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Gladman

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Hopefully you didn't have to spend too much time there. It looks like a really tough place to work, especially in the winter. One person told us that many of the crews work 2 weeks on, 12 hour days, then the company flies them home for 2 weeks off. That's a job for young people. I hope they get paid lots of money.
You would be surprised how many Boomers are working these FIFO (fly in fly out) jobs. I did on a 7/7 rotation for 10 years until I retired at 65 1/2. At least 50% of the workforce of 4000 was over 40.
Very lucrative financially, and people look to establish a good retirement fund. It is tough on the home life however and there were many divorced/separated men and women onsite.
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SeanKenmore

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Awesome adventure! I plan on driving to Alaska as well but I'm coming from Virginia. I want to travel through Canada and into Alaska. Thanks for Sharing.
Mee tooo From Maryland 😊
 
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Terry

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My wife and I drove our new Gladiator from California to Deadhorse, Alaska, an 8,856 mile adventure. As soon as the Canadian border opened to U.S. citizens on August 9th, 2021, we crossed into Canada on our way to Alaska. What beautiful country they have in British Columbia, The Yukon, and of course Alaska! Something I have wanted to do for years, is to drive to Deadhorse, Alaska, at Prudhoe Bay on the Artic Ocean, the most northern point you can drive in the United States. We heard so many warnings about driving the Dalton Highway.

"You'll end up with a broken windshield, and broken headlights because of vehicles throwing rocks, (didn't happen). "You better take lots of food, because you won't be able to buy any along the highway." (We took way too much food, and had a couple of real nice meals in the restaurant at Coldfoot, and the buffet at the Aurora Hotel in Deadhorse was very good.

Aurora Hotel, Deadhorse.jpg
).

"You better take two spare tires." (Something left over from the early days of the Dalton, I think.) While muddy, the road wasn't really that hard to drive. Sure, you had to look out for the potholes, and frost heaves, but we talked to a couple that drove their 1984 motorhome half way, then drove their 20 year old Subaru the rest of the way. For the oncoming 18 wheelers, we just pulled over and stopped to let them go by. Most of them waved. It just made the travel easier for everyone.

We reached Deadhorse on August 16th. After touring the town, we headed south to Galbraith Lake to camp. It started raining. We crawled into the tent early. I was relieved during the night that it stopped raining, but what I didn't realize was that it had started to snow. So on August 17th we woke up to about 2 inches of snow on the Gladiator. I was a little worried about going over Atigun Pass when it was icy, but we let a few trucks go over first, and they broke up the ice. All in all, it was a great trip! There is so much to see in that part of the world. I've been reading some of the trip reports from our members in Alaska. We missed a lot. I'm already starting to plan our next trip.

JT mud & mountains.jpg
JT Galbraith Lake.jpg
My brother Joe did this in a Subaru Outback in 2019. Just him, his dog, a cheap cooler, and a sleeping bag. One morning he got up to pee just after daybreak and came face to face with a Wolf. They studied each other for a moment and when his dog barked from within the car the wolf just sauntered away. He had this on his bucket list for years and just one day told the wife he was going and after purchasing the Subaru left. He was gone over four weeks. His wife of more than 60 years died a year after his return of Lupis and he sold his estate winery and left for where he grew up in central Illinois.
 

Gobi Wan K

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I drove to the arctic circle in 2020 to camp there. Did the drive in a 2 wd Nissan Murano. Couldn't get my Jeep up there. Had no troubles at all even after reading all the same things about broken axles and needing extra fuel and multiple spare tires. Stopped to top off fuel at Yukon River camp and had the chili. Being full on Covid lock down there were almost no cars on the Dalton and not that many trucks. We had half hour or better stretches of not seeing another soul. There was only one other camper at the arctic circle. We did choose not to go all the way to Deadhorse as I was slightly concerned that we were not fully equipped but I think we really would not have had any trouble. I am still amazed at how lush and green the landscape was there. Amazingly beautiful.
 

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Frogwopp

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Hopefully you didn't have to spend too much time there. It looks like a really tough place to work, especially in the winter. One person told us that many of the crews work 2 weeks on, 12 hour days, then the company flies them home for 2 weeks off. That's a job for young people. I hope they get paid lots of money.
[/QUOTE]

In the 90s, I flew for a company out of Fairbanks that did the weekly DOT crew exchange in Galbraith. They worked week on / week off. Hard work but no one complained. Loved their jobs. Ditto on great food in Coldfoot.
 

ShadowsPapa

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The son of the guy who owned the former AMC dealership shop I worked in was a couple of years older than I was. In the 70s he would buy a Jeep in Iowa, drive it to Alaska, spend the season working on the pipeline, sell the Jeep and fly back to Iowa. Next spring, he bought another Jeep, drove to Alaska, worked the pipeline, sold the Jeep in Alaska and flew back to Iowa. He said he made a killing selling the Jeeps up there, more than paid his way getting up there and back.

I told my wife of this thread and she said she'd love to make that trip some day - but at our age, some day will likely not happen.
 

Ferg

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I would LOVE to make this trip. What would be even more fun is if a group of us got together and did it. I used to be in an Audi group that did GTGs every year...talk about a blast! The added benefit is that you have a backup in case of a breakdown.
 

Redruby

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I drove a 2wheel drive pickup in2010 had no problems got to the Arctic
Ocean camped all the way and then went to Inuvik. Planning to go in 2022 in my new Gladiator with a couple of friends and hope to get to Tuktoyaktuk since there is a summer road now. Should be. 3-4 month expedition, really looking forward to it
 

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Lost1wing

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Dead horse was my destination back in 2008. Made it to Coldfoot and decided to do more camping in BC instead.
 

Free2roam

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Would love to get a group together and do this!
 

Wango's Tango

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Did this in 2019, great fun, tons of mud. I would suggest going to TUK as well, maybe even intstead of Deadhorse, as you can camp on the Arctic ocean up there. Both great, planning on 2024 to do it again.
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