A mother grizzly and her two cubs dashed across the road and up the first big tree as our bus lumbered toward them. Screaming at the driver to stop, photographers on our tour bus for once fell silent as we backed slowly to the spot to record the scene. Rules of the Dalton Highway forbade us to get out, but we didn't want to in any case, lest we frighten the family away. That was undoubtably the highlight of a two-day journey from the Arctic Ocean to Fairbanks.
There is the beautiful Alaska of rugged mountains, magnificent glaciers, running rivers and elegant forests. But there is also the Alaska of windswept tundra, a polar desert, barren horizons, bitter cold and ice floes on the beach in June. You can have both if you sign up for a couple of tours with Gray Line of Alaska, the primary provider of escorted trips in the 49th state. I was invited on two back to back excursions for travel in June, specifically to experience the summer solstice above the Arctic Circle. There are 24 hours of daylight around June 21, and more than 20 hours of daylight per day in May, 21 per day in July, making the area another "Land of the Midnight Sun."
There are only two ways to reach that part of Alaska above the Artic circle -- by road or by plane. I'd recommend going to Deadhorse (next door to the Prudhoe Bay oil drilling plants) using the road one way, and a plane the other. For dramatic effect, flying in from Anchorage might be best, especially if it's clear and you can see Mt. McKinley just to your left as you zoom by at its peak level of 20,320 feet.
Deadhorse & Prudhoe Bay
Deadhorse (population 20) is the village serving the Prudhoe Bay area mining community, having a post office, general store, a couple of hotels and a lot of wide, graveled roads for the trucks that speed through, kicking up stones and dust as they go. The hotels, open only in summer, are renovated lodgings for the crews that built the oil field stations and the Trans Alaska Pipeline. The d?r is early recycling plant.
I stayed at the Arctic Caribou Inn (877/659-2368; www.arcticcaribouinn.com; $125 for a double room), which was used for supervisors during the oilfield development phase and was therefore a cut above the other place. At least, that's what I was told, although I found the nearby Prudhoe Bay Hotel (907/659-2449; www.prudhoebayhotel.com) had a better-looking lobby and restaurant that had a bigger menu.
At the inn, each room has its own toilet, sink and shower, as well as an individual electric heater so that you can control the climate in your room. You have a TV that receives a few channels by satellite, but no phone. Meals at the hotel were cafeteria-style and filling, somewhat better than most institutional food (schools cafeterias, for instance). Prices are fairly high in this remote part of the world, breakfast and dinner being $9.50 and $18, respectively. The hotels are open only in summer, as you might expect.
There are three reasons for visiting Deadhorse:
1. To dip your feet in the Arctic Ocean (our driver told us one passenger actually peeled off his clothing to reveal a swimsuit and then jumped into the icy waters, which were freezing within a couple of feet from the shoreline).2. To check out what Halliburton and other oil-related firms are doing up in the Prudhoe Bay area (though you re not allowed to get out of the bus at any time when you drive through their domains).3. To say you've been above the Arctic Circle and to pose at the AC sign when you get there passing along the Dalton Highway between Deadhorse and Coldfoot (or vice versa).Incidentally, you can get a rough idea of what all the fuss is about concerning possible oil development within the confines of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as anyone you meet along the way will have an opinion on the subject. The ANWR (which lies to the east of the Dalton Highway) is roadless, so any access is by air charter to a river gravel bar or tundra landing site.
One of the reasons to take a tour is that only tour buses are allowed inside the Prudhoe Bay (aka North Slope) oil area, and the only road to the ocean is through there, no private cars or hitchhikers are allowed. So, to reach the ocean, you have to be on a tour, which can be arranged through your hotel here -- it goes without saying that advance notice is a good idea.
The Dalton Highway stretches 416 miles between Deadhorse and Fairbanks, but as it is rough graveled road, it takes about 17 hours of driving to manage it in some degree of comfort. For the most part, car rental agencies in Fairbanks or other Alaska cities will not allow you to take this route, so a bus tour is the best answer. A company called The Dalton Highway Express will take you by van roundtrip from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay on a two-day journey costing $250, if you are not on a tour. Contact them at www.daltonhighwayexpress.com or phone 907/474-3555.
