Saw a nice Caribou with developing antlers next to the road and finally saw a Northern Hawk Owl.  They hunt in the daytime like a hawk but have the characteristic facial disk of an owl.

Day 2 on the Dalton was 60 miles in a little over 3 hours.  We met a few classic cars going south from a show in Coldfoot.  Couple of 20’s Fords, a 30’s Chrysler and a 60’s Pontiac.  It takes a lot of courage to bring a classic on this road.

We came upon road grading Dalton style.  Pull the gravel back out of the ditch, push it into a pile in the center of the road, add water from the creek via tanker truck, then grade smoother.  Where the pile of material was still in the middle it ranged from 4” to 2’ deep.  In one spot it was too close my edge of the road to run between it and the ditch so-cross over time.  Run on the larger side of the pile until you find an opening, suitable for the car height, to get back on the right side of the road.  A few really soft spots during the watering and grading process will undoubtedly be the first potholes to redevelop in this section.

Greeters at the Arctic Circle were very welcoming and knowledgeable.  They were named 2013 BLM volunteers of the Year.  This is their 5^th year up here.  The experience must have spoken to them.  We found them happily sitting inside a screen tent enclosure swatting with a mosquito racket.  She reported having taken her morning DEET bath too.