Day 1
The cold is dry. It hits any exposed skin with stinging needles. There's little pretense of style as we clump towards our vehicles swaddled head-to-toe in parkas, thick long-johns and heavy boots. Our breath exhales in billowing white clouds.
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| Photo: Lesley Wimbush |
The convoy is made up of two long- and five short-wheelbase cargo vans, and two passenger vans.We dub our white cargo van "Norge" -- not only in honour of the first airship that flew over the North Pole in 1926, but for its resemblance to a big, white refrigerator.
We leave the relatively civilized Anchorage and head north. The Sprinter is easy to drive and equipped with Continental winter tires. It feels secure on the slick, icy road.
Our 576 km route takes us through Denali National Park -- a vast 6 million acre preserve containing Mt. McKinley, which at 6,196 metres is North America's highest peak. As the elevation climbs, we see the tree line dwindle from mixed forest to small coniferous trees. The temperature gauge reads -40 Celsius as the sun goes down -- the coldest yet of the journey.
We pull into Fairbanks at 7:30 p.m. that evening, weary, yet deeply impressed by the ferocious beauty of the day's landscape.