Dawson (YT), Dempster Highway (YT and NT)

(posted from Inuvik Library, Inuvik, NT)
(this post covers 6-9 July, 2008)

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Wednesday, 9 July-

We spent a wonderfully quiet night in this spectacular place (an unnamed pulloff), waking to overcast skies. We took our time with breakfast and only grudgingly moved on, saying goodbye to the comical little Arctic ground squirrels sharing our parking lot.
We crossed the border into the North West Territory (NWT) and changed our clocks forward—the NWT is on Mountain Time. By late morning we reached the Peel River Ferry and the crossing was completely effortless. Just drive on and five minutes later, drive off. We did notice that both sides of the river have bulldozers stationed at the high-water mark. They are apparently used to make new landing ramps as required, i.e., as the river makes its many level changes. The ferries have long metal loading platforms which extend well out onto the dirt ramps put up by the bulldozers and the ferry operators are good at keeping the ferry tight against them despite the current. The ferries are free government-provided ferries which operate about 20 hours a day from May to October. After freeze-up cars can cross the river on their own (the first couple of trips over have to be exciting, eh?) and after ‘n’ inches of ice are formed, tractor trailers can even make the crossing. But in Spring the ferries can’t run until ice-out clears the river for a few days. It’s possible (I’m told) for ice-dams upstream to fool the ferry operators. They hold back the ice, making the ferry operators believe the river is clear, then release a torrent of ice unexpectedly. The ferry operators have to keep a close eye out for this.
Above Peel River, we stopped at a visitor’s center and met the caretaker, an elder Gwitch’in man named Robert Alexis. In his heavily-accented English (just don’t ask us to speak Gwitch’in!) Robert talked and talked about the area and his family and awarded us certificates for our crossing of the Arctic Circle. At this stop we also spoke with fellow-northbounders we call ‘Bigfoot’ (because they are traveling in a Bigfoot-brand truck camper). They had seen three grizzlies just below the pulloff where we stayed last night! If we had turned right instead of left leaving our pullout, we would have seen them. It was a blonde sow and two yearling cubs. Hopefully we can stop in that area on the way back down the Dempster.
Our next stop was Fort McPherson. We gassed up at the Co-op (as had been recommended to us) for $1.65 a liter ($6.60 a gallon) and then went shopping for a few items at the Northern Store where I saw the gas price was $1.89 a liter ($7.56 a gallon!). A few hours later we crossed the famous MacKenzie River. The ferry ride here was an interesting one. When we pulled aboard the double-ended ferry, the ferryman asked if we were going to Inuvik. I nodded, thinking, where else? My question was soon answered when the ferry didn’t cross to the other side but went upriver to a little town. The ferry crosses the MacKenzie at the mouth of the Arctic Red River and this little town (Tsiigehtchic), population 175, is on the far side of the Arctic Red River. So this is a three-stop ferry. Once we reached Tsiigehtchic, a pickup which had boarded with us pulled off and another pickup backed off (?), then a van pulled on—but of course that means the van was backwards compared to the rest of us, as the pickup had been. When the ferry reached the northbound side of the Dempster, we and two other vehicles drove off but the van stayed on. If he had wanted to go north on the Dempster, he would have had to back off but because he was going south, he and the others who now pulled aboard would simply drive off on the other side. My first three-stop, double-ended ferry.
Once off the ferry we high-tailed it for Inuvik. The road at this point was extremely dusty and consisted of a larger-size gravel which the trucks threw at us with great force. When I’d see a truck coming I pulled off as far as possible and virtually stopped. The flying gravel would pelt the windshield and side of the van and we’d be left in a thick cloud of choking dust. Ain’t wilderness grand?
We made Inuvik by 1745 and stopped at the Jak Park campground for info, then went into town, arriving just as the Visitor’s Center was closing for the day. We did get a couple of key questions answered but didn’t have time to look around.
We then took a quick driving tour of Inuvik and checked out the other campground but found it too noisy and too near the town’s loud power-generation station. We went back out to Jak Park and settled in for the night.

