2006 Road Trip
03 - 30 July
Update #4: 12 July (uploaded 16 July)
Update #6: 20 July (uploaded 25 July)
-- I will update this site from the road as conditions allow --
The focus of this trip is Alaska, the zenith possibly to be 2- to 4-day hiking treks off of the Dalton Highway to the north shore. Practical constraints made Jasper the peak of my 2004 journey, but I accepted the mountains' invitation to follow them all the way up in the future. Two years later, here it is.
I plan to leave Atlanta on 03 July and meet up with the Rockies in Banff, Alberta after 2600 miles. Other than maybe stopping by Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, I hope to make relatively quick work of this grueling leg of the journey in a direct route.
Backcountry camping and car camping, with an occasional hotel, I will work my way over to Fairbanks to start on the very remote, 400-mile Dalton Highway up to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic shore. Probably between one and two weeks will be spent driving a few hours, then pulling over and hiking off into the wilderness for a couple of days to visit alpine lakes, huge vistas, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and other crazy places. If I'm super-lucky, mayber later in the trip, I'll be able to catch a salmon and enjoy the freshest sashimi of a lifetime on the river bank.
So after Alaska is the return home with several people to visit along the way. If practical, some groovy ex-coworkers in Vancouver, BC. Definitely I will see my family in Portland and friends in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vail, Denver and Oklahoma City.
Bears frighten me, but I hope to see some at safe distances. (I am taking all precautions shy of carrying a gun.) The midnight sun and northern lights are also on the agenda. And, as they are very dangerous places, l'll likely steer clear of glaciers and McDonald's.