Arctic Circle or Bust!

After a night in the rain, I rolled up my tent and got breakfast at the Coldfoot Camp cafe. I drug in my damp sleeping bag and grabbed a booth by the heater. After chatting some more with the Chilean motorcyclist, I pedaled off into the rain aiming for the Arctic Circle.

 For awhile the pedaling was easy, still going downhill. There were fall colors everywhere. Although lightly drizzling, I made good time and was in good spirits.

I came upon a float plane left temporarily by caribou hunters. Want to trade?!

Finally my luck seemed to run out. A real bitch of a grade faced me, climbing for several miles up to a summit innocuously named "Gobblers Knob".  Strangely it was paved for awhile, way out here in the middle of nowhere. At the summit a sign said I had pedaled past Prospect Creek, formerly the location of the coldest temp recorded in North America. No winter pedaling here that's for sure.

The cycling was now across broad valleys and then up steep hills. It was progressively getting tougher. However there were lots of pretty views and streams for filling my water bottle. A bit cool and grey, but I was psyched to reached the Arctic Circle shortly!

Pulling into the Arctic Circle parking lot, I met a group of about eight Chinese-Americans posing with the sign. It turned out one was from Lyons, Colorado, just down the road from home. A helpful BLM Ranger took my photo. She was from Oregon, up for ten days, covering for a vacationing local ranger. She was definitely glad to be escaping all the Oregon fires and smoke.

I chose to not camp at the really nice looking BLM sites at the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle sites are on a hill, exposed to the wind and lack water. Dropping down the highway to the nearby Fish Creek, I found a nice comfy and sheltered spot for the night.