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Tuesday, 8 July-

We woke early today and knew it was time to go. We had low-hanging gray clouds in much of the sky but patches of blue in the distance convinced us to give it a try.
We drove north for several hours, climbing up out of the trees to magnificent views of the sharp-top Tombstone mountains. Around 1100 we spied a cow moose in Two Moose Lake. We took pictures of it feeding at the far end of the lake and we had gone back to the van when we noticed the moose now galloping at full speed across the tundra. We have no idea why it was doing that. It didn’t seem stressed about our presence and it was not galloping toward or away from us but laterally. And when I say gallop, it was doing just that- just like a horse. I had heard moose can chase you down but I had no idea they can gallop like a horse and keep it up over a distance of a mile or more. The last we saw, the moose had dropped down into a small willow-filled valley out of sight.
In about 50 miles we stopped at the next campground and there found six or eight people in the cook-shack awaiting news of road conditions to the north. Of course we couldn’t help since we’re also headed north but I was struck by their unwillingness to move on without assurance everything was okay ahead. We felt we had an advantage—we could just pull off and stay at a turnoff if we needed to.
Another 50 miles up the road we stopped at a turnout near a river and noticed a tour van there. The van was parked headed south so we assumed it had come from the north. I walked over and exchanged info. The driver said the way north was good except for the washout earlier in the week where we would have to await a pilot truck to lead us through but they were supposed to finish up with the road repair today. And the Peel River Ferry was running. (We had heard it was running again but might have to stop as second time if river debris became a problem with more rain). I asked if he’d mind stopping in at the campground to let the folks there know the way was clear and he agreed, saying that would be a good rest stop for his tour group.
In another hour north we came to the washout and the road crew working it. Two fellow north-bounders were waiting ahead of us as the pilot truck began leading us through. They soon began weaving and dancing in the four-to-six-inch deep ruts through the mud and Mocha Joe did his own little dance. We spun the wheels a few times but went through without stopping.
We continued north for a few more hours, reaching the only services in 250 miles, Eagle Plain, by mid-afternoon. I bought enough gas (at $7.16 a gallon) to make Fort McPherson where gas is supposed to be a bit cheaper. But we also needed ice. I was thinking we’d have to pay $6 or so for it but the guy sold us a nine-pound bag of cube-ice for $3.50. As I paid for that I saw a sign about trucker-showers (in other words truckers passing through can stop for a pay shower) for $3 each. But when I told the guy we’d like to buy two showers he said they’re just around the end of the building—just go ahead—no charge. And they were very good showers—clean and hot.
We continued north another hour or so to latitude 65-degrees, 33 minutes--- the Arctic Circle! At the pulloff we took the traditional tourist photos and celebrated this milestone for us. It was one of those back-of-the-mind someday-I’d-like-to goals we didn’t really think would happen for us. But here we are!
I’m not sure what we expected to see at the Arctic Circle—probably a flat tundra-covered area. But the Dempster’s intersection with the Arctic Circle is in a beautiful area of large, rolling hills. The site of the sign marking the Circle has expansive views to the Richardson Mountains to the east and over the treeless but richly-overgrown hills in all directions. We hit it in perfect weather—sunny, sixty-five degrees, a light breeze.
We continued on toward Fort McPherson but decided to stay at a large roadside pullout we came upon at kilometer 263. We had a magnificent campsite—steep mountains, 30-mile views (of the Richardsons—which march peak by peak to the Arctic Ocean), wildflower-covered meadows, dramatic lighting, and even (after a short rain) a double-ended rainbow. After the rain stopped we took a short walk on the tundra but stirred up the mosquitoes and beat a hasty retreat to the van.
And the mosquitoes got me to thinking. I consider myself a very, very lucky man. In the same year, I have been bitten (more than once!) by both Everglades saltwater mosquitoes and by Arctic Circle midnight-sun mosquitoes. The mosquito-biting part wasn’t so pleasant but to get those bites I had to be in some very spectacular places on this big blue marble of ours. As I say, a lucky guy.

