Getting there IS the fun

For a long time my minimum requirements for a drive to be a road trip have been "it must be at least six hours and you must cross state lines". After driving 1800 miles without leaving the state, I may rethink that definition. It was definitely a trip. I don't have the words to describe it. Here are a few captions and 35k words worth of pictures...

The Denali Highway. They need a sign "Warning amazing mountain scenery next 140 miles" right about here.

AK Range next 10 pictures.

This is an awesome place for a road

Corrie

It wasn't really this dark, but it was an amazing sunset.

Summit Lake sunset

The Alyeska Pipeline

The pipeline is still an amazing feat of engineering 35 years later.

Chena Hot Springs, AK. 100% of the resorts electricity comes from geothermal power.

We had a moose in the campsite. 

20 miles north of Fairbanks the brake caliper started sticking.

Replacing the second brake caliper in a carwash parking lot across from the Napa.
I was cheering up a bit by this point. 

What everyone makes the Dalton Highway sound like (this is a side trail)

What most of the the highway actually does look like

There was even a lot of pavement, which no one ever mentions.
It's really a nice road for all but about 50 miles.

The bridge over the Yukon

Corrie making supper while we wait for a pilot car at midnight.

Camped out in Brooks Range.

We must be getting close.

Melinda at work in the Deadhorse aiport.

In AK road trips sometimes require an airplane...

The Arctic Ocean

The Deadhorse coffee shop.

The edge of "town"

Heading back into the Brooks range

Someone read too much Calvin and Hobbes... 

Actual Polar Bears

The real reason we went to Barter Island was to see Polar Bears. It's one of the few places where people and polar bears coexist. The bears come to the island to eat the scraps from the local whale bone yard. My sister, Melinda got us stand by flights to the island and a place to stay for the night. The bear photos are all courtesy of Corrie. 

Waiting for bears to show up.

At first glance I thought this was a piece of insulation. I guess it is insulation, whale insulation.

Chris with Susan's hotel shuttle/mail truck/bear expedition vehicle

The first bear was a bit skittish about our group watching him and stayed out on the ice.

When this mother and two cubs showed up they were cautious but not so concerned as to miss an easy supper.  

Meal approved.

Melinda and our host Susan. Thank you both!

Our Hotel in Kaktovik, Barter Island, AK. 

Out of time in the land of the midnight sun...

One would think that 24 hrs of daylight would be plenty of time to get everything done. But, I've spent the last couple of weeks disproving that theory as my time in AK runs short. Posting has fallen to the bottom of my list as I've tried to squeeze every last bit in while I'm here. I'll try to make a couple of short posts before I head into Canada. First, the rest of the Polar Bear swim!

Even mud puddles look nice in the midnight sun.

Pre swim with Melinda and Corrie. 

Into the water!

Walking on the sea ice

Chris, a new friend from the hotel. He took all the group photos of us.

Even the sun looked a little cold. It felt nice though. 

Melinda's back flop.

Cold? Sure. Sleep? Not so much. Happy? Very!

Corrie and I both forgot that 90% of the ice is under water.
It turns out the open water between the visible ice isn't.
Mine was bloodier at the start, but Corrie actually had a worse injury.

Happy Independence Day!