After watching X Overland’s first couple of seasons and seeing them work toward completing the Pan-American Highway, the seeds of possibly completing this daunting adventure myself were firmly planted. Spending this summer in the Yukon, I have met several people who are attempting to do the same making this dream continue to flourish. Maybe it isn’t such a crazy idea? I mean, it is, but an adventure that maybe isn’t as far out of reach as one may think!

The Pan-American Highway, for those that have never heard of it, is a network of about 30,000 km of roads connecting all the Americas. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the longest motorable road in the world. It starts In Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and continues down through Central America finishing at the southern tip of Argentina in Ushuaia. Many people I’ve met here over the summer have taken large chunks of time to complete it in one go, whereas others are doing it in stages. Breaking the Pan-Am into sections and completing them one section at a time.

Due to the nature of my life right now, I think this would be the best way for me to tackle it, one section at a time and being in the Yukon, the time to start is now! So, in late June, after packing up the Jeep, Layka and I headed toward the Dalton Highway and the furthest north you can drive in North America, Deadhorse Camp in Prudhoe Bay and the start of the Pan-Am.

At the start of the trip, the sky was dark and raining but as we came down out of the clouds and continued west along the Top of the World Highway, the weather was showing signs of clearing, a welcome sign for sure! After refuelling in Tok, Alaska we headed north toward Fairbanks. I’ve put a lot of kilometres on the Jeep in the last while so before continuing up the Dalton I took the Jeep to the dealership in Fairbanks for an oil change and a quick check-up. With the oil change complete, we made a quick stop at a few places for fuel and supplies before heading toward Livengood, AK and the start of the famous Dalton Highway. The Dalton is a 666 km (414 mile) road made of dirt and sharp gravel also known as the “Haul Road” that was built during the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline which parallels the road the entire way north.

 Our first day would end about 60 miles up the Dalton at the 5-mile Campground located just past where the Dalton crosses the Yukon River. In Chapter 5 of Alfred Lansing’s book Endurance about the Shackleton Voyage, he writes, “Only those that experienced it can fully appreciate what it means to be without sun day after day and week after week.” Although not as harsh as the darkness in winter, I believe the same can be said for those who have experienced a sun that never sets. Since arriving in the Yukon at the beginning of the month I haven’t seen a single sunset or star of the moon and as I sit up in my tent journaling at 11:00 pm it feels like it should be lunchtime! Luckily my tent is made with blackout fabric, so it’ll be nice and dark inside when I finally put my head to the pillow.

The next morning, I woke up quite refreshed, I guess the swarm of mosquitos constantly humming outside made for great white noise! Last night while cooking supper the gentle breeze kept them at bay, but now that breeze was gone, and the mosquitos were out in full force! While walking Layka after breakfast, I looked around the campsite to see who else had arrived through the night. There was a nice couple from Saskatchewan driving an F-150 and towing a G13 Trailer from Patriot Campers, but the main thing that caught my eye was a very well done up Jeep Wrangler JL which had all the nice AEV stuff you’d want and to “top it off”, it had an Ursa Minor roof camper. The Ursa Minor camper replaces the fibreglass roof of your jeep with one that has an integrated popup camper that you can enter from the inside of the Jeep. If I were to do my whole setup over again, I would get an Ursa Minor. Maybe someday!

After the quick meet and greet the bugs were attacking so we packed up and headed north. Shortly after our departure, we came upon a very cool landmark. There is a unique geological feature called a Tor, which is caused by the extreme freezing and thawing of the ground that results in rocks being pushed up. This particular Tor is forty feet tall and called Finger Rock for obvious reasons, it has been used by Bush pilots for years as a navigation aid as it points directly towards the city of Fairbanks.

A short time later we hit an absolute milestone as we crossed over the Arctic Circle, the northernmost line of latitude on Earth at 66o33’N, marking the border to the Arctic. There is a very nice sign marking the Arctic Circle and a couple of super friendly Bureau of Land Management workers who were willing to take pictures for you in front of the sign. They also hand out a certificate in recognition of crossing the circle! A nice memento indeed!

