Father and Son Alaska Tour
Dalton Highway from Coldfoot to Deadhorse, Alaska
August 3, 2008
by floracycle
Not many photos from this section because we got the challenge we were looking for.... It never rained hard but it misted with low overhanging clouds. Just enough to keep the road completely saturated. So sorry not many pictures today although the scenery was much better than expected when the clouds broke. 
80 percent of it was like driving on a big Coke slurpee. It smelled and looked a lot like concrete due to the calcium additive the road crews spread on the road in an attempt to keep the road together. We had to slow down to keep traction and our brakes became useless due to the mud that caked everything. Dad's brake pads had to be replaced when we came back to Fairbanks, they where new when we left home.
The stock KLR brakes seem to be holding up fine. Obviously superior Japanese engineering at play here.
A side benefit or going so slow was our mileage went way up. We both made it into town without tapping into our jerry cans. The following is Deadhorse's idea of a gas station.
Some young workers were nearby power washing some equipment. I took the opportunity to have them wash out my radiator which was full of mud.
Tags: Motorcycle, Mountains, lakes, rivers, Prudhoe Bay
sweeper writes
Okay ... Here's another semi-out of bike experience for you. Driver and I left for the airport in Jackson today. The hotel arranged a taxi, and our driver was "Taxi Tim." He inquired about our traveling light, and Driver explained we had been traveling by bike. Taxi Tim told us about his KLR. We told him our friend was on a KLR in Alaska. You should have seen his face light up! He said was positive he'd met our KLM friend several weeks earlier at The Virginian in Jackson Hole, where he drinks coffee each morning. What a small world, and what an incredible story! Taxi Tim sends his best to you and plans to follow your adventure on this site. Have a great day. -- Sweeper