Finally, with all the delays behind me, I caught the bus to Deadhorse. It was a long journey, but it gave me a chance to see how the Haul Road looked for when I cycled back!
The bus to Deadhorse
(Blog post written Tuesday 21 July 2009. The plan was to take a bus to Deadhorse from where I would begin my cycle tour from Alaska to Argentina.)
I got up nice and early, as after all the delays I was eager to get going. It was a half hour ride down to to the Northern Alaska Tour Company and I arrived at 05.30.
There was a full bus of ten passengers, and I was the only cyclist going north. The other people on the bus were a real mix – There was a student heading for a research station, four hikers, and a headteacher heading back to her school in the middle of nowhere amongst them.
Checking out the route I would cycle
On the way up to Deadhorse, I made mental notes of where were good places to camp or get water. I also saw an arctic fox, carribou and a bear.
Most of the other people were dropped off before Deadhorse, and I finally arrived at sometime after 23.00.
At over $200 a night, the ‘hotels' were way above my budget, and so ignoring the notice which said ‘be careful of the bear', (with its current photo-fit picture), I went around the back of a warehouse behind the Carribou Inn and set my tent up in the shelter it provided from the wind.
![stealth camping in Alaska](https://www.davestravelpages.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/view-over-deadhorse.jpeg)
The following day would be the official start of my cycling journey from Alaska to Argentina!
Here's the other Alaska bikepacking blog posts in this series:
- Biking from Deadhorse to Happy Valley
- Biking from Happy Valley to Galbraith Lake
- Biking from Galbraith Lake to Random Roadside
- Biking from Roadside to Marion Creek
- Riding from Marion Creek to Arctic Circle
- Cycling from Arctic Circle to Five Mile
- Riding from Five Mile to Elliot Highway
- Cycling from Elliot Highway to Joy
- Joy to Fairbanks
- A day to rest the knee
- Fairbanks to Salcha River
- Into a headwind
- 100 miles in the bag
- Riding from somewhere I can’t remember to Tok
- Cycling from Tok to Northway Junction in Alaska
- Cycling across the border between Alaska and Canada