As we came down from the open high ground we were surrounded by trees and the stoic rocky peaks of the Brooks Range were towering in the distance. As we were approaching the village of Coldfoot, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a giant Bull Moose in amongst the trees and stopped to try to get a picture. Shortly after that, we entered Coldfoot where I filled up with gas at a “reasonable” $7.49 US/Gallon. Can’t complain when it’s the only fuel for hundreds of miles. There is also a small store and restaurant at the gas station, and I wanted to try the “Snickerdoodle” cookie that I saw the Van Stralen brothers from the Epic Family Road Trip, fighting over when they were here with the crew from XO, but alas, they were all out, so I settled for Oatmeal Raisin. Next time!

While in Coldfoot and had cell service, I called to book myself on a tour of the Arctic Ocean. Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay is an oil camp, and all access to the ocean is restricted behind security so you can only gain access to the Arctic Ocean by joining a tour beforehand so they can perform a security check to allow you access. With the booking done, we were off and as we were getting deeper into the Brooks Range the scenery was becoming more and more epic. A major tributary to the Yukon, the Koyukuk River was winding its way alongside the Dalton as we headed higher and higher toward Atigun Pass, a high mountain pass which, at approximately 4700 feet high, is where the Dalton highway also passes over the Continental Divide. Before the pass, the Koyukuk Pass was flowing towards the Pacific, but once you come down from the pass, the Atigun River was flowing north towards the Arctic Ocean. A very amazing transition to see in only a couple of kilometres. The clouds were low in the pass, so the apparently amazing views didn’t reveal themselves, hopefully on the trip back.

About half an hour after descending the north side of Atigun Pass, we made it to the Galbraith Lakes campsite and our home for the night. The clouds were still concealing the mountain peaks in a blanket of grey to our south but there was a tremendous view of rolling hills of tundra proceeding to the north. As I was planning to take the polar dip in the Arctic Ocean tomorrow, I was hoping for warmer sunny weather, but we’ll see, it is called the Arctic Ocean after all! Due to the cloudy weather, the mosquitoes were back again. I’m pretty sure I donated a sizable volume of blood while making supper. It was so bad that once supper was ready, I took refuge in the tent to eat. After supper and journaling, I dozed off again calmed by that sweet gentle hum of thousands upon thousands of insects trying to break down my door and bleed me dry!

After another amazing sleep, I woke to a very welcome sight, the clouds had parted, and the early morning sun was illuminating the Brooks Range with a golden glow that made them look even more spectacular. It was also cooler this morning which kept the bugs to a minimum while I made breakfast and cleaned up camp. From this point, we were only about 3 hours away from Deadhorse Camp and as our tour wasn’t until 3:45 PM, we took the morning nice and slow soaking up the amazing scenery. I got the drone up for a bit and reorganized a few things before we headed out.

Only once you’re out of the foothills of the Brooks Range can you grasp the vastness of this land. The rolling hills of tundra carried on as far as your eyes could see with the pipeline snaking along beside you being your only companion. The road is very well travelled with a steady stream of oil trucks passing by. The roughest part of the road for us was where road construction was taking place but usually, we had to wait for a pilot car to lead us through safely. Closer to Prudhoe Bay the road changes to smooth pavement for about the last 80 or so miles. Once the road changed to pavement, we started to see more and more Caribou. The closer we got to Deadhorse the more we saw just hanging around in the tundra near the road.

We made it to Deadhorse Camp at around 2 p.m. and after checking in at the tour office I went to fuel up and pick up some souvenirs at the Brooks Range Supply. The sign for the store is surrounded by what seems like thousands of stickers from people and groups that had made the trek in the past. Next time I need to make sure to make some Agatsu stickers before heading out! I checked back in with Deadhorse Camp Tours at 3 p.m. and met up again with the nice couple from Saskatchewan with the G13 tent trailer. Together we were a group of about 19 on the tour. Once we left the office it took about 45 minutes to reach the Arctic Ocean.

