Prudhoe Bay Trip - Day 5

When we left Wiseman that morning we saw that the road had been freshly watered. We drove a few miles, then saw the brown mud turn white. Uh oh! We were caught behind the truck spreading calcium chloride!



For anyone who doesn't know, calcium chloride dries very hard. It makes a dirt road feel like concrete paving. But when it is wet, it is the slickest thing imaginable. Much worse than ice.

We made it through without going down. From there it was easy riding. All we had to do was contend with trucks spraying water on the road every few miles.



Oh yeah, and graters. And worse, areas where there was fresh gravel but the graters hadn't been buy yet.



Soon, however, we were back on asphalt and heading into Fairbanks and back to Anchorage. It was a wonderful trip.

Day 1 - Anchorage to Fairbanks = 358 miles @ 60-65 mph average speed
Day 2 - Fairbanks to Wiseman = 330 miles @ 40 mph average speed
Day 3 - Wiseman to Deadhorse = 236 miles @ 35 mph average speed

Approximately 1850 miles roundtrip.