He last posted 6 days ago. So the wolves are only now getting hungry again.
Dang. Missed him by *that *much! 
1952 is very early (it only opened to the public in 1948), and there were likely few facilities along the way. My parents and I drove it in 1959, and you had to carefully plan your gas stops. You didn’t dare pass up a gas station, and in fact, on the way back up the highway from Oregon, we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere and had three flat tires.
I drove it with my father in about 1972, which was a rough trip with early rains and snow. I drove it myself in 2009, but even with the new Milepost in hand, we came to a planned gas stop only to find it had gone out of business.
OP, plain text:
Bold added.
FTR
I’d often wondered this, ever since my sister drove to Yellowknife.
Is there cell phone reception along these northern highways? How does one communicate if stuck and distant from Ice Road Truckers?
You might want to get a satellite telephone service:
On the Dalton, short answer: no.
Longer answer: There are one or two brief pockets of cell coverage north of Fairbanks, but all within the first fifty miles. After that, nothing until Deadhorse. There is a tower being installed at Coldfoot next year, so there will be another pocket there nezt year hopefully.
Other than that, one communicates with radios or satellite phones.
Most other really remote roads up here are similarly equipped.
Hell, there’s not even cell coverage in much of Montana and Wyoming, let alone in rural Alaska (which is most of it). But there is enough traffic on even those far north highways so that someone will stop to help you before too long.
According to Superman II, it looks like Clark hitched a ride all the way from the North Pole. Wearing just a thin jacket too, so its probably not too cold.
No I haven’t made the drive yet but it’s still on The List. So is a road trip to Panama City by way of Barrancas del Cobre in Chihuahua, and another to Cabo, among some others. So many roads, so little time. (sigh) It got bumped down on The List a little because in 2013 my wife and I did an Inland Passage cruise to Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, on Disney out of Vancouver - my first visit to Alaska (which was my 50th state to visit!). That wasn’t on the radar in May 2012 when I started this thread. So that cured the urgency for this road trip but it’s still in the long term plan.
I’m still fascinated by the Alaska Highway and want to drive far north. I’d plan to swing by Healy AK and drive west on Stampede Road to see where Alexander Supertramp was dropped off, the point where the last person who saw him alive dropped him off. To pay a small tribute. I have no plans to hike out to the Magic Bus on the Stampede Trail. No intention to walk… into the wild. Sadly, the ice road from Inuvik to Tuk will be gone soon. It would be a fun experience to drive an ice road.
It was a large pack of wolves but the wounds have healed nicely now. You should see the wolves. Or what’s left of them.
20,000 was in the trivia dominoes game thread on 27 Nov 2016: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19812841#post19812841
ETA - And 20,001 is right here (this post): http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20026316#post20026316
Here is a map of Healy AK and Stampede Road. Magic Bus 142 lies to the west.
Magic Bus 142: Google Maps
I should mention that you should do yourself a favor on your Big Trip. Take the Old Denali Highway that starts at Cantwell (near Denali Park) and ends in Paxson. It’s mostly gravel and has some of the best scenery you’ll find on the road system. Good fishing on the creeks and lakes along the way, too. From Paxson you can continue north to Fairbanks and beyond.
That sounds great. That is featured on dangerousRoads.org, a favorite site. Wikipedia has a page on the Denali Highway, Route 8. And Google maps tries to route you away from it. Those are all indicators that it’s a route worth traveling.
Hmm, bad link. This should work: Google Maps
It is (or was) a terrible road, full of potholes and washboard. It needs to be driven at about 30mph max or you risk shredding tires. But you don’t want to race across it, anyway. There are campgrounds if you want to spend a night, and there’s Paxson Lodge on one end and all the hotel accommodations on the other. We always came in from the Paxson side, spent the night at Tangle Lakes, then rumbled across and spent the next night at the Brushkana River campground. I remember a good pie and coffee joint on the western section, but don’t know if it’s still in business. The tour buses have clogged up that part of the road, which is annoying, but the Tangle Lakes on the other end are still great fishing and blueberry picking.
It’s not the worst road in Alaska. That would be the Taylor/Top of the World Highway from Chicken, AK to the Canada border. Nice scenery, but horrible, narrow dirt road that will destroy a motor home. In the rain, the shoulders become mud. On one trip it was pouring rain as we crept back down from the Poker Creek border station (it was one of the properties my wife managed for GSA) in our tiny RV. On a hairpin turn I came face to face with a gigantic Class A bus. What the fuck he was doing on that road is beyond my ken. As we inched past each other, with me trying to avoid being forced off the drop on my side, I could see a geezer clinging to the steering wheel, eyes big as saucers.
Thank you, and, understood. I would be driving a Grand Cherokee with strong AT tires plus 2 solid AT spares, and skid plates and auxiliary lights. No trailer, no RV. I’ll get my Ham license and have that radio, and CB too. Maybe satellite, we’ll see but I want to have two comm systems, primary and backup.
Slow going on a scenic, rough road sounds like a good way to go. Tangle Lakes and River looks like a good stop.
For fun, I had a peek on Streetview at the US/Canada border post at Little Gold.
It looks like they sent two camera cars on that trip.
Great Question and interesting thread - sorry I can’t add anything of value, but I’m following with great interest.
For many years my “bucket list” has had driving from the top end of Alaska down to Cape Horn Chile. I think the scenery, the people and the cultures you’d see would be incredible. This is a future thread though.
I’m expecting it will take a year or more so it’s a retirement goal when we eventually pack it in.
Version 1 of the fantasy was on motorcycles, but as I’ve gotten older I’m thinking a rugged SUV / Wrangler type vehicle would be way more comfortable. (Especially after I read about being covered in mud, dangerous gravel / washboard roads and duct taping your clothes to prevent mozzes from getting in - not part of my fantasy)
Good luck with you trip!
Good luck getting through the Darién Gap, the trackless swamp between Panama and Colombia. About twenty years ago there was ferry service between the two countries, bypassing the gap, no more.
Ooh, ooh, I know this one. It’s a trick question, right? The answer is “Halfway”. Or else the answer is “The bear is white.” Or maybe it’s “My hat is red!”. Wait, what forum am I in? What the dosage on these painkillers supposed to be?
Thanks Bibliophage for bursting that bubble you bastard. Did you want to tell me anything else about Santa or the Easter bunny? Glad I’m not your kid.
(Good link - as far as I can tell if I do manage it I will be able to write a book and maybe get a TV show or movie deal out of it)