The Ice Road towards the Far North of the Americas

Factsheet 4×1

Date: 26/09/2012 the 27/09/2012

Saímos of: Fairbanks, Alaska

Final destiny: Most northern point of the Expedition 4×1: 68° 24,168 'Latitude Norte (north of the Arctic Circle and the town of Coldfoot - Alaska)

Total distance: 525 km

Travel time: 10 hours including stops.

Path: We left Fairbanks and soon caught the Dalton Highway rumo a Coldfoot.

Where to sleep: At home in a Norwegian Wiseman and not only "hotel" in Coldfoot.

What we eat good: Sanduíche of Salmão, near the river Yukon.

Filled Tire : Power reaches the Arctic Circle and experience the Tundra!

Tire murcho: The weather - it was cloudy - and the high price of "hotel" in Coldfoot.

"Of all the truly wild places remaining on earth, none is as majestic as the Arctic. Today, this unforgiving landscape has become almost impossible to be inhabited. But for families who live here, The Arctic is home. " (free translation of the narrative of actress Meryl Streep in the film 'To The Arctic').

Agreed under the strong sun and dry Fairbanks, although the temperature rotated around 5 ° C, cold does not bother him so much. In the initial planning, when we left Sao Paulo, the idea was to go only up to Fairbanks, and from there begin to "descend". But after a visit to Museum of the North and read the posts and comments of Rodrigo and Ana (dispatch '1000 Every Day For America ') not resist the temptation to go meet one of the harshest environments and difficult to survive on Earth. Tínhamos to touch the Arctic!

We collect our tents and set up the breakfast right there in the supermarket parking lot Safeway. We left around 10am and immediately picked up one of the most isolated roads: the Dalton Highway.

The Dalton connects Elliot Highway (north Faibanks) to the town of Deadhorse (which actually is more like a village with a mere 50 permanent residents) and is the last stop before the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay, no Ocean Ártico! Therefore, Prudhoe Bay are considered (unofficially) the most northern point of the Pan-American Highway! Then, we set off in search of finding also the most northern point of our expedition!!!

A Dalton Highway, if Só, is an attractive part. The road is not paved in some sections due to excess snow (em good part of the year) and heavy trucks wearing track. So, many passages become a large puddle and even slippery, due to rain or ice on the runway. The Dalton was built to accompany the long pipeline (pipeline) coming out of the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay to Valdez direction, do not the Alaskan. Thus, besides truckers who work directly or indirectly for services related to the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay, only a few curious tourists or hunters face this relentless road to Arctic! But despite remote, Road receives daily flow of approximately 200 trucks and serves to support the maintenance of complex products that are specially made to withstand the harsh winter temperatures down to -50 ° C!

And so were we, slowly heading north. Near 3 and a half hours after leaving Fairbanks and almost 220 km percorridos, we crossed the Yukon River. That's when we decided to stop at one of the cafeterias rare road, Seated next to the river. We ate a delicious salmon burger sandwich with potato salad! Of course, we draw attention to other truck drivers who were there. After all, destoávamos in age and appearance of the rest of those experienced gentlemen with a gray beard and pale skin. One – that lunch with a younger boy, his companion work – came to our table wondering who were the owners of that black truck with plate São Paulo! "You really came from São Paulo far?!"Asked Mr., while pointing to where St. Paul was his young companion, a large world map hanging on the wall of the restaurant. "Yes sir!"- Respond contented. We all our script and he said that we were on the edge of the ideal time to go through that region. Conversation will, conversation comes, they recommended us to the following Atigun Pass, within Brooks Range (a mountain range just north of the Arctic Circle). We looked on the map where it was and we!

The cloudy weather and the gradual decline of trees along the road (as we moved further north) gave a slightly morbid to visual. When, suddenly, we saw a family of grizzly bears (ourc brown) along the track! The poor bears ran scared of Tanajura probably wondering what that "thing" black giant was doing in his remote territory.

The purpose, is this territory that lies the tundra! (anyone remember her from school days?!) Located between positions 60 ° and 75 ° north latitude, tundra vegetation is a typically rasteira! Covered in ice much of the year or during the swampy soil 2 summer months in the region (since the low heat and low soil drainage slow to absorb the melting snow), what is most striking in the tundra is the fact not present trees!!! That's it, the predominant vegetation is moss, lichens and low shrubs that take advantage of maximum temperatures of 12 ° C in summer (The maximum is 12 ° C on the hottest days!!!) when an "explosion" of plant life. This "explosion" that allows some birds, hares, sheep, reindeer, bison and caribou to feed enough to face the long winter!

Our first and most impressive contact the tundra occurred in the Finger Mountain is an area along the Dalton Highway where, embedded in its center, There is a granite rock protruding finger-shaped (Finger Rock) that marks a major territories where the natives of Alaska hunted in the past. It was a visual of how those imagined a world without life. But while that seems dead, tundra to impress those few remaining living and lichens that cross our path before the arrival of the long and harsh winter…. The cold increased and the temperature was already below zero. Read the information boards that in ensinaram on the flora and fauna of the tundra (there near Finger Rock) and proceed by Dalton Highway rumo a Coldfoot.

Over a few tens of kilometers traveled and we got one of the most important milestones of the Expedition 4×1 yet: the board of the Arctic Circle!!! A light drizzle began to fall from that sky loaded as alerting us that we were entering one of the most exotic and untouched wildlife on Earth. Parallel to the equator, The Arctic Circle is one of 5 major circles of latitude on our planet and cuts Dalton Highway at position 66 ° 33 'north latitude! This cold zone has an average temperature of only 10 ° C during the warmer months; and all regions inside the circle have at least one day with 24 sunshine (summer) or sunless (no winter)!!! Therefore, over the territories north of the Arctic Circle may be severe with many animals and plants that inhabit. The most populous city of the Americas within the circle is the Arctic town of Barrow, no Alaska, approximately 4.000 people!