Coldfoot Camp
Just south of Deadhorse, there are many caribou to be seen near the highway. Our driver made several claims about why the pipeline had improved chances of longer lives for the caribous, among them that the warmth of the oil in the line encourages the animals to stand near and under it, and that the humming noise of the oil coursing through the pipe drove mosquitoes away -- stings and resultant infection being a leading cause of premature death of caribou, he said.
The only reason for a hotel and restaurant at Coldfoot is because it is about halfway between nowhere (Deadhorse) and civilization (Fairbanks), with an eight- or nine-hour drive on each side of it. The hotel is an assemblage of double-wide trailers, used previously by construction workers on the highway and pipeline, and the only thing to recommend it is a free laundry room. The restaurant opposite tried to be helpful, but had a limited buffet for meals and was understaffed, as are most places near or above the Arctic Circle. Meal prices were $18.75 for breakfast buffet and $18 for a chicken dinner. Contact them at www.coldfootcamp.com.
The Haul Road (another name for the Dalton Highway) skirts the eastern edge of one of America's best kept secrets, the Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, which covers about 8.4 million acres, four times the size of Yellowstone National Park or 2.6 times the size of Connecticut, and rarely visited. Rarely, because you get there only by boat (as in canoe, raft or kayak) or on foot; and there are no signs, facilities, roads or trails. You can fly in by charter plane and land on a gravel bar or a body of water. For more information on this "ultimate wilderness," check out www.nps.gov/gaar or e-mail gaaar_visitor_information@nps.gov.
Fairbanks
This second-largest Alaskan city has a great many superlatives attached to its name, practically all of them dealing with how cold it gets in winter. But for most travelers, Fairbanks is just a junction, a place to get off or on the Denali National Park train, or to board the bus for Deadhorse (or disembark). Many visitors come in from trips to the Yukon, especially pre- or post-cruise clients of Holland America Line, which also owns Gray Line of Alaska.
It's a big town, and those coming form the rude encampments farther north are glad to see standard and luxury grade hotel rooms, a choice of restaurants, phones in their rooms and other amenities. The newest hotel in town, the Westmark (800/544-0970; www.westmarkhotels.com/fairbanks.php; owned by Holland America), is two buildings: one a new tower, the other an older hotel. I suggest you ask for the new wing. The two sightseeing highlights here are the University of Alaska's Museum of the North (with the state's biggest display of gold and Blue Babe, the world's only restored Ice Age steppe bison mummy) and the Eldorado Gold Mine, where you can pan for gold yourself. Contact them at 866/479-6673 or at www.eldoradogoldmine.com.
Denali National Park
There isn't time in the day to write all the nice things I want to say about this six-million-acre gem. There are few trails and just one road, which pierces the park only partly. You can see large animals -- including caribou, bear, wolves, Dall sheep and moose -- at home in the wild if you are lucky.
Both the park and commercial operators have many kinds of tours and activities for visitors. You can't just rent a car and have your run of the park. Access is limited, so you can enter the park, but then you have to take a bus which goes in about 85 miles at most -- or go on foot.
The natural history tour sponsored by Denali Park resorts (managed by Aramark) departs daily from area hotels and takes about three hours, visiting the Savage Cabin, the taiga forest, the tundra and unusual geological formations, with a light snack and beverage included for $51.50.
You can also go rafting for about $68 per person (888/683-2234; www.denaliraft.com), or look for wolves in a five-hour daily excursion from the Denali Institute, costing $75. Call 866/688-1269 to sign up.
Most of the lodges are across the Nenuna River from the park itself. If you choose to stay outside of the park, you might consider the best hotel in town, the Denali Princess (800/426-0500; www.princesslodges.com; $179-354 in high season, $99-$253 in low season). I stayed up on a hill overlooking town at the Grande Denali Lodge (866/683-8500; www.denalialaska.com; $206 for a double in high season, $137 in low season) and can recommend it for those who like a sweeping vista of the park from a great distance and height.
