keep the animal vibes coming.  When we left Watson Lake the animal count was pretty slim.  So I asked for good vibes to be sent my way.  Thank you and please keep them coming.  We have seen wood bison, a caribou, a swan family, elk, deer, and a couple of playful bears.

What is a stop at Watson Lake without a picture of the sign post forest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_Post_Forest  It has gotten so big the visitors center had to move out of their building. These pictures are just the outskirts of the forest, there are over 80,000 signs now.  While I was taken the pictures of the sign post forest Roy was taking pictures of ravens eating lunch. I am so glad we have seen a few more animals now, I am not a big ravens fan (football team either).

Heading down the road just a little ways outside of Watson Lake we get our first look at some wildlife of course on the other side of the road in the ditch but you could still see them.  Yes, two cubs still getting along with each other.  Yes I know it looks like they are biting each other but they are just playing :).  It was cool seeing two of the same type of animal at the same time.  A little further down the road we were treated to about sixty wood bison on the road, the side of the road, and a few playing in the dust bowl.   I know there even seemed to be some romance possibly in the dust hole.  Judge for yourself I know there was sniffing.  I was enjoying stopping and watching then moving on just to see some more bison about ten miles down the road.  Here we had some scratching, and standing in the middle of the road.  The cutest thing was we had pulled over near the shoulder of the road and a calf who was just growing some horns was trying to sound tough by snorting and looking at us like hey you scared you better be because I’m tough.  Check the look out on his face. I was amazed at how many calves were spread between the two groups of animals.  I think in all the times we’ve seen bison or buffalos that between the two groups it is the largest number.

We stopped at the 60th parallel north https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60th_parallel_north . We will be crossing it again when we leave the Northwest Territories after Yellowknife.  We did not see anymore animals until we got to Toad River Lodge where we set up camp in site 14 which has an awesome view of the lake. Here I was treated to a family of swans.  Even though the cygnets are grey these guys were still regel.  The male swan, called the cob, helps the female, known as a pen, to look after their babies, called cygnets until they are a year old. The young don’t spend more than one day in the nest once they hatch.

After we left Toad River we encountered a caribou who thought he owned the road.  We slow down to get beside him because he is on the side of the road, well he thinks it’s a game.  He decided to walk in front of the car then zig zag slowly kinda like you need to drive slow you want to see me.  I will post the video of this soon for know here’s the picture. Mike who is the other half of Cindy a couple from Fort Collins CO we met at Toad River had to go to Fort Nelson and he told a very similar story.  So I think it might have been the same one.  Speaking of Cindy and Mike The first night we were in Toad River I start talking to the couple at the next table and ask where they are from and which way they are headed.  I could tell that this was their first trip to Alaska and they were headed home.  You get the I’m hooked look in the eyes.  They were stuck in Toad for a few days because they had an issue with the steering on the truck, so explains why Mike had to go to town.  The cool thing was is there are still people out there ready to lend a hand so they were able to get it fixed.  I enjoyed hearing about what they liked about Alaska and how they had to see everything.  I hope they return and stay longer in spots they enjoyed.  I also got the opportunity to show Cindy some of my pictures including the mega moose from a couple of years ago. (They said they haven’t seen any large moose.)  Speaking of moose that is one animal we have yet to see this trip.  We saw elk and a few deer today but were not able to get a picture.  I am hoping that we do see one so keep sending your good animal vibes.

Rough roads, hail, snow, fog, clouds, and rain the views were all worth it.  I think the best part of the drive were the views of the Mackenzie River Delta Each time we crested a hill we were greeted by vast expansive views. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_Ri

 

The richness of the soil and the amount of water lends to the lush greenness, the white you see is the waves of cottonweed.  these really look like huge q-tips.  Traveling the ITH you never know what you see coming around a corner.  The thing that we kept seeing was the numerous abandoned snowmobiles.  They are just sitting out in a field or by a side road.  Some of them have been there quite a while.  You have to wonder the story behind the vehicles like this one .  Some of the snowmobiles had pallets leaning up against them others had sleds attached to them.  Roy kept mentioning he was surprised that the vehicles were left alone, I was surprised at how many there were.  I was impressed with the winding of the road and how it hugged the water, no animals though.  As we were pulling into Tuk there is the Parks Canada Pingo National Landmark.  The area contains 8 pingos. Ibyuk Pingo is the tallest one in Canada and the second highest the tallest Pingo is in Alaska.  You can actually paddle out to the pingos it is only a 45 minute paddle.  Maybe next time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingo_National_Landmark

The morning we left Inuvik for Dawson we got a small break in the weather. Cloudy but not a lot of rain.  In fact here are a few pictures of the views going towards Eagle Plains.  We left on Saturday the 29th headed to Eagle Plains.  We were lucky enough to peak in and out of clouds and weather for some vista pictures.  Side thought here I’m glad we could see more of the landscape traveling south on the Dempster because of perspective and what side the rolling landscapes were on. You can also see the road that we were headed on a few minutes later.  The white you see is the cottonweed.  The road itself looks wet and it was. 🙂  This picture shows how close to the road the clouds were at one point.  We kept driving in and out of the clouds all the way to Eagle Plains.  I thought it was cool watching the clouds engulf us then we would suddenly be out of the clouds. The funny thing about pictures and promises they can almost not happen.  I know I said I would get pictures of the Northwest Territories (NWT) sign, as we approached the clouds just engulfed the signs.  Have no fear Roy came through.  I think the pictures look great in the clouds.