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Monday, 7 July-

Well, so much for weather forecasts for the Dempster Highway. But what do you expect for a 450-mile road? Here at Tombstone Park, it rained all night and it rained all of today. We had hoped to explore around Tombstone Park today while the roads dry out. And perhaps they will at least drain off the worst of the water from last night’s heavier rain. Our rain today is very light—sometimes you need raingear, sometimes you don’t.
Last night Labashi started a sewing project to fix the screening on our largest window. To tilt out the window we have to squeeze the latches so when Labashi made the screen she left a fold to allow for that. But after a couple of years we’ve managed to put a few holes in the screen. In Florida I ‘fixed’ it with duct-tape but that was no longer enough. We decided it would be best to sew in a panel of a more durable material (black cloth) and picked some up in Whitehorse.
Last night she finished one latch and this morning the other. Good solution!
After the sewing, we went over to the cook shack. At the Yukon government parks these are enclosed pavilions with concrete floor, picnic tables, and a great little wood stove. On a chilly day like today the stove was perfect.
We were welcomed to the cook shack by Ted and Hilda and backpacker Kevin. Ted and Hilda are from Ontario (Colberg?—east of Toronto). Kevin is from Juneau. We enjoyed chatting for a couple of hours and learning about each other. Kevin, for example, was just finishing up a six-day backpacking trip in the far backcountry. He had left the Dempster at Grizzly Creek and just started off cross-country without a compass or GPS. He said he’s just very comfortable in the backcountry and just uses a topo map to more or less keep track of his relation to the mountains around him. The backcountry near the Tombstone Range is perfect for this—it’s largely treeless and there are no trails (other than game trails).
Ted and Hilda are closer to our ages and were traveling in a fifth-wheel camper and diesel pickup. Ted had been a pig-farmer but said it was a business where a lot of money changed hands but he didn’t seem to end up with much of it. He’s now a mortgage broker and says he likes that a lot better but the American mortgage melt-down is hurting the Canadian mortgage market.
We returned to our van by mid-afternoon but hadn’t been there long when Ted and Hilda invited us to make it a pot-luck meal this evening at the cook-shack. I had asked Labashi if she wanted to get out the travel-Scrabble board we’ve been lugging around for years (and only played once) but when Labashi mentioned it Hilda’s eyes lit up—she’s a big fan but has nobody to play with. So Labashi and Hilda played Scrabble and I read my Jack London biography around the nice, cozy wood-stove while Ted watched the pork-tenderloin roast back at their camper.
We were joined by Bart and Piers Kreps who, believe it or not, are bicycling from Whitehorse to Inuvik. And get this—Bart and Piers are from a little town not ten miles from Ted and Hilda’s home. The two families don’t know each other, it’s merely coincidence that they meet thousands of miles from home.
Bart is 53 and Piers is his teenage son. Bart lived in Inuvik for nine years and that’s where Piers was born. Bart did this ride 20 years ago. He’s headed to Inuvik now to participate in a book-release for two books about Inuvik on this weekend’s celebration of its 50th year. He edited the books and did the layout.
We had a great pot-luck meal. Ted and Hilda brought pork and potatoes, we had salad, corn and applesauce, the bicyclists provided fresh-brewed coffee.
Afterwards the park interpretive staffer did a very thorough presentation on bears. Tombstone has more grizzlies than black bears (because there’s less woods than open ground preferred by Mr. Grizz). She described the bear’s life cycle and how to react in a bear encounter or attack. The one new thing I learned is bear bangers are used in this area but they aren’t the same ‘bangers’ as I saw in Manitoba last summer. In this case the bangers are like firecrackers— when triggered they launch a small rocket which then explodes the banger. The trick is to know how far the banger will go so you don’t set off the bang on the far side of the bear and chase him or her toward you.
After the presentation we walked the camp roads, a short trail to a new visitor’s center under construction and a short trail along the North Klondike River (which still, on 7 July, has ice— pretty blue glacier ice in the shallows).
We finally turned in around 1100 and slept the sleep of the innocents.

