The big news for the day was our trip to the Arctic Circle and beyond. We were on an eight-seater airplane to get us to Coldfoot. Fortunately, all 6 of our Texas company were on the same plane (along with our new friend from Germany, Decleff). Unfortunately (?!) Coldfoot had had around two feet of snow the night before.
A good deal of the way our pilot, Bennett, had to navigate through clouds, so there really wasn’t much scenery to look at. I’m pretty sure our resident Texas pilot dude, Larry, was probably geeking out and maybe wishing he was in the driver’s seat.
When we landed we had to be guided through the snow by a bulldozer. Bennett did a masterful job, though, and we were soon deposited at the Frozen Foot Saloon for lunch.
And what a feast it was. Chris had a huge bowl of beef stew. I had some tater tots and a turkey club sandwich. Actually, it was more like two of them. But it was good. Especially the bacon. We had time to take some pictures. Got one in front of the Coldfoot post office. Oh, and the whole time it was snowing. They had already had nine inches, so this was all bonus.
Next we hopped in a van to begin our journey south. We got to say hello to the camp’s racing dogs. We weren’t allowed to touch them, though. All business hounds.
Our tour of the entire town of Coldfoot took all of ten minutes, and that’s including the five minutes with the sled dogs. From there it was time to hit the Dalton Highway, home of the infamous Ice Road Truckers. We did see a few big rigs, but they were few and far between. And we averaged between 22 and 30 mph over the potholes and gravel and slush and ice and snow and in general, really rough road. Basically, think one gigantic rumble strip.
We didn’t see many critters. The bears were all asleep. The alleged Bullwinkles were “too shy”to come out. We did see a bird. Looked like a raven. And an owl and a white hare.
Speaking of birds, when we stopped at the famous Arctic Circle sign, our new guide Mike passed out tiny pistachios. Not for us to eat, though. Each of us held one up in our hand. Suddenly, an army of Canadian Jays swooped down. One landed on each hand and took up the nut. Pretty cool photo op.
At this point we changed vehicles from our van into a full sized bus. We combined with a few other vans to fill it up. Our new guide was Mike. Mike liked to talk. He drove us quite a ways back towards civilization.
There was an issue just before we stopped for dinner. All the gauges on the bus just stopped working. The bus didn’t stop, though. We made it all the way into the Yukon River food stop. We already had a sack lunch, so the eating part didn’t take long. After dinner some of us walked down to the Yukon River. I may or may not have touched it. If I did touch it, I would say it was pretty cold. Cary and I posed together for a pic. Our ladies stayed behind.
Next stop was just a ways down the road. It was a great photo op with snow-covered trees behind us. Of course the bus lights provided the front lighting. Amazing.
We made another stop in an effort to see some of the Northern Lights. They were up there, but it was pretty cloudy. Our iPhones did pick up a little. Chris got a few faint pictures with her phone. It’s tough to get excited about this when you have seen what we have seen.
A few miles up the road, however, we did stumble upon a pretty good splash of the lights. Mike found us a safe spot to stop and let everyone take a bunch of photos. He was rapidly approaching his driving limit, though, so we had to hit the road.
We met up with another driver after a while. Mike had reached his limit. The plan was for the other guy to do some more chasing of Northern Lights. However … Mike offered the opportunity to bail on the new guy and call it a night with him. Our six jumped at the chance.
As it was we made it back to the hotel by around two instead of the 4:30 or 6 on the original schedule. We set an alarm for nine so we wouldn’t miss breakfast. On to bed.
Galatians 6:10 says, Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
Father, bless Mike and his family. And help him as he learns to live with a cat. Amen.
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