We also were able to travel the Richardson Mountains https://www.britannica.com/place/Richardson-Mountains which are believed to be the Northern most point of the Rockies.  Speaking of the rockies we crossed the divide 3 times.  Water was flowing into the Artic ocean and the Bering sea.  I had a hard time watch water flow basically north.

 

 

We made it to the halfway point Eagle Plains just before the weather turned super bad for the night including a little bit of hail.  I am pretty sure we were one of the last cars through before they closed the road. The RV park here only has 6 spots with electricity we were too late to snag one of these.  The good thing is we did get a spot. It was still closed in the morning.  If we ever travel together let us bring up the rear or you could easily get stuck somewhere without the group.  It looked a little messy heading from Eagle Plains to Dawson but we had to push on.

One point in the drive we were almost above the clouds with the sun out.  The clouds were so thick we almost missed our fox and the Ogilvie Ridge turn out. This is a picture of the pullout on the drive up the Dempster.  This fox has been fed before he was almost begging for food.  In fact the trash cans were overflowing and when we pulled in he had already been feasting on the trash.  I wish people would think before they do.  He kept coming by and sitting down looking like PLEASEEEEEEEEEE!! The fox did finally leave when more people pulled in.  He was pretty scruffy because he was wet.

After we passed this turn out it did start to clear up, the weather up here is very strange.  I am glad that it cleared up so I could grab a picture of how red orange the rocks are near Red Creek and Sulphur Springs.  The one warning I can give you is do not drink the water.  As water travels through limestone it picks up parts of the rock and breaks it down.  The color is a result of the high levels of calcuim, magnesium, sulfate and chlorine.  This colorization occurs for 25 kilometers here is just one picture. It looks like it is mud but that is actually a burnt orange color.  It is mentioned that you will sometime smell sulfer I did not.

We headed down the Dempster to the junction.  I was thankful for the fact that we were back on pavement.  The dirt on the car and hitch were not nearly as dirty as it was on the way up to Inuvik, but I have a feeling I will be finding and cleaning Dempster dirt for a while.

 

in the land of the midnight sun (ok 24 hour) sets Inuvik, NWT, Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuktoyaktuk .   Tuk is 69 degrees N just barely above tree line which begins at 69 degrees N.  The contrast between these two cities and the rest of Canada is interesting because it seems that Inuvik is still in what I would think the 60’s were like, Tuk I feel is probably more like the 40s.  Just the vibe I got.

Inuvik most interesting quality is their sewer and water transport system called Utilidors.  The fact that due to the permafrost you can’t bury your utilities they are ran above ground. https://www.inuvik.ca/en/living-here/Water-Sewer-and-Utilities.asp   Speaking to the locals when they were kids they were also used as ways to get around town.  Some must still do it today as on the town’s website you should not walk or play on them. The original utilidors also carried hot water to heat homes.  Both Roy and I were intrigued by these tubes running all through the town.   The town is in the process of upgrading the system.  This Wikipedia article is full of interesting facts about the utilidors.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_tunnel#Arctic_towns I think it gives a unique flavor to the city.

This picture shows the view of the town with a utilidor in the foreground.  If you ever thought there was no Walmart north of the artic circle we found the twin sister to those stores.  It is called Northmart and according to one local just like Walmart only more expensive and less quality (I cleaned this up).  The store itself even had a food court. I guess when you have a captive audience. The town itself is still growing but like any struggling town you have your closed up businesses. One place everyone said to eat at was Alestine’s  I think every northern town has to have a restaurant that uses a bus somehow for a restaurant.  The food was great locally caught white fish and for desert a piece of tail (Eskimo Doughnut with hot fudge and honey) .

The first night was the Roost which was a Chinese/Subway/Pizza joint all rolled into one.  I see a trend happening put everything you need under one roof.  Another example one of the gift stores doubles as the feed store. There does seem to be a disconnect with technology some places still have dial up internet. It seems to be untouched by Facebook, Twitter, and people obsessed by their cell phones. (unless you count the tourists). This is why Inuvik in my opinion is stuck in the 60s. I did take a few pictures of the marina and where you used to dip your toes in the water and get your certificate.

The sign in this picture states do not leave boats unattended at the docks. Technically it’s not at the docks.

I do have to say Inuvik has lost some of the end of the road as far as you can go appeal because of the completion of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH). This drive had so many vast views and you felt like you could see forever.  When we got to Tuk it was a strange feeling for me as I was truly at the end of land,  you walk out to the edge of land and there is nothing but water in front of you.  I’ve been to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean but I can’t put words on how this was different but it was.  The Artic Ocean was at the top of the world maybe that was it.    I did not put my feet in the water just my fingers.  I have to say it was a tad chilly but warmer then I expected.  I had my winter hat on and just a sweat shirt, not too bad though.  The sense of accomplishment kept me warm. (ok my story).

The town itself was quieter then I thought it would be no cruise ship land tours yet.

We ate a restaurant called ‘End of the Road’ I think it was a converted industrial building, housed rooms upstairs, a small store, and a lunch room style restaurant.  Roy and I just had a burger.  We did not eat at Gramma’s Kitchen though.  I did stop at the Fur Place it was interesting because when you think of gift shop you think of a store front.  This was her house, it was actually her kitchen area.  There were shelves with local artists works available for sale.  She was working on a pair of mukluks, such intricate detail work.  I had noticed the amount of felt picture stories that are up for sale.  She explained to me that is how they tell a story, be it the northern lights to hunting polar bears.  Tuk felt untouched but I wonder how long it can stay un commercialized.    I bought a hand made leather ornament in the shape of a pingo.  It was enjoyable being able to talk to her about her culture and how she wants to share and pass down the traditions.  I then stopped at the visitor center in Tuk.  I was greeted by three friendly enthusiastic young adults.  I asked how they felt about all the tourists coming up this year.  They answered it gives them the ability to share their culture with the outside world.   It was well worth the trip to get here.  I thought you would like to see the cemetery, the reconstructed sod house, and a landscape.

I have to say these two towns have become dear to my heart.

I went shopping! I also saw things I will never forget, and learned about a culture that has piqued my curiousity since childhood. We spent about a week in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk which is the farthest north you can drive in Canada. We arrived after a long wet day of travel and were welcomed to a needed break staying at the Happy Valley, free showers. First thing first we had to give the car and Lancelot a bath (or the important parts).

I noticed right off how friendly everyone that we met were, the man who pumped our gas also helped to power wash some of the car. If you can picture me grabbing on to a whipping snake, you can understand why Roy and the other man took over. Some things I’m learning I know even with practice will be painful to watch. Then it was off to dinner at the local pizza, oriental, sandwich shop, called the Roost.

Plans have changed a little this trip mainly because of weather, which is all ok.  It allowed us to be able and explore the area.  I truly enjoyed learning about the igloo church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Victory_Church_(Inuvik) and how it is one of the few buildings not built on pilings, because of the permafrost and ground shifting.  The most interesting part of the night I took the tour was the story behind the woman who after a hunting accident painted all of the paintings inside the church.

I also stopped at the visitor’s center in Inuvik, where I learned about how Tuktoyaktuk is adapting and growing with the influx of visitors, since the road is now a year round road. The craving outside of the center was so detailed and I love the face.       

I ended up buying a t-shirt, some handmade earrings, and stickers, plus I gained a ton of knowledge.  Inuvik was a nice place to rest after the trip up the Dempster.

That’s how many driving miles Roy has under his belt (adding professional and personal).  I am so thankful for this.  The second day on the Dempster started with a little drizzle not to much dust that’s a good thing.    I am looking forward to the drive back so I can see the sites that were in the clouds/fog on the way up.

We started off so we could miss the snow forecasted for Eagle Plains, our neighbors in the campsite we are at they got stuck at the ‘Welcome to the Northwest Territories’ sign for two nights due to weather.  We were probably the last car through before they closed the road due to weather.  I am jumping ahead but here are two videos taken during day two.

That was the sign I will have a clearer picture of when we travel back on Saturday.

This driving into one of the cloud banks.  I was very quiet during this part of the drive I was also thankful that Roy is a retired truck driver.  I have to admit it was spooky because there were a few spots where you could not see if there was a road.

Back to the beginning of day two; we encounter a bridge built by the Department of National Defense as a training exercise.  BTW it’s still in great condition .  We continue up the road and cross the artic circle.  Quick stop to check trailer and take a picture, before the mosquitoes carried me away (rain does not deter them).   It was something I thought I would never get to cross.  I got to cross it three times in one day. (flat tire).  This is another reason I am so glad Roy loves to drive.

It cleared a tad and we came over a hill to the sight of white, thought it might have been snow.  It was actually a field of cotton weed.  Roy said it looks like q-tips on steroids’.  Will get pictures.  Shortly after the field of q-tips we hit a rock and experienced a Dempster Highway adventure our flat tire.   That will get the coverage it deserves in it’s own blog.  Fast forward 3 hours back up and running.  We hit the clouds and had some slickery going then our first experience on a ferry on a cable.  They pull you across it takes about 5 minutes.

Our second ferry took a little longer and we ended up having to have boards put under so we didn’t bottom out, of course this was after they bent a rear stabilizer (oh well).

The rest of the trip up the Dempster was pretty uneventful, did see a few loons. The best thing about day two, was watching Roy clean off some of the hard earned mud of the day.   We only did the door, the hitch, the water heater vent, and the refrigerator vent.  All in all good safe travels with an experienced driver.  I am looking forward to the trip back to Eagle Plains, and Dawson City.