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Sunday, 6 July-

Last night was a long one. Around 0230 I was awakened by a persistent noise and it seemed to be growing louder. The noise was a double-thunk every second—something mechanical. Labashi woke soon after and we put in our ear plugs. That seemed to work for Labashi but it only worked a little while for me—the sound soon intruded and I lay awake wondering what it could be. I considered moving us to another campsite but Labashi was soon snoozing away and I didn’t want to wake her. I was resigned to being awake the rest of the night when the noise stopped (about two hours later) and I slept deeply.
In the morning I spoke to the clerk in the campground office but she said she had no idea what such a noise could be. I think it was a water-pump, probably filling tanks above the showers for the next day.
We drove in to Dawson to provision for the next leg of our trip and to watch two more documentary films at the visitor’s center. I love seeing the footage of the Yukon in the 30’s and the camera’s lingering pans over the turn-of-the-century photos.
Shopping at the local markets is a trip. I love seeing the new brands and new-to-me ideas. The other day I bought some sesame flats… little flat cakes of sesame seeds held together with honey. Those were GREAT. I’m surprised to see specialty items like pickled ginger root (for sushi) in a little store like Dawson’s Bonanza Market where there’s not a lot of variety in the staples. And the prices? $6.49 for a gallon of ‘Safeway Water’ brought in from the outside (or you can get local ‘Yukon Water’—typically reverse osmosis water) for $4.99 a gallon. Twelve-pack of Coke? $9.99. Medium container of thai noodles? $7.49. Lettuce spring-mix? $4.99. But you can also get three nice (7” long, ½” thick) double-smoked caribou pepperoni sticks for $2.
After the market visit I talked to the Northwest Territories Visitor’s Center clerk. Today it was Heidi, who turned out to be Reija’s sister (we talked with her yesterday). Their parents were teachers and hippies (according to Heidi) who taught for years at Fort McPherson but recently had to go back to their original home in Ontario to take over the family farm. Bummer, particularly for Dad, says Heidi.
Heidi gave me the update on the Dempster Highway up to Inuvik. A small portion of the gravel road was washed out by heavy rains a few days ago, closing the road but crews have now re-opened it. And the cable ferry at Peel River is reported back in operation after being closed because of the large amount of debris coming down the river from the heavy rains. The weather report says rain today in Dawson but the Dempster is reported to be in clearing weather.
We finished our visit to Dawson with a drive out to Bonanza Creek, the area of the original Klondike find. The road back in is good gravel and the rain had stopped so we had an easy time of it. We took the obligatory walk around the Discovery site, i.e., the place where gold was first found, and took a few photos of Bonanza creek. We then took a small turnoff and drove in five miles past active claims. There are still guys out there digging away for gold but now they’re using hydraulic mining techniques (blasting out hillsides with water cannons), dozers, front-end loaders, and double-XX size dump trucks.
On the way back we met two 60-ish women from New Jersey who are touring in a travel van similar to Mocha Joe. I merely stopped to ask what the brand of the conversion was but then eagerly accepted their invitation to check it out in detail. It was a 2007 Econoline 150 cargo van modified by CycleVan in South River, NJ (I may need that info for my next van!) and by one of the women (an amateur cabinetmaker!). Where we have the low top, it has a high-top but is otherwise outfitted very much like ours. We gave them the quickie tour of our van before saying a fond goodbye. They are an inspiration. This one is their third travel van; they wore out the other two with their many trips.
We then drove to the ‘secret’ gas station. According to Heidi it’s the best price ($1.64 a liter there while in town it’s $1.75—that’s 44 cents a gallon cheaper!) but you have to have a credit card because it’s an unmanned station nights and weekends. I was just hoping they’d take my non-Canadian credit card, unlike the Shell in Whitehorse. And they did. Only $170 later we were back on the road.
Now we headed south—back the way we had come—but only for 18 miles. That would take us to the turnoff for the Dempster Highway, a 456-mile gravel road to the Northwest Territories, the Arctic Circle, and, ultimately, Inuvik.
Today we only bit off a little bit of the Dempster, driving 42 miles to Tombstone Territorial Park. There we toured the nature center and settled in for the night among magnificent mountains in all directions.

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