We bounced back and forth to Fairbanks a couple of times. We had some pho there, and also so bibimbop. Any place you can get pho and bibimbop has got to be an ok place.

This was our 4th and 5th times to visit the Yukon River. The BLM gal was a hoot! The road to Prudhoe Bay didn’t have many trucks on it. Took the tour of Prudhoe so we could stick our feet in the US part of the Arctic Ocean. A bunch of interesting folks was also on the tour, including the only person named Ozymandias in all of Switzerland. He had a cool overlander rig, and when I looked at his work, I despaired. (English major joke there.) I’d promised Mary that we’d see just tons of caribou on this part of the trip. I think we saw 6, and they were all in downtown Prudhoe. Well, in the industrial sector of Prudhoe, which is the downtown. Mary was disappointed.

On the way up I’d spotted a perfect little campsite pulloff for the way back. But when we got there on the way back, the whole area was on fire. On either side of the road there were flames. So, maybe next time that spot will be available.

Oh, we got to see Mt Snowden. Haven’t figured out yet who it’s named after of if Mary’s related…

The bottom 20 miles of the Dalton Highway were really rough. HUGE potholes, big enough to eat half my tire. And after that, the road was perfect, like they just left the first 20 miles bad to scare off the troublemakers. So I learned a lesson: don’t judge a road by its pavement, at least not right away.