Coldfoot Alaska: Getting There

Big Daddys combines 2 of my favorite things: meat and Santa

I am back from my adventure to Alaska! Actually I've been back for a few days now, but between catching up on sleep and chores I haven't had a chance to write.
Anyway, since there is way too much to say about my trip to Coldfoot Alaska for one blog, I thought I'd break it down into sections and space it out over a couple days. This first installment is about  how one gets up to such a remote place.
So, getting there. First of all, where is there? Well, it's about 250 miles north of Fairbanks, but surprisingly that doesn't help many people out because most people don't know where Fairbanks is. So instead you could say it's around 600 miles north of Anchorage. It is technically in the foothills of the Brooks Range, but metaphorically it is located in the middle of nowhere. In fact, if you could look up the definition of "the middle of nowhere" it would probably have a picture of Coldfoot Camp with an arrow that says "here".
I flew from San Jose, to Seattle, to Anchorage, to Fairbanks. On top of it being a long day in general, it was especially so because all of the Alaska Airlines servers went down nationwide, and so everything at the airports was all messed up. In Seattle my original gate to Anchorage (which said Anchorage on the monitor behind the counter, and on the monitors along the concourses) was actually to Atlanta. I became suspicious that something might be wrong when a family of five planted themselves beside me wearing shorts, flip flops, 3 inch long fake nails, Juicy Couture sunglasses, Atlanta Falcons jerseys and toting 7 piece Louis Vutton luggage set. My new gate I was told was two concourses down. I raced there thinking I was going to miss my flight. I am a pretty good runner, but trying to run a half mile with a backpack and a small suitcase literally almost did me in. I arrived at the gate (that ironically said it was going to Honolulu) sweating and light headed and....found out that my flight was delayed! They didn't have any idea how long, but at least an hour and a half, maybe more. So I almost gave myself a coronary for nothing. It was such a mess! People were just all over the place, missing flights left and right, and even the flight attendants were lost. People were being directed this way and that and none of the monitors displayed accurate information!

Glacier and Mountains south of Anchorage

When I finally got underway it was cloudy and I wasn't able to see much out the window for most of my flight (which was disappointing because I specifically booked a window seat and love to look out and take pictures). Then just before Anchorage the clouds broke and I saw some spectacular snow covered mountains with glaciers and everything. I think I took a hundred pictures or so! It was incredible, miles and miles of pristine white mountains.
Anyway, I finally made it to Fairbanks about 6 hours later than scheduled. I had to stay overnight in Fairbanks because my ride to Coldfoot wasn't till the next day. My hotel the Regency Fairbanks was pretty nice, and they picked me up from the airport for free. It's not stylish or fung shui or anything, but clean and spacious. It looks like it might have been a premiere place to stay in 1989. When you walk in the front door the first thing you see is a mounted reindeer head on the wall and name tag that says"Blitzen" hung beneath it. I personally found it a little disturbing, but I guess when you take it in with the musk ox on the other wall and the giant fish above the door, it lends to a woodsy, Theodore Roosevelt hunting lodge kind of atmosphere, instead of a "torture Santa's reindeer" one that I initially had.
In the room the matching pink toilet and jacuzzi tub were very...retro. And my room had a full kitchen with stove and frig and everything. They had internet and a nice continental breakfast with waffles. Over all for 60.00 it was a great deal and I was really happy with it.

Ice on road, downtown Fairbanks

Jay met me at the hotel (my little brother is the whole reason I was there in the first place!) and we decided to walk to Big Daddy's BBQ for dinner. I was shocked at how the roads and the sidewalks were totally covered in ice! The roads were terrible but at least they had a little texture that might help, but the sidewalks were worse. The ice was more than 2" thick in some places, and there was hardly a clear spot anywhere. I almost landed on my butt more than once on the way to the restaurant, and it was worse in the dark after a couple beers. If I 'd been alone and taken a tumble, I might have hit my head and froze to death before morning! You need those ice climbing shoes just to make it safely to your car! Seriously. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. I still can't decide if I think it is safer to walk or drive there. Probably neither.

Burnt ends of brisket YUM!

Big Daddy's was AWESOME! I would skip eating anything that wasn't meat if I ever made it up there again. Not that the sides were bad, but more that the meat was so good! I got one word for you: BRISKET. I got the brisket sandwich and we had an appetizer of the burnt ends of the brisket slathered in home made barbecue sauce. Doesn't that sound like the best tasting thing ever? Yummm-O! So meaty-licious! I also got to try the local microbrew called Silver Gulch. I had the IPA which was really good and went well with the protein heavy meal.

Typical view up the Dalton Highway

The next day I made my way up to Coldfoot the old fashioned way, in a pickup via The Dalton Highway. Now contrary to what it sounds like the Dalton is not a superhighway. It's mostly gravel (although paved in some sections) and in the winter covered in (what else?!?) a thick layer of slippery ice. It runs parallel to the famous Alaska Pipeline, and was actually built to allow access to the pipeline and oil fields on the North Slope. In all the time we were on the road we only saw two vehicles pass by that were not semi trucks. In our six hour drive up to Coldfoot there were no towns (although we did pass two Department of Transportation camps), neighborhoods, gas stations, fences, emergency telephones, telephone poles or anything else of man made origin except for the road itself, and the pipeline. There was a pull off where we crossed the Arctic Circle at 66 (degrees) 33' and a sign to mark it, but that was about it. You know it's remote when the only sign you can find says you are crossing the Arctic Circle! And the speed limit all the way up to Prudhoe Bay is 50 miles an hour. (I am pretty sure the truckers don't obey that, but I can't prove it). It really is an isolated road in the Alaskan wilderness. The mountains themselves weren't very high, or rugged looking but they just went on forever and ever dotted with spindly spruce trees trying to eek out a living in the permafrost.
The ground was still covered in snow and there were animal trails all over the place. We saw a spot were a caribou herd crossed the road and we were lucky enough to actually see a lynx cross the road ahead of us! Being able to see the tracks of the animals made the countryside seem very alive and full of wildlife even though we hardly saw any. We forget because we don't see them most of the time, that the empty spaces (even in our own yards) are criss-crossed by all kinds of animals when we are not looking. There was hardly a patch of snow for all 350 miles not covered in some sort of track or another, and for that reason I will probably always think of Alaska as having tons of animals everywhere.

Snow at crest of hill along the Dalton Highway

The drive was pleasant, but only because I was with a bunch of people, and knew we had supplies from the grocery (like coffee, wine, and ten huge bags of dog food) in the event that we were stranded. If I were on my own though it probably would have made me nervous and I would make sure to have extra gas, food, clothing, oil, tires, chains, and a CB radio before I attempted to head up that road. The truckers come by often enough that you would probably get discovered if you broke down, but who knows what could happen if the road got closed and you were stuck out there.
The ONLY food/gas/lodging sign I saw once we were on the Dalton was the one that is located about a mile south of Coldfoot. There is something comforting about that little knife and fork:) And then just around the bend we exited to Coldfoot Camp. I'd made it! I was finally there!

I guess most people fly into Coldfoot but I think you miss something by flying up there. It only takes an hour to fly, so it doesn't seem that far away. But when you crawl over the mountains, one at a time, at 50 miles an hour it seems like a million miles away from civilization. When you finally snuggle up in your bed at the Slate Creek Inn after the long day on the road you recall  each mile and hill between you and the nearest Taco Bell and it's a pretty neat feeling; you feel isolated but safe and sound. Going further back, thinking about home and all the miles and plane rides between there and Coldfoot, leaves you feeling utterly exhausted and ready for sleep. Everything else will have to wait for morning.