Alaska: A Preview of the Brooks Range

As I noted in my overview of the entire trip, and fleshed out a bit more in the entry covering the planning details, the last few days of our time in Alaska were spent in the Brooks Mountain Range, in the north-central part of the state.  (I’ve already posted one entry, displaying a series of images from a part of one day in the Brooks Range.)  The Brooks Range runs for roughly 700 miles east-west and approximately 150 miles north-south, covering portions of Alaska and the Yukon Territory in Canada.

Finger Mountain Rock Garden, Dalton Highway, Alaska

Fall Color, Marion Creek Falls Trail, Brooks Range, Alaska

There is only one form of road access to the Brooks Range–the Dalton Highway, which bisects the range.  Running  for 414 miles from the tiny hamlet of Livengood in the south to Deadhorse, on the Arctic Ocean in the north, the highway was built to service the construction and maintenance of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipline in the early 1970s.  It’s still used for that purpose today, and is also used as a means of supply for the Prudhoe Bay pumping station near Deadhorse.  The entire length of the highway wasn’t opened to the general public until 1994.

Atigun River Black & White, Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska

Sukukpak Mountain Evening, Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska

There’s a marvelous visitors center (the Arctic Interagency Visitors Center) at the tiny town of Coldfoot (175 miles north of the Dalton Highway’s southern terminus), run as a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.  An informational placard at the center notes that fewer than 1% of the visitors to Alaska venture north of Fairbanks (roughly 260 miles south of Coldfoot).  While we were part of that less than 1%, our time in the Brooks Range demonstrated why such a small number of people travel to this part of Alaska:  there are virtually no services of any kind.

Reindeer Lichen, Marion Creek Falls Trail, Brooks Range, Alaska

Koyukuk River Black & White, Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska

Koyukuk River Evening, Brooks Range, Alaska

A trip on the Dalton Highway, from Fairbanks, begins with roughly an hour’s drive northwest on the Elliott Highway (AK-2).  At the town (such as it is) of Livengood, the Elliott Highway junctions with the Dalton Highway; there are no through roads off the Dalton Highway, which crosses the Arctic Circle at mile marker 115, for its entire length of 415 miles.  Prior to its northern terminus in Deadhorse, there are only two towns–Coldfoot at mile marker 175 and Wiseman (turn off at mile marker 187), with a combined population of fewer than 25 residents.  There are only two gas stations (one at the Yukon River Bridge, at mile marker 60; the other at Coldfoot; for the final 240 miles of the road, there are no gas stations, no sources of food and, north of Wiseman, no lodging other than a couple of campgrounds.  Cell service is non-existent.

Grassy Lake Reflections, Sukukpak Mountain, Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska

Koyukuk River Sunrise, Brooks Range, Alaska

The Highway itself is paved in places, graded gravel in others.  It can, in spots, be a pretty rough ride; it can also be extremely muddy in certain locations.  Despite the obviously remote nature of the road, there’s a fair amount of truck traffic, due to the supply needs of Prudhoe Bay.  150-250 trucks a day travel the road (the number varies by season, with more activity in the winter).

Dietrich River Black & White, Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska

Autumn Meadow, Dalton Highway, Alaska

Over the 16 years that I’ve been taking photography trips, I’ve been to some locations that I considered remote.  None of them have been anything like the Brooks Range.  We spent parts of five days in the region and, aside from the occasional truck along the highway, scarcely saw another soul.

Dall Sheep, Atigun Pass, Brooks Range, Alaska

Brooks Range Wetland, Dalton Highway, Alaska

Marion Creek Cascade, Brooks Range, Alaska

When Ellen and I discussed trip planning, once we decided to look into spending time in the Brooks Range (on Ellen’s suggestion), we never considered doing that part of the trip on our own.  This was just a bit too remote for us to feel confident that we weren’t going beyond our comfort zone, so Ellen started looking for a suitable guide and that’s when she contacted David Shaw.  I’ll discuss the specific experience with Dave’s guide service in some detail in a future post, but for now I’ll simply say that the decision to contract a guide for this part of the trip was the right move.  Having now done this trip–having had the opportunity to experience the reality of the Brooks Range and what it’s all about–I’d feel comfortable going in the future without a guide, but it’s only because of having the guided trip and everything that entailed that I can make that statement.  Winging it–going up there by ourselves without any practical experience–would have been a mistake.

Brooks Range Autumn, Dalton Highway, Alaska

Marion Creek Falls, Brooks Range, Alaska

The Brooks Range is magnificent country.  While not quite as majestic as, say, the Alaska Range (the Brooks Range peaks are relatively low; the tallest peak in the entire range is just under 9000 feet above sea level), there’s no end of beautiful scenery in which to immerse oneself in the Brooks Range without ever leaving sight of the Dalton Highway.  And, while there are no formal trails anywhere in the Brooks Range, a short excursion off the road can pay major dividends.

Koyukuk River Reflections, Brooks Range, Alaska

Marion Creek, Marion Creek Falls Trail, Brooks Range, Alaska

Our trip coincided with peak fall color along much of the Dalton Highway.  The seasonal change appears to have been a bit late in central Alaska this year and while that didn’t necessarily work to our advantage during our time in the Denali area, it was spectacularly successful in the Brooks Range.  I seldom hear Alaska referred to as a prime location for fall color photography but my experience on this trip made me wonder why not.  The color change of the tundra, coupled with that of the birches, aspens and poplars, is as spectacular as anything I’ve ever seen anywhere, from the North Woods of New England to the Great Lakes region to the Rocky Mountains.  Coupled with the mountain backdrops, rivers and creeks, lakes, meadows and wetlands, the northern Alaskan autumn provides seemingly infinite photographic opportunities, as I hope to demonstrate in a series of ensuing posts.

Brooks Range Rainbow, Dalton Highway, Alaska

Aven Field Autumn, Brooks Range, Alaska