As the sun never really leaves the sky this far north, the night seemed extra short due to the fact we had all stayed up talking in the sun driven rain. Mel arranged for the crew to tour the town of Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and drive to the end of the highway marking the highest north you can drive in the United States. The town of Deadhorse is the public portion of the town and it has a parts store and pseudo gas station.

The Prudhoe side is restricted by the Oil companies that built all the infrastructure for the oil crews to work on the North Slope. Is was quite astonishing to see how much is really built up in this harsh environment. Three thousand people inhabit this place on a rotating schedule while drilling.

When we got to the end of the road we all ventured out onto the Jetty and little Mel decide he would take the Polar bear plunge and dove into the Arctic Ocean only latter to think maybe it wasn’t good idea. It was a lonesome feeling out there looking into the ocean as it was rainy and gray but it marked a point for all of us as a huge accomplishment.

Once the crew was all back together Mel explained we would be driving someplace past Fairbanks back down the Dalton Highway and to expect close to a 14 hour day.

The weather was rainy and dreary but the clouds were high enough to allow the group to be able to see a lot of the Brooks range and vast expanse of what was in front of us.

As the group approached Antigun pass again the weather took a turn for the worse and we were stopped on top for construction in a snow storm.

While waiting for the pilot car a 1929 Ford sportster pickup came rambling up from the other side. He was on his way from Key West which would mark the lowest you can drive in the US to Deadhorse which would be the highest. Now we all consider ourselves pretty tough in all these built JK’s but he obviously showed us as he had no wipers or side windows or even a heater for that matter!

Once we were off the mountain the pace picked up as we had miles to cover. We drove into the small off the beaten path town of Wiseman, Alaska and we were instantly taken back 100 years. It was an old mining camp and most of the buildings had been turned into a museum.

Once we got back on the road we quickly made the miles to Coldfoot for our fueling stop and then it was back on the road for more perfect scenery.

As we motored on down the Dalton the miles grew shorter and we knew we had to be getting close to our destination for the evening. We pulled into town of North Pole and it seemed very fitting end for where we had been the past two days. You learn quickly to expect the craziest things on the JK Experience!