Call of the Wild - July 10 - Farthest North Spruce Tree - Grayling Lake.

Note: the story begins here: http://1-800-magic.blogspot.com/2008/07/call-of-wild.html

After yesterday’s march we sleep in and take our time. We start really late, stop at the Visitor’s Center at Coldfoot again, and watch a movie about the Alaska Pipeline. Apparently this thing was built in just 2 years – and not surprisingly, at a 10x cost overrun - $8B vs. originally planned $800M. And you thought Vista was bad! They rushed the construction so much that in places they apparently did not do proper surveying. So in one place they realized that they do not know how to build a segment going through a particularly challenging terrain when it was too late. A lot of heroics ensued and the dangerous part was constructed after all, but it was a cliff hanger! I highly recommend the movie (http://www.netflix.com/Movie/American_Experience_Alaska_Pipeline/70097618).

After the Visitor’s center we go to the Coldfoot café. They have no ice cream, and this time the person behind the counter is not nice – she won’t let us refill our water tank. So we skip buying fuel here (we still have enough to Yukon), and head to Marion Creek for the water.

Then on to Grayling lake. This is supposed to be a good fishing place. We try to reach the lake from the higher bank, get thoroughly wet and almost drown in the marsh. The lower part of the road has much better access, but the lake is really shallow here. It starts raining again.