Today the sky was clear but there were very strong arctic winds billowing from the north. On top of the wind, there was still ice covering most of the water!! I was worried that I was the only one foolish enough planning to swim but there was a nice young couple from Fairbanks that intended to do the same. Together we dared to brave the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean in only bathing suits. We took turns and swapped phones so we all could get photographic proof of our insanity! The water was ice cold and extremely shallow, only about knee deep, but once I got out far enough, I quickly laid flat on my back and managed to get my whole body underwater. When I resurfaced the wind was piercingly cold, my heart was racing! Damn, it was cold!

As I ran back to the beach, I stumbled on something sharp and felt a sharp pain in my leg. After I returned to the beach, I saw blood running down my shin. There are a lot of old discarded items from the oil refinery. Rusted out drum barrels, wire etc. The area we were in seemed to be clear of all that but apparently not, as I had hooked a piece of wire on my way back. Either way, it didn’t seem too serious, and the feeling of the cold heavily outweighed any pain in my leg, so I quickly dried off and got dressed. As we entered the bus, the tour guide presented us with Arctic Ocean Polar Bear Swim certificates to make it official before returning to the tour office. We got back to the office at around 5:30 and with the sun still being high in the sky I decided to make my way back to camp again at the Galbraith Lake Campground. As we left Prudhoe Bay, I guess you could say that this was the official start of my Pan-Am adventure.

The trip back to Galbraith was just as amazing as it was in the morning. The mountains of the Brooks Range started off looking tiny in the distance, and as we got closer, the balance from the sunlight coming from such a low angle and the huge shadows cast on the rugged peaks made for a spectacular sight. It reminded me of just how small we all really are in this world no matter how big we believe our troubles are. A reset of perspective to be sure As the day was sunny and warm the welcome party of mosquitos was there to greet us back to camp so set up, supper and into bed happened at a world-record pace. Once up in the tent, I could enjoy the beautiful scenery while journaling from behind the safety of my bug screen.

The next morning, we were greeted with blue skies again and after a quick breakfast, I packed up and started heading south toward Atigun Pass. This time the stunning mountain vistas that were hidden from view on our way up were out with all their magnificence. I fueled up and grabbed a delicious lunch at Coldfoot before carrying on down the road. Shortly after we left Coldfoot I drove by someone walking along the side of the road pulling a cart. Atsushi, a young Japanese man is on a mission to walk the world. He is currently making his way to Ushuaia, Argentina to complete the Pan-Am on foot! At the time of writing this, he has already made it as far as Fort Nelson, BC.  You can follow his journey here. After a nice chat, and him being happily surprised to meet a Canadian who speaks Hakata-ben on the Dalton Highway of all places I wished him well and we parted ways. We did manage to meet up again during another trip later in the summer and I will write about that trip in my next post.

We rolled into the 5-mile campground a few hours later and once again, after a quick setup and prepping supper, we retreated to the tranquillity of the tent to escape the hoard of mosquitoes and eat in peace. There was a passing storm that rumbled in the distance which created a very cool atmosphere for our last night of the journey.

I must be getting used to the tent because I had another good night's sleep despite the late-arriving RV that had to park right next to me with its generator consistently running all night long! The weather was nice and pleasant which made for bugs from the start! There were so many that even Layka was driving herself into the ground to wipe them off. Upon seeing that I moved her into the Jeep for at least a bit of reprieve. After a quick breakfast, we were off toward Fairbanks, a short while past the Dalton Highway sign, where our adventure began, we came upon a Momma moose with her calf munching away at some aquatic plants, a very cool closing to our Arctic adventure! After a brief refuel and resupply in Fairbanks, we were off toward our summer home while thinking of where to go next and how to continue our journey and complete the Pan-Am Highway.

If there is a challenge that you want to do don’t let it stagnate and ferment only in your thoughts! As the old saying goes, “Where there is a will there is a way!” The main thing is to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep challenging yourself!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and I thank you so much for taking the time to do so. If you like what you read or have any comments, please leave a like and comment below and if you haven’t already done so, please follow me on the social links at the top of the page for the most recent updates on our latest adventures.