbanks in evening for Coldfoot. Before we started we took bear canister from Fairbanks visitor center. They loan it so you don't need to pay anywhere else. We also took a 5 gallon fuel tank. Though we didn't have to use it as we didn't go beyond the Galbraith lake on Dalton highway. If you plan to go all the way up to north, it is highly recommended to have at least 10 gallon extra.

From Fairbanks to Coldfoot, it is seven hour journey but it took ten hours for us because of road conditions and beautiful landscapes on the way. Who can hurry when driving such an adventurous highway. Driving on Dalton highway itself is fun. Even after spending full day in tight fit Jeep we were not tired. You may encounter wild animals. One black bear came on our way and we had to stop for half an hour to have detailed look of it as we never saw it so close. We reached Coldfoot at 2 AM and it was so cold and raining. Coldfoot has a gas station, restaurant and a visitor center. we faced some difficulty to find a camping place but it was not dark so found a dry place behind some bushes. This is one of the best thing about Dalton highway. You can camp anywhere you want. Be careful not to camp too close to highway. Flying rocks is a common problem because of heavy truck traffic.

In morning we stop by restaurant to have some breakfast and It was too muddy that we didn’t want to get down but we had no choice. After breakfast when returned to the car, we brought lots of mud in the car with our shoes. You might want to think of a solution about this problem when you travelling in this part of Alaska. Even the Dalton highway itself is a dirt and muddy road.

More we traveled north, more daylight we were getting. This 24 hour light I liked most about Alaska. You hike, sleep, eat whenever you want as the day was limitless. The only limitation which we faced was wind. The wind was blowing off our tents and our feet. We had to submit and wait in the car for the wind to slow down sometimes.

After two hour drive from Coldfoot, we reached to Atigun pass. This was the most beautiful part of our journey. Breathtaking snow covered brooks range which was about to finish after the pass was like challenging many other beautiful places of Alaska . Even in last week of May it was fully covered by snow. If you plan to drive to Arctic circle, you should extend your plan a little to not to miss this part of Alaska.

After crossing the mighty Atigun pass, we reached to Atigun river. Though we planned to camp at Gailbraith lake which is 3 miles after crossing the river but the way to campsite was completely blocked by snow so we head back and found a place near to the river. After setting up our tents we started trekking along with the river. It was a difficult start walking on marshy tundra tussocks. High ankle waterproof are strongly recommended when you walk on tundra. It might look plain and grassy when you see on map or Google earth but it is not. If you plan for a backcountry camping, you might face difficulty in finding good place suitable for sleep on tundra. Look for a plain mountain top or a safe bank of a river to setup your tents.

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