Dalton Highway (South)

We cruised the tarmac section and then pulled up at the same camp spot that we parked on the way up. The following morning we hit the road properly. The weather had deteriorated a little, we had everything from sunshine to sleet and everything in between.

All was going well and we eventually negotiated the roughest section of the road around the roadworks. We then decided to stop for lunch. I as usual did a walk around the truck and was shocked to find that the bike box had come adrift at the top. The weld must have given way sometime earlier and the rough road had caused the lower supports to bend. Three hundred miles from Fairbanks I was not a happy chappy.

After a little bit of thinking and searching through my spares box I decided to try pushing up the box and securing the top section with a strap. This process even required a little ingenuity, cutting some branches to prop up the box far enough to locate the strap at the top. Being unwilling to have any weight in the box for the onward journey we had to pack the bikes, the deckchairs and other paraphernalia into the truck. It made for a tight squeeze.

We successfully negotiated the Antiguan Pass

The wildlife, the scenery and the road was just as spectacular on the way down.

We eventually made it to the Yukon Crossing where we called in and had a very welcome, and highly recommended, wild salmon chowder.

We made it down to the end of the highway where we discovered one of my spot lamps was another casualty.

Once back in Fairbanks the first job was a serious truck clean. After doing that I needed a serious Phil clean 😂

The hunt was then on for a Welding and Fabrication Shop to repair my broken bracket. This turned out to be an expensive return to Fairbanks 😀

We then returned to our original town centre camp for a well-earned rest.