Dalton Highway – Northbound - Part 2

July 9th, 2026

Deadhorse, Alaska

Woke early this morning, 6:30ish, mainly as my bladder said to get up.

After walking over to the café to use restroom and back, I was awake enough I decided to just pack up and get an early start.

Changed into riding gear (which is not easy in a tent) and packed up the bags.

Uncovered the bike and started to bring bags over, but not putting them on yet.  Tore down the tent, which was a bit damp along the bottom edges from the grass which had been dew covered this morning.

Once everything was carried over to the bike, I started to load it up as usual.

Rode the bike over to the café and went inside to have the breakfast buffet.

Used restroom one last time and then we hit the road.

Turned out of the Coldfoot station lot (which is all gravel) and the road was still paved going north.  It was a rough pavement, with several gravel repair sections and some other just beat up sections, but at least could keep decent speed.

Stopped along the road for some photos and to fix the GPS, and then went onward a bit more till I reached a rest area and had to use it.

Not long after this the road moved to gravel, but mostly hard dirt with light layer of gravel on top, so still keep speed up good.  Few rough sections and some loose stuff now and then.

Started climbing in altitude as we approached the one big pass on the route.  Atigun Pass reaches around 4000 feet (did not see sign, and do not have internet right now to check).

The road up was steep!  And the gravel was bit heavier and looser here, so slowed things down a bit.  We had been on some really rough road the last 10 miles or so and that had also slowed things.

I have noticed with this bike that I cannot find a speed that will smooth out the washboard as easily on this road, mainly because there are also dips, bumps, rocks and just rough rock/asphalt chunks everywhere so there is not rhythm that can be found with the bumps.

And at about 40MPH the bike basically becomes uncontrollable, bouncing all over and the gravel just gets things slipping side to side.  Sadly, you have to stay around 20MPH to keep the vibration to a level that will not kill you or the bike.

I see the other bikes roaring down the roads, so not sure if this is an issue with the Suzuki suspension, perhaps related to the fork seal oil being lower than normal, though I recall similar bouncing on the other gravel/dirt roads this trip, just not as bad.

Or is the bike too light to counter the bumps, but heaving enough to feel them all the way?

I know the 50/50 tires are not the best for this type of surface.  They really are better in fine gravel and dirt, but the larger rock gravel just rolls the tires around.  Probably should run a 60/40 or 70/30 offroad tire on this road, but then all the highway miles getting here would suck.  I think this might be why I hear of people putting on different tires in Fairbanks or Dawson City for those running up the Dempster Highway which is very similar (just longer).

Either way, we just went slow, which was a bit of an issue with the cars and trucks which started to pick up on the other side as well.

Once down off the pass, we hit a road works area that was a one lane setup where you had to follow the pilot car through the route.  And it was long, probably 10 miles at least.

Oddly I was the only one needing to go through, so got to run behind the pickup on my own.

Past the road works a bit and the road became hard packed dirt again, and things were nice for a short time, then it went to crap again.

Very washboard, rocks jutting up, large pot holes and bumpy areas, all combined in many cases, and sometimes wet with Calcium Chloride sprayed all over the road.

The gravel became very think as well.  Would just push the bike all over the place, could not keep a straight line in it, and was always having to get over in it for passing trucks.

Had to stop several times along this stretch.  Once to piss, once to see if my tire was flat because I could not keep bike going straight, and a few times just to relax my hands or wait for a truck.

Short bit of rougher asphalt relieved things, but then it was back to the bumps and gravel, just without the wetness this time.

Finally reached asphalt again about 50 miles out from Deadhorse, was rough in many spots, but what a relief!

And then amazingly, after about 10 miles the road became a wonderfully smooth flat road across the tundra!

Finally, could let me hands and arms relax a little and get some speed up. (Still needed to stay under 55, this was longest stretch between fuel I had attempted so far and at this point I was showing only about 30 miles of range beyond what I needed, so was going to be close.

Was not paying close attention and only at the last moment did I see the heard of about 8 musk oxen grazing off to the side of the road.  Got the camera going, but only after I passed, so probably will not see much.

Finally reached the edge of Deadhorse where the highway ended, and we went onto the loose gravel local roads.

I had marked the general store in town as my destination, as they are the place with the Welcome to Deadhorse sign that everyone always gets a photo with.

This meant about 2 miles of local road to reach that place.  I saw the store and the sign and was in the parking lot heading for it and then 2 pickups pulled in from other area and both parked right in front of it!  The timing of it all. (To be fair, the area is a parking spot, and the store had the hardware store in it which I am sure is used often).

I stopped nearby and checked my phone and as I feared, still no service.  So could not research any place to stay.

My idea of visiting and then riding back to the Galbraith campground was not going to happen.  That was 2-3 hours back down the road near the bottom of the pass with all the horrible road slowing things down.

I just pulled across the road to the large Brooks Camp lodging place and inquired about a room there.

All of the lodging in town exists primarily to house the oil workers and other contractors in town for work.  It has only been in the last 20 years or so that they all started to take tourists as well on a regular basis.  They have catered to the hunting and fishing groups that would come up in the region more in the past, but now you have all the highway drivers like myself, going up just to drive the road and reach the most northern spot in North America you can drive to.

The lady at the desk checked and said she did have space, and then spent some time trying to find where to put me.  It was not cheap!  $425 for 1 night in a small room that barely fit the single bed and recliner with some floor space in front of the sink and closet and small shower and toilet in a separate room.  One window, facing the front entrance cover, so basically zero visibility.

But that cost did include meals at the cafeteria and snacks in another room.  Might have included laundry as well, I found the laundry room much later and there was not way to pay for it, so must have been able to use it, but was too late to do so for me by then

I unloaded the bike into the lobby as they did not allow outside shoes in the place without putting booties on, and that would have meant putting 6 or more pairs on to get all my gear in.

Once it was all inside, then I changed into my inside shoes and that was fine to walk around in.

Carried it all to the room, which was thankfully on the first level and just around the corner from the entrance.

Once in the room I got out of the gear and took a shower as I was needing one badly.

I then sorted gear a bit and put some things on the charger.

I then walked up to the cafeteria and had dinner, which was buffet style with lots of options and was actually pretty good.

Had a few deserts and then went back to the room.

Thankfully they had Wi-Fi as well, so was able to get a few things done, then I moved footage to the laptop and then walked up to the snack room, hoping to find a bottle of water or something to drink.  Picked up a fountain drink and bottle of milk, grabbed a bag of chips and then back to the room.

Drank the drinks, but did not want the food by then.  Stacked the bottles over on the sink as you cannot toss any food related stuff in trash in the rooms, then have large bins in hallway for that stuff.

Played online a bit, but was very tired and I wanted to be up early so I could get breakfast before I left, and breakfast was only served till 7:30am.

So, time for bed, tomorrow we get to head south and do this all over again in reverse!

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: