Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Arctic Drive Diary - Days Three and Four

The end-point of our journey becomes the starting point for the long haul back from Coldfoot to Anchorage.

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter's cameo appearance at the Arctic Circle on the way back to Anchorage.

The Arctic Circle sky never failed to delight us as the sun rose that morning,

The sun sat low on the horizon for most of the morning as we drove from Coldfoot to Fairbanks.

Our convoy trucks industriously to the south under the Alaskan dawn.

The clouds hang low on the horizon and brush against the peaks of the Brooks Range.

The many downhill sections had us constantly downshifting the Sprinter's automatic transmission to maintain a steady speed.

The glare off the ice constantly reminded us that bare pavement - or pavement at all - was a rarity on the Dalton Highway.

Another look at hte Dalton's icy glare.

Slippery conditions increased our following distances as we trekked back to Fairbanks.

This tugboat is done for the season on the banks of the Yukon River.

A landslide frozen in time on the banks of the Yukon River.

Analog technilogy picks up where digital technology fails in the ultra-cold Alaskan climate.

Dalton Highway truckers own the road.

They don't slow down, and they don't yield.

And they kick up a lot of snow in their wake, sometimes completely obscuring the vehicle ahead.

Sometimes wider loads would be escorted by scout and chase trucks.

There is not always a place to pull-over when a rig this big blasts by you on the Dalton Highway.

Some parts of the Alaskan Highway are almost devoid of vegetation.

Blowing snow began to pick up on the last day of driving between Fairbanks and Anchorage.

We appreciated the Sprinter's rear fog light in the near-whiteout conditions we encountered on the way into Fairbanks.

As the wind and snow continued to blow, we lost sight of not only the lead vehicle, but often the Sprinter directly in front of us.

A key part of Arctic survival is having a sense of humour.

The damage done in a scary collision with an eighteen wheeler just outside of Denali National Park and Reserve.