That is what they say the Dempster is. Located outside of Dawson City on Yukon Hwy 2 is Hwy 5 which turns into NWT 8 (NorthWest Territories) better known as the Dempster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dempster_Highway . We started on Sunday 6/23/19 at 10:43am. Side note the car and trailer are amazingly clean, which changed soon after. It took us a little less then an hour to reach the Tombstone Interpretive Center this is where we noticed are first change in the landscape. Roy was looking at the landscape and described broken rock face hills to the right that quickly changes to a smooth black polished look. I also got my first look at snow. Tundra frozen or not always look so lush. Driving along it was interesting how the trees turned to shrubs with an occasional tree.

As far as animals on or near the road they were few a bunny, marmot, and a crazy duck trying to cross the road. In some of the lakes we saw loons, and gulls. No real big animals, about 4 million little ones with wings and fangs. Oh wait, those were mosquitoes. 😅.

The funny thing about the mosquitoes is you think people are exaggerating there is no way they are that many. My thought was I can handle these guys, because the state bird of Wisconsin is the mosquito. So a word to the wise I am not exaggerating when I say wear chainmail. The other thing we noticed is they seem to be immune to all the usual repellents. I guess the caribou migration ended about two weeks ago. Maybe on the trip back to Dawson we might catch something.

Even if the animals are scarce the vistas  make up for some of it. Speaking of vistas the view from Ogilvie-Peel viewpoint   you can see for 120 miles on a clear day which we had. Other interesting things we saw this first day were our first pingo, an airstrip that we drove on (Ok it is the road that can be used by airplanes.), white flowers so dense it looks like snow on the ground, and of course snow. The one thing we did not see alot of on the road were cars.

The drive was extremely dusty because of the dry roads. Dust can be brushed or blown off except to keep the dust down you have trucks go through and spread water on the road. When you add water to dust you get guess what mud. So the trailer looked like it had been through a rain storm (BTW it did go through one on the 24th, more later.) Upon our arrival at Eagle Plains, Erica checked us in answered all my questions before I could ask them I think she must get the same questions over and over so she covers it all before she’s asked.  Check out my blog about Mayberry RFD oh I meant Eagle Plains.

 

or ketchup or mustard. Leaving the Takhini Hot Springs campground https://yukoncampground.com after a night with a little rain and some mosquitoes we have a short jaunt up the Klondike to Pelly Crossing. I’ve blogged about the campground before but in short it’s secluded in the trees, reminds me of camping in nortern Wisconsin. The only thing is they have to truck in water so it is best to be self-contained, there is also a hostel if you don’t have a camper.

Back to the journey at hand. Filled up at Pelly Crossing got there early in the day so what was the decision, head on down the road. People who have traveled the Klondike now the campground is free but with no services. So scheduled stop scratched (this is all part of SOP camping) I am up for this. I do know first year not doing a stop I would have stressed, so I am getting better.

We then approached the junction of the Klondike (HWY 2) and the Silver Trail (HWY 11), no real place to camp. On to Mayo and a stop at the Bedrock RV park it was only 30 miles. Upon arrival at Mayo we find that the RV park with those three spaces and get the answer to why they did not answer the phone. Closed for season to renovate. Did I mention it was still raining on and off.

Well we decided to check out a Yukon Territorial Park down the road, because we still wanted to head to Keno, the next day. No go on the park to many mosquitoes, so we then decide to drive through Mayo and check out the town. Long story short we decided did not want to drop the trailer and head to Keno the next morning for a day trip.

If you are keeping track we just changed 3 nights of plans so what to do. Back to the Klondike and about 15 miles from the junction we decided to stop at Moose Creek Yukon Territorial Park for the night. Good choice, but, it is getting close to dinner got lucky and pulled into Moose Creek Lodge right before they closed.

These moose are out front of the restaurant we ate at. I’m thinking these might be the only ones we see. (slim on animals) We did see 2 black bears on the road to Mayo.

Bedding down for the night we were able to get the last pull through in the park. The $12 Canadian a night is good for no services. As a side note I recommend checking out government campgrounds. Here’s a link to the Yukon site http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks this is how we plan on camping our way up the Dempster. You can also get free fire wood if there is not a burn ban.

The next morning we get up and make the 100 mile journey into Dawson City with the hope of checking in early. Got lucky and have had a great time exploring with the extra days. So SOP traveling is not that bad. I do wish there would have been meat in the Mayo sandwich.

What do you need for a rain forest. RAIN!! We take the ferry to Haines early in the morning of the 11th. Yesterday, we arrived in Prince Rupert actually Port Edward, staying at a campground built into a hill. Roy’s out checking to see if we should hook up early and head out due to all the rain coming down. Roy’s back we are staying will hookup after dinner.

