OurNextStop: Arctic Circle

The Arctic Circle is the invisible circle of latitude on the earth's surface at 66 degrees 33 minutes north, marking the southern limit of the area where the sun does not rise on the winter solstice or set on the summer solstice-a geographic ring crowning the globe. It is approximately 1,650 miles from the North Pole!

Much of AK is above the Arctic Circle!

Well, put another way it is about 190 road miles north of Fairbanks. We could not leave Fairbanks without a side trip to the Arctic Circle. It was beautiful sunny day for a trip across beautiful undeveloped portion of AK!

Main part of the trip was on the Dalton Highway which goes all the way to Prudhoe Bay which is 300 miles further down the road then the Arctic Circle. Dalton Highway was mostly a gravel road, but not nearly as rough as the one to Dawson City several weeks earlier.

And, much of the Alaska Pipeline runs along the Dalton Highway. We crossed the Yukon River along the way.

Dalton Highway, nearly 500 mi long!

The Alaska Pipeline and the Dalton Highway

Sometimes it is closer then other places!

"The Finger" A natural landmark used by Native Americans over the centuries as well as pilots moving aircraft to Russia as part of the WW II Lend-Lease program and brush pilots in more modern time.

Miles and miles of miles and miles of beautiful country!

The Yukon River

The bridge over the Yukon River!

Getting closer. This is THE rest stop we had!

Those "bends" in the pipeline are part of the system to make it less vulnerable to earthquake damage. They provide some give in the line so it can move without breaking!

This is a cut-away of the pipe showing a "pig" inside the pipe. They send the pigs thru periodically to clean the pipe and make the oil move easier. The crude is about 100 degrees in the pipeline!