I biked up the road to the BLM camp and there was like one tiny hill. Had I known that I would have just done that the previous day to save me some money. But I was pretty exhausted so who knows what I would have actually done. The BLM campground is free and right next to an artesian spring and a cafe with massive burgers and chocolate malts. The Hot Spot Café is own by a woman who is hilarious, I recommend stopping here if you are passing by. She warned me about purifying my water saying I could get the “beaver fever”. I told her I was a lesbian and already had it; she got a huge kick out of that. I ate so much on this much needed rest day to make up for all the calories burned the past three days. I chatted with a bike tourer named Matthew who was heading south and he mentioned that water won’t be much of an issue for the rest of my trip, that’s welcome news. While I was lying in my tent reading in the evening I overheard him talking to camp neighbors about his life. Turns out he’s a former Marine, same take on military life, bootcamp, travel, is super outgoing, etc. He is like a male version of me. Which is a funny sentence considering I once was a male.
Late in the evening these three guys come rolling in on motor scooters. They are riding the Dalton on scooter. Dallas, Taran, and Colin. These guys are badass and have been doing awesome trips together for years! They bike toured around New Zealand, and the Pacific Coast.
I left around 0930 the following day and headed up the road, actually hydrated from drinking so much water at the spring. I planned on making it to the Circle (what those in the know call the Arctic Circle) cause according to my map there is a stream nearby I can likely get water at. It’s about 100 km up the road. It looks to be my longest day on the Haul Road yet. While there were still massive hills to go up and down, they were fewer and far between. Plus there was a fair amount of tarmac. I stopped at Finger Mountain to throw away some garbage and rest up a bit. I saw to loaded touring bikes next to a pickup with a camper in the bed. I can’t remember if they saw me and invited me in or if I knocked and asked for water. Either way I was invited in to have tea, Oreos, and other snacks as well as top off my water. So I met Hazel, Luke, and Hazel’s parents (I am bad with names sorry! So if you are reading this email me and let me know!). Hazel and her husband Luke are Scottish adventurers who are traveling from the southern tip of Alaska to the northern tip soley by human power. Hazel’s parents are driving the support vehicle which is hauling their extra gear like their kayaks while they are cycling. You can follow their adventure at http://duenorthalaska.com/.
I set off after a bit of rest and made my way to the Circle. I filled up at Fish Creek just below the Circle and about dove in cause the water was so clear and looked so refreshing. I tried to locate a place to camp down there but there wasn’t a good spot to I biked up the last big hill to the Arctic Circle Campground. I hung out with a couple of upper middle-aged gentlemen who offered me copious amounts of wine to hear my stories.
I got up the next day and walked down the hill to the stream to get water thinking it wasn’t too far away. Turns out it was a bit farther away than I remembered and it took me over an hour to walk to the stream and back and fill up my bottles. Oh well. I climbed on Yonder and headed north, further into the Arctic. I went down a big hill right away and found myself at a stream. Fuck…. I could have saved myself an hour. Oh well, let’s push on and make it to Coldfoot. I had some pretty big ups and downs, thankfully paved for the most part and made decent time. Today there were plenty of rivers and streams to fill up and. At one, Jim River crossing #1, I stood in the middle of it while I filtered my water. So refreshing! I got to watch a few salmon swim around my feet while I did that!
I got to Coldfoot after my second 100 km on the Haul Road and saw Hazel’s parents and they invited me to their table where I ate with the four of them and chatted more about our travels. It turns out Hazel and Luke are pretty badass, I recommend checking out their website linked above to learn more!
I stayed in Coldfoot an extra day, I had to wait for the Post Office to open so I could get my food for the rest of the trip. I went to the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center and met Lily. A super cool girl who is up here for the summer. We chatted for about an our about civil rights, queer, stuff, BtVS, and other random things.
I saw Taran, Dallas, and Colin again, this time on their way south and we chatted for a long time exchanging stories about adventures past before they had to continue heading south. We said our goodbyes and parted ways.