Crossing the Arctic Circle on my ST – 10,000 miles trip

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Just wanted to proudly share with you an unbelievable mega road trip experience. It took me three weeks vacation in September, 1,500$ on gas and more than 10,000 miles driven on my six years old ST that performed perfectly, without a glitch. I left Morris Plains NJ having the target the farthest north point reachable by car in US, which is Prudhoe Bay (Deadhorse) in Alaska – a huge Oil Field. Here is a link that wonderfully describes this Ultimate Road Trip. I’ve crossed countless states, seen Mount Rushmore, drove the Alaska Hwy, Trans Canada Hwy (on the way back) and Dalton Hwy. The Dalton Highway stretches 414 miles across northern Alaska from Livengood (84 miles north of Fairbanks) to Deadhorse and the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay. Built during construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in the 1970s, this mostly gravel highway travels through rolling, forested hills, across the Yukon River and Arctic Circle, through the rugged Brooks Range, and over the North Slope to the Arctic Ocean. Along most of its length, you’ll see no restaurants, no gift shops, no service stations just forest, tundra, and mountains from horizon to horizon, crossed by a double ribbon of road and pipe. Check out the link and download the visitor guide for a very nice description and trip advice that got me totally hooked. And because a picture is worth a thousand words check out my library for some pictures that I took along the way. The scenery and wildlife encountered is such a unique experience that I warmly recommend it to any nature lover. Let me quote someone who says is better than I’m able to:

“…I trucked the Haul Road to Prudhoe a few hundred times…for 10 years in a row. Really, really miss it – the beauty, quiet, and the freedom it brings one’s mind. It’s definitely the best mental medicine on earth.”

Don’t miss the pictures...

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[Dan Chatten]

Cool story - thanks for sharing that. Nice to also read the ST was reliable during the entire trip.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Thanks for the pics, Sorin.



Someone once told me that you can't do any amount of driving up that far in Alaska without losing a windshield? They said with all the gravel roads, you are bound to get a windshield knick and need a replacement when you return.



Did that happen to you? Have you hear that its common?



TJR

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

That's awesome, Sorin. Don't know if my butt could stand, I mean sit, for that much time in the seat. Barely made it round trip to Louisville, KY and back to Sacramento, CA last June.

 

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Somehow it’s true, I’ve got some small chips all over the windshield but not a crack. They are barely visible though. I would advice anybody trying to take the same trip to get a comprehensive insurance with a very low deducible (50USD) that covers the broken windshield (just in case...). The good news is that the premium is going up only a few bucks

 

[Eldon Webb]

I wish I could make that trip sometime. Congratulations.

 

[Robert Stanton]

Wow. Absolutely beautiful. No doubt it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[Bob Corning]

Wow, what a trip! And the photos are fantastic. Very nice, professional quality work. I must say one better be very sure about the reliability of your vehicle before taking on that trip. I noticed the one picture that had a sign that said "240 miles to next service." How difficult was it to find gas? Seems like you would have to plan carefully, because I can't imagine there were alot of other cars around if you had trouble.

 

[Jose Santana]

All I can say is wow!!!

yak, buffulo, bear and I think I saw some type of Big horn - small but maybe they were females? The scenery was incredible.... Mountains were spectacular and it looks like you should have carried a fishing pole because those lakes looked great!!

what a trip that must have been



Joseymack

 

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Thanks for the nice thoughts. The scenery got me totally speechless, I’m thinking to do it again next year, and if someone would be interested to join me please let me know. The truth is that I didn’t have much time to do anything else but drive 8-10hrs/day, eat, take pictures & short walks and rest over night. I had two gas canisters with me but I didn’t use them, that one was the longest leg with no gas station and had no problem to cover it on one full tank. Next time I’ll probably rent a satellite phone (60USD/week or so) but there are 18-wheelers at least one per hour and they can help you out in an unfortunate event. I drove the ST all over the states, 4 times coast to coast and never let me down. ST is a very reliable machine. One interesting thing was that the satellite radio – Sirius – worked fine all over Canada but I lost reception just about 20 miles before I crossed the border in Alaska. Afterwards was just very spotty so I switched to CD’s.