Around 20h after more than 400Km and we got lots of pictures in Coldfoot! With only 10 permanent residents (this same, ten!!!), Coldfoot serves as a stop for truckers who flock to Prudhoe Bay. It, com along Wiseman (village next to Coldfoot), is the last option for housing before Deadhorse - E ai? Were surprised by the fact they only 10 people and some truckers in Coldfoot?! Well then imagine our reaction to seeing that in the midst of 5 trucks parked there we found a mini-van in Brazil!!! - We did not believe!! As there was possible at the end of North America, in a village containing less than that moment 40 people find a Brazilian couple who made an expedition with his sons novinhos from Santa Catarina! UNBELIEVABLE!! The Brazilian ford over the world!

Well, Coldfoot has only one hotel / restaurant and a petrol station and, then, the price of the "hotel" is a "dab" of 200 dollars for a room for two people! We talked with the owner, we dispatch, our budget constraint, etc.. e etc.. and after much insisting he offered us the price of family, arriving at the price of 100 dollars per room for two people. The price was still salty for us. So, follow toward the town of Wiseman hoping arrumarmos something at a better price. In 5 minute barrier in the village was founded around 1919 by miners and now has 7 houses and about 14 permanent residents. The first houses that we saw were empty and the snow began to fall hindering our vision amid the narrow streets and irregular Wiseman. After we ran a little and do not find the two places that there should exist, we saw a smoke coming from the chimney of one house that seemed inhabited. Gustavo took courage and knocked on the door. A Norwegian approximately 40 and attended a few years and then showed him how to get to both places. We shot, approach both alojamentos and nothing done. One was packed to be getting a group of hunters and the other did not accept 5 people in a single room. Our only option seemed to be back to Coldfoot and pay the 100 U.S. dollar. But we were not happy with this and decided to once again ask Arild (the name of Norsk) if there was nothing else in the region. Gustavo again knocked on his door and told him about the trip and our search for a place to stay. Then asked Arild: "How many of you are"? "We are in 5" - said Gustavo. "Caramba! 5 in a single car? E for many kilometers?! So I guess I will not bother to stay here, some? The house is small, but you can accommodate. "Genial!!! Without hesitation accept the invitation, and below the snow falling, Tanajura withdraw some things and ran into the house. The Arild offered us some beers and made a snack (with some things that we had in the car) We played knock while a long chat with him. Arild construiu Aquele durante chalé 3 summers there and he had made a childhood dream: have a house in a remote place in Alaska! We talked about our countries and cultures, on Alaska, sobre to American culture…and the crop has spread to more than 23.30.

The next morning as we keep our stuff back in the car we noticed that we broke one of the screws that were used to support the opening of the tent. Armed with tools and screws that held the construction of your home, Arild it gave us a hand and 15 minutes we were in the tent repaired! We took some pictures, we parted and it was time to leave. We went in search of the most northern point of the Expedition!

We started to unravel a little more and go to the tundra stretches considered one of the most dangerous Dalton Highway no winter. The road is presented in some American TV serials like 'Ice Road Truckers’ (Ice Road Truckers) e o ‘America’s Toughest Jobs’ (America's toughest jobs) and has also appeared on BBC program called World’s Most Dangerous Roads (most dangerous roads in the world). The road has all this fame mainly by the huge amount of snow that falls in there most of the year and, mainly, by passage through Atigun Pass (the one you recommended and the boy in the restaurant that we had lunch the day before). The Atigun Pass is the highest pass in Alaska open year round and is the only means of crossing the mountain range called Brooks (Brooks Range) by land routes. Due to their inclination and the amount of snow along the greater part of the year, He is responsible for numerous avalanches and play many truckers off the road! Also, from that narrow in the mountains of Brooks Range, are divided Alaskan rivers flowing towards the Arctic Ocean from those that flow towards the Pacific.

We arrive at Atigun Pass after almost 3 hours and stopped for some photos. The road was covered with snow and visibility increasingly compromised. We walked down the ravine and rode slowly over tens of kilometers not sure if we should head to Deadhorse - hoping to get to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean view - or come back. But the news we had was that the chances were slim accommodation in Deadhorse; and that buses are allowed to take tourists for Prudhoe Bay to the Arctic Ocean had ended its activities in a week. Thus, no longer worth risking further north and follow. We decided to follow a few more miles and we reached the position 68 ° 24 'North Latitude!

This position was a major milestone in our lives. Not only was the end of our "up" and the point would mark the return to the south of the continent, but it was also likely the closest point that we would come to some of the Earth's poles, by land routes, in our lives. Though (by land routes) Ushuaia is the southern boundary of the Americas, its geographical position in relation to the South Pole is much farther than that point there is in Alaska over the North Pole. As Rodrigo dispatch '1000 Days for America 'explains in his post about passing them by Coldfoot, North America is much further north than South America is the South. In other words, we're on the same latitude we reach there by car in Alaska (68°), mas to South Instead of North, would be far beyond Ushuaia. Would be in effect in the Antarctic Peninsula!!! Incredible to think about it right?!

It was time to return. Rumo ao Sul! After this achievement, began returning toward Coldfoot! This time we had no other option, we had to get the room for two beds 100 U.S. dollar. Three of us slept on the floor and, next morning, we went to one of the main tourist destinations in Alaska: Denali National Park!

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