65N

We made it to Fairbanks, Alaska, roughly 65°N latitude. This is the northernmost point on the first half of our Alaska adventure. It's also unusually warm - about 80F (27C), much hotter than what we experienced in coastal southeast Alaska.

We finally completed the Alaska Highway, also called the Alcan. We drove the entire length of the highway - over 1300 miles (2100km) from Dawson Creek BC (Canada) to Delta Junction Alaska. The highway is amazing for beauty, wildlife and landscape views. However, much less so on this final section. Years from now, what we'll probably best remember from this last section is the road construction. North of Haines Junction YT, the road is rough. The road is under attack from extreme weather and the effects of warming of the permafrost beneath the road surface. Our guidebook noted several sections where engineers are testing new ways to maintain the permafrost beneath the road. It's still a work-in-progress.

Truly, this region illustrates the old joke: "There are only 2 seasons: winter and road construction". Besides the dust and gravel and 'frost heaves', we had several sections where we waited 20 minutes for a pilot car to guide us past the construction. The road conditions got somewhat better once we crossed into Alaska; we are guessing this is due to greater spending to rebuild the road more often.

Unfortunately, we also saw no large animals along the drive today - no bear or moose or caribou. And we left the larger mountains for smaller ones that look more like the eastern US than the majestic mountains of coastal Alaska.

But being at 65°N latitude for the summer solstice has some interesting perks. For example, while the sun technically sets at 12:47am and rises at 2:57am, it will be "golden hour" for the 2 hours 10 minutes in between. Never dark, not even twilight. We've got some plans for that - more about that in the next few days.