PowerCycle

08/10 Tacked on a few more miles but this trip to the Arctic Circle may end sooner than I’d like. The last 2 days have been up and down some pretty big hills and the strong, freezing headwind have made it impossible to stick to my planned 50 miles per day. Unless I run into a place to stock up on food I might not have enough to get back if I continue on. Tomorrow I’ll make the call. At the beginning of the Dalton Highway there’s a town on the map called Livengood. I have no idea what’s in that town or if it’s even a town. The only building I passed all day was The Trading Post and it was closed. I don’t know what they sell or when they are open so I can’t plan on using them for anything (no business hours sign either).

I got hit by a random act of kindness this afternoon. I’d pulled into the Trading Post and for a second thought the Closed sign was wrong because there was a huge Greyhound-sized tour bus parked there (Holland America Tours I think). It wasn’t wrong. Before leaving I figured I should at least take a picture. That was when the tour guide got off the bus and gave me a bottle of water and 2 bags of chips. We talked for a minute and then she got back on the bus and they left. That provided a nice boost both physically and mentally.

The place I’m camped tonight is pretty sweet. It’s on the rock-covered bank of a small creek. No danger of flash floods from the looks of it because there’s old and new vegetation growing right next to the water and there’s no debris in it. I almost had a heart attack while I was cooking dinner. I was downwind of my tent with my back to it when I heard something very big coming down toward the river. It seemed too loud for a bear but what do I know.

My first instinct was the get up and investigate so that’s what I did. Not far from the other side of my tent is a path leading up to the gravel parking lot. Walking right toward me was a huge freaking moose with 2 calves in tow. They weren’t more than 10 feet away. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there and said, “Oh my God!”. The moose heard me at that point and turned 90 degrees and walked a little faster into the bushes parallel to the river. I ended up seeing them further down the creek. Sitting outside my tent now is a really long stick and a pile of rocks. Not sure what protection they’ll provide from a charging moose but it’s better than trying to wrestle it to the ground and going for a submission hold.

Woke up at 3am or so this morning and saw that it was 36 F in the tent. Brrr. It warmed up to 56 F today but with the wind chill it was much less than that. No sun either which didn’t help. Couldn’t they have made the Arctic Circle in a less hilly, warmer area? Jeez.

GPX Track