ATIGUN PASS

For geographical nerds, the precise location is 68 07' degrees N and 149 28' 33 degrees W.  That address will bring you on to the North Slope of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska.  Or, for pedalers like me, that is Atigun Pass. This mountain and pass is at the head of the Dietrich River where the Dalton Highway crosses the Continental Divide. This is the highest point in Alaska--at least where a road goes through.  

In my experience, this is one of the most beautiful and dangerous passes I've ever encountered.  There have been TV shows made of the road that leads through Atigun.  As one observer noted, "This pass has been responsible for taking many drivers off the road and is also the home to avalanches during the winter."

The road is unpaved and I'll never forget picking and washboarding through mud, crud, ruts, and dips as we ascended the pass.  Another thing--the weather can change within seconds.  For Rick and I, within moments the clouds blocked any sunlight that might have been shining and the fog was so dense that we could not safely proceed--for two full days!

The final push up Atigun was so steep that we literally did PUSH our bikes up and over the pass in the rain and lingering fog.  That's when we saw it.  On the summit, morning sunlight was breaking through, an eagle soared, catching a funnel of rising air and being lifted straight up in a circular coasting manner.  The scene was idyllic, exquisite.  We were in a moment that took our breath away with its ravines and rivers and colors that defy description.  

Once atop the pass, you look down from where you have just pedaled and see the road below winding so far in the distance that huge riggers now appear like tiny, imperceptively moving ants, and the vast valley below spreading out like a master painter's crowning work of artistry.  You are on top of the world.  You are atop Atigun Pass.