7/5/22

It was a tough decision but I decided to not return to Fairbanks in one day with the Brazilians but rather to take my time doing back down solo and stop in Wiseman overnight for the first leg and then Fairbanks the next day. My main reasons was I wanted to take my time going back down and stop and enjoy the ride. With all my research, everyone explained how deadly the Dalton is but hardly anyone said how beautiful this road is. Despite its reputation, the Dalton has pull offs and scenic rest areas as well. We blasted up so fast that we hardly stopped except for the iconic signs. I wanted to return slower and stop more. And now that I know the road, I felt more confident that I could tackle this solo.

I said my goodbyes to the Brazilians and then took off by myself around 11am. The first 55 miles from Deadhorse was good pavement so I was going pretty fast. Once I reached the dirt and gravel portion, I knew what to expect at this point so I felt fairly confident and I was going around 45-50mph on those sections too.

The first challenge of the day is the 16 mile stretch of construction. When I get to the stop point that is manned by a worked with a stop sign, I was the first in line followed by a camper van. We were going to have to wait here until the pilot car returns to lead us. The man inside the van opens the door to let his dog out. I start to chat with him about his van. Turns out he's from Charlotte and he's in a bit of a hurry to return to home in eight days to start a new project. He would have to drive about 800 miles a day to make it home in time. I don't envy him.

After ten minutes, the pilot car returns leading a group heading up to Deadhorse. The pilot car pulls off and makes a U-turn. We get waved on to follow him. Just like going up to Deadhorse, this stretch of construction is so long that it has various sections where the road is fine with hard packed dirt to rocks like a river bed. Mostly it was fine. There was one section where I was following the pilot truck a bit too close. A mound of gravel appeared out of nowhere between the rear tires of the pilot truck. Since I was following so close, I barely had time to see this mound of gravel and swerve to avoid it. I think my front tire caught the edge of the mound because next thing I knew, I was going to the right side so hard that I had to swing the handle bar all the way back fast and hard and that over correction created another full wobble. I thought I was going down for sure but somehow I managed to pull it back into balance.

30 mins of following the pilot truck and he finally pulls away opening the rest of the way for free travel. With the exception of the infamous nature of the terror of the Dalton, it is actually a very beautiful road.

90mins later and I enter the start of Aitgun Pass. I was pretty cautious about it once I reached the start of the pass. I slowed down to 40mph and started to climb. I could feel the coolness of the air again as I climbed higher and higher. . Climbing isn't that tough, it's the climbing and turn corners that is tougher. The gravel definite felt different than the day before. It felt softer, the stability a bit wishy washy. I could feel the front wiggle more but tires did their job and grabbed traction.

I made it down Antigun Pass safely despite a few turns being soft. From this point on, it was a pretty uneventful ride to Wiseman to sleep at the Boreal Lodge again. I got in at 4pm and had the rest of the day to just chill in my room. I later found a trio of rental GSs at the lodge on their way up to Prudhoe. We chatted for an hour and then I hit the hay. Uneventful is good on the Dalton.