It’s been chilly the last few days so normally with electricity we would give the propane heater a break. Normally if you had an electric heater that worked. We had to say good-bye to one we’ve had for at least 10 years. Roy plugged in the space heater the other night turned it on and pop something sparked. It’s all good though because the propane heater is an amazing warm maker. The funny thing about losing the electric heater was we have a perfectly good one at home. I had a thought that I should bring it with us just in case the space heater we were using went south. I think I should follow through with those thoughts.

Pulling in yesterday we dropped the trailer and decided to drive the area seeing I scheduled an extra day here. You never know I might want to go shopping. I am glad I did because driving here today would have been icky in the rain. The town of Prince Rupert had a few gift stores bought my first t-shirt of the trip. Not what I expected for a stop off for cruise ships.

We did eat a good dinner at a local restaurant. The town of Port Edward has a historic salmon cannery that is a national landmark.

So here are pictures from the cannery.

Prince George found us at The Railway and Forestry museum, another Harvest Host campsite. The grounds were 8 acres of old trains, equipment, and stuff. We were able to just take the train around the perimeter.

Roy even decided to be a conductor, so cute.

This was after the train ride. The property looked like an organized mess of antiques, Roy said that if someone did not want something give it to the museum. That was what was happening until they had to take a year off of taking anything. Now they are going to be picky. Here are some photos of the museum grounds.

All in all it was a cute museum. The grounds butted up to a bunch of cottonwood trees, and guess what it did to my allergies.

On the drive up from Barkerville we got to see a lynx the dash cam caught it. I have to say though it was to far away to get a clear shot. So next on the bucket list is to see a Spirit Bear or a Kermode. We are staying an extra day in Prince Rupert to drive the area for some stalking. https://bear.org/what-is-a-spirit-bear We also saw another black bear, no babies yet but I think they are in the future.

Check out the video page I will be posting a few here and there.

seen it covered it. I’ve been known as a snow magnet, I’ve also been worried this could follow me here. (IT DID). Tonight (June 6th) we are staying at Forest Rose campground near the historic town of Barkerville, BC, very quiet campground. The reason it’s so quiet is possibly the weather. Sane people stayed home. Driving here from Cache Creek we had some sun, some rain, then on the final leg into Barkerville it started. First it was slushy, then it was harder and in the form of hail then snow. It did not stick but OMG it got cold.

We will see if there is any on the ground in the morning we have had light rain on and off but it is going down tonight. I am glad we decided to come and spend a night here even if the rain kept me from enjoying town.

Animal wise it’s getting better we are now up to 3 deers each seperate sightings. Cows are up to 890 million, a few horses. The cherry on top was our first black bear of the trip. We have it on camera and on dash cam video.

We are nice and toasty in our trailer with the propane heater. Tomorrow is another Harvest Hosts at a train museum in Prince George BC.

We made it minus six levelling blocks, I’ll expound and state a valuable lesson at the same time. Spent the morning trying to find a bank or duty free shop to exchange money with no limit. Found one not Wells Fargo because we are not customers so I had that on my mind. Next thing happened I had to check the little room in the back of the trailer inside I hear the tailgate close, I’m thinking he picked up the blocks. After I lock up I don’t look around like I always do; in the car we hear clunk jerk. I asked what we run over. Roy says it’s probably a sticky break cause I checked the brakes in reverse. I say do you want me to go look. Roy’s answer was no. Fast forward to camp setup at Cache Creek that night, guess what wasn’t there. Yes, the nothing we ran over. (should have got out) We had enough for the hitch but decided to be a tad off balance. Lesson learned don’t mess with routine.

You know how you prepare to cross the border based on past experience it’s never the same. I finished up my milk so we didn’t cross the border with it. We both went over our answers to how long you in Canada for, how much money we had. It was not important. The female Border Agent was more curious about Roy’s trucking career and what I retired from then anything else. The other thing was asking two different ways if we had any alcohol. After going through our passports she saw a stamp from our entrance into Beaver Creek Canada in 2017. We said yes, she then asked if we’d been searched then. I said no, (Roy thought she was going to say well then today’s your day). She smiled when I said we wanted a stamp because no one does that anymore. I did make sure Roy would not contaminate any more border crossings cause he would stay in the car. (If you haven’t heard about that I’ll retell it just let me know in the comments).

So border crossing done headed to Cache Creek BC

We chose this route because of all the fruit stands that were closed the year we drove through here to avoid the fires. Well, this time through the fruit isn’t ready yet so gues what that means. Another trip north just a little later in the season. Heading up 97 to Peachland we were near water, beaches and vineyards. Maybe next trip spending a few days here.

Picking up 97c it was all ups and downs. Very little traffic on the road, I think because it is mountainous and winding. Taking back roads you never know what you will find, like the Highland Valley Copper mine.

It was gigantic. These are roads I am learning to enjoy.