A good book on Denali, recently published, is Discovering Denali, by Dow Scoggins, published by iUniverse Star (New York, Lincoln & Shanghai, ISBN 0-595-29737-4, $16.95, 322 pages).
The Denali Train
You can take the train to and from Denali, using one of two systems. There's the regular route on the Alaska Railway (owned by the state), which provides the engines and some passenger cars, a few with partial domes. Then there's the McKinley Explorer featuring deluxe, two-level, dome cars owned by Gray Line, attached to the regular Alaska Railways train.
On the McKinley Explorer, you have an assigned upper-level seat for the entire journey. Downstairs, there's a dining car, two toilets, storage space and a souvenir shop of sorts. Some cars have a little outdoors space at one end, where you can enjoy the smell of fresh air mixed with diesel fumes and take photos without intervening glass windows.
On my car between Fairbanks and Denali, a male guide assured us we would see caribou a few minutes after leaving the city, and sure enough, within a fenced enclosure at the University of Alaska's Large Animal Research Station, we did. The ride was through a plateau of mixed forest and prairie, with a river crossing now and then.
Much more interesting was the ride from Denali to Anchorage, the first half of which skirted the national park, followed by distant sightings of Mt. McKinley itself (you frequently can't see the peak from the parts of the park most visited). On our car, we had among the quartet of staff a mother-daughter team that was helpful, humorous and caring. The passengers especially seemed to enjoy the mother's singing, which was very good, indeed.
There was plenty of peace and quiet, though, for viewing, taking photos and musing on the bounties of nature. But groups, especially if they have traveled together for a long time (and many here had, having come off a Holland America cruise together) tend to want camaraderie and odd activities, like singing old favorites. (Once on a tour bus in China, I recall sitting glued to my window, fascinated by the ever-changing sights as we passed through a small town, while my bored traveling companions belted out renditions of "Row, row, row your boat" and other childrens' songs around me -- an inherent detractor of large, escorted tours.)
Tour Specifics
- The Denali Special program of Gray Line, from Fairbanks to Anchorage, is an all-rail tour, the rates for which during peak season start at $329 (as listed on the Gray Line website) to $389 (as listed in Gray Line's brochures) per person in a double hotel room, plus tax. In the shoulder season (May 15-31 and September 1-15), it's $259 plus tax, according to their website. Two nights in hotels (one in Fairbanks, one in Denali) are included, plus the rail transport to the park and then to Anchorage.
- The Prudhoe Bay North Slope Explorer trip, for four days and three nights, costs $959 plus tax, and operates from May 26 through August 31. Included are three nights in the hotel (one each in Fairbanks, Coldfoot and Deadhorse), the coach trip one way and flight between Deadhorse and Anchorage the other. Daily departures from Fairbanks in a 12-passenger van except Wednesdays and Mondays, when it's a deluxe motor coach. Air portion by Alaska Airlines.
- For either tour, or for a look at the many other trips around Alaska operated by Gray Line, go to www.graylinealaska.com or phone them at 800/544-2206.
I highly recommend visiting Alaska, and, if you can afford it, using Gray Line for the difficult parts, especially for the area above Fairbanks and into the Arctic Circle. The Dawson Highway is a fairly rough road most of the way, dusty and bumpy, and just driving it would be pretty wearing on the body and soul.
I also recommend highly the train journey between Denali and Anchorage in either direction. If you want to be cosseted, the expensive McKinley Explorer is for you, even their dining car food being good and reasonably priced (lunch around $11.50). If you want to strike out on your own, Alaska Railway is the right way to go. One way rail fare per person from Anchorage to Denali is $125 peak season, $100 in the value season, with children 2-11 at 50% of that. Each train has a full-service dining car and gift shop onboard. The trains operate from May 16 through September 12, 2004, and similarly in other years. For reservations, contact them at www.alaskarailroad.com or by phoning 800/544-0552 or 907/265-2494.