This morning, Cory, Teresa, Irene, and I got a ride the 29 miles from Coldfoot to Sukakpak Mountain from one of the maintenance guys here at camp.
Then we climbed a mountain.
If I seriously thought about why I decided to take a job at a truck stop in the Arctic cleaning toilets for three months, my answer probably would have been something along the lines of today’s hike.
If you ever make it to mile 203 of the Dalton Highway: stop. Get out of your car. Look at the mountain in front of you. And climb it.
It’s the kind of hike that makes you want to climb mountains everyday. It’s also the kind of hike that makes you think seriously about how far away you are from medical help if you fell down the crumbling bits of mountain you’re climbing up.
After a good seven hours of mountain climbing and jumping for pictures, we made it back down to the Dalton Highway, and started heading South.
The thing about hiking far away from camp out here is that you can nearly always find a ride out, but not always a ride back. So on trips a long distance from Coldfoot, you hitchhike back.
A trucker finally picked us up a good two to three miles down the road, and we were headed happily back to camp and dinner when he got a flat tire. So Mike (that was our trucker) pulled over, and started to get going on changing the tire. Within fifteen minutes four trucks had stopped and everybody was hanging around helping Mike change his tire.
The whole day was so very Alaskan, from climbing a mountain to hitchhiking with truckers and helping them change a tire.
Then we climbed a mountain.
If I seriously thought about why I decided to take a job at a truck stop in the Arctic cleaning toilets for three months, my answer probably would have been something along the lines of today’s hike.
If you ever make it to mile 203 of the Dalton Highway: stop. Get out of your car. Look at the mountain in front of you. And climb it.
It’s the kind of hike that makes you want to climb mountains everyday. It’s also the kind of hike that makes you think seriously about how far away you are from medical help if you fell down the crumbling bits of mountain you’re climbing up.
After a good seven hours of mountain climbing and jumping for pictures, we made it back down to the Dalton Highway, and started heading South.
The thing about hiking far away from camp out here is that you can nearly always find a ride out, but not always a ride back. So on trips a long distance from Coldfoot, you hitchhike back.
The whole day was so very Alaskan, from climbing a mountain to hitchhiking with truckers and helping them change a tire.
Great story !
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Looks like you got some seriously good air in your pic. Good shutter snapper.
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You should teach Kailyn how to tell stories because that was a pretty good one. Call me when you're in Fairbanks and we'll do something adventurish!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an amazing day! Jealous. I need to get out and do something like you.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Also, that's a great tire changing story!
ReplyDeleteso i believe the flat tire part is one of the reasons my mother thinks that driving to coldfoot is NOT kosher... oh well i like your hitchhiking sign!! :) oh and i need to send you mail since i have a small little exciting present for you! it has elika written all over it... well not literally. but ya know what i mean :P anyways have fun climbin those mountians yo!
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