Month: August 2024

We left our little boondock spot on the Watson River and made a quick stop at the Carcross Desert which is the smallest desert in the world.

We then made our way to Atlin Road and headed south. We checked out a campground on Snafu Lake but it was packed and not what we were looking for. We followed a Forest Service Road on the road leading to the campground and were happy to find a little boondock spot with a nice view. We decided to hang out there for the rest of the weekend.

The tires needed to be rotated and there were 3 WNBA games on Sunday that I was excited to watch. We had beautiful weather and even had a campfire Sunday night.

Monday we headed into Atlin which is a small isolated community in the NW corner of British Columbia. The drive down was beautiful! Atlin Lake is a glacial-fed lake and is the largest natural lake in BC at 4 miles wide and 85 miles long. The generally accepted source of the Yukon River is the Llewellyn Glacier at the southern end of Atlin Lake.

Atlin’s current population is approximately 400 full-time residents. During the Klondyke Gold Rush of 1898, the population was 10,000! Many buildings from that era still remain. We drove around this quaint little town and then continued south.

Craig always looks for roads that lead to further places and he saw on satellite views that the road continued quite a ways south of Atlin. We got to the “Road Not Maintained” sign and we kept going on O’Donnel River Road. It was basically a rough two track through the woods with a few creek crossings.

It finally opened up to a beautiful valley with views of the mountains. We passed some old mining equipment and continued on. The trail eventually got really narrow and a little muddy. We almost made it to the O’Donnel River but decided to turn around when the trail became really rocky and off-camber. Craig walked the rest of the way to the river and didn’t think we had a good chance of getting across the river. There were no trees around on either side to winch out if we needed so we decided it was time to head back. Rain was supposed to be coming so we got out of the valley and found a spot to camp for the night.

The next morning we made our way back to Atlin. We were at the last creek crossing when we saw a family of 4 sitting on their hiking packs on the opposite side. We gave a wave and were flagged down by Bart. Bart, his wife and two adult kids had been hiking and camping for the past 10 days but he had developed a toe infection and was in pain. Their car was parked at a recreation area 7 miles away. As we talked out what to do, we decided we would make it work. We fit their 4 packs and 4 of us in the camper. If you don’t know what a pack looks like when you are planning for a 10 day trip, they are very large. Craig and Bart were in the truck and Craig did his best not to go too fast along the bumpy road. It was a little rough at times but we were so happy to be able to help this sweet family out and enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them.

It continues to amaze us how we are so fortunate to cross paths with amazing people. Bart and his wife are originally from the Netherlands but now live in Atlin. He was a soldier and adventurer and after his military service ended, he returned to the wilderness of Canada. He has traveled thousands of kilometers on foot with just his backpack. He organized trainings to teach others the skills needed to travel and survive in remote areas.  He and his family love to get out on foot and explore together.

They told us about moose and caribou walking through their camp and picking a hat full of berries. The kids were here on holiday and would be heading back to the Netherlands soon to go to University. We got back to their car and exchanged information and hugs before it started to rain! What timing! We are so thankful to be in the right place at the right time.

We headed back north and since it was still raining, we decided to stay at our nice little boondock spot again.

We made our way to Watson Lake and took showers at the recreation center, did laundry, grabbed groceries and went to a gravel lot boondock spot just north of town. It wasn’t a pretty spot but it was quiet and it worked for the night.

The next morning, we headed back into town. We had placed our sign at the Sign Post Forest in 2018 but didn’t really document where we had put it. As of 2022, there are over a 100,000 signs!

This is such a cool sight to see and it was fun wandering around seeing all the places people have visited from. We had known about this place from Craig’s Aunt Karen. She and Uncle Eugene had put their sign up in 1995 so we were ready with a sign in 2018. It is quite obvious that some people were not prepared. It was funny to see baking pans, tops to Sterilite containers, and cutting boards marked with a sharpie marker hanging from the wooden posts and trees. Aunt Karen said theirs was a piece of wood from the visitor center and red nail polish! Most are wood signs or a license plate but the creativity of all the signs was pretty cool.

Craig found our sign and we added our sticker. We looked around and even called Aunt Karen to see if she remembered the general area of their sign and we just couldn’t find it. Heck we couldn’t remember where ours was 6 years later but we tried really hard to find theirs. We enjoyed our time there but had to leave as the rain started.

And then we were heading south on the beautiful Stewart-Cassiar Highway which is a scenic route through some of the most isolated areas in B.C. We had another day of rain so we stopped early after finding a great little spot on Simmons Lake.

Our next stop was in Dease Lake for fuel and snacks before heading to Telegraph Creek. Craig had heard good things about this drive and we were excited to get to another further place. The 70 miles of gravel road from Dease Lake to Telegraph Creek follows the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Following a First Nations’ trading route and path of early gold prospectors, the road winds along Stikine Canyon with dramatic views of the sheer walls cut by the river through layers of volcanic lava.

We hadn’t traveled far when we met a truck pulling a small camper that flashed their lights at us. Their truck and front of their camper was completely covered in thick mud. The man said that they had gone down a slick muddy hill and then learned that there were 20% grades on the road ahead. They had turned around and decided it wasn’t worth it and they barely made it back up the muddy hill. He just wanted to warn us so we thanked them for the heads up and continued on our way. We got to the slick muddy section and just took it slow. We could see how pulling a trailer might be difficult but that was the worst section of the road. The rest of the road was in great condition and the 20% grades went just fine for us. The views as we got closer to Telegraph Creek were amazing.

The Stikine River flows west and south for 379 miles and empties into various straits of the Inside Passage near Wrangell, Alaska. It is known as the fastest flowing navigable river in North America. It’s called the K2 of white-water challenges and has only been run by a handful of expert kayakers.

We made our way to the small town of Telegraph Creek and just did a drive through as it was getting late in the day and we needed to find a spot to camp. We continued toward a boondock spot on the river closer to Glenora. The spot was just a boat ramp on the Stikine River but we were able to tuck ourselves out of the way and enjoy the views.

Craig had studied the map and saw that a road continued south so we had to drive it of course. It was a two-track that was in pretty decent condition that climbed up and down and through creeks and mud holes.

We were hoping it would end at a beautiful campsite on the river, but it didn’t. It brought us through the woods and we occasionally got a peek of the mountains.

We passed through what appeared to be an abandoned mining operation. We aren’t really sure but there were pallets of samples of rock dating back to 2001. You could tell the now defunct buildings were once a kitchen, a green house, outhouses and bases probably for tents. It was interesting and we wondered why all this stuff was just left out there.

We continued on and the road eventually ended at a gate with a sign stating it was an active mine. We were bummed but it was still a fun drive.

We headed back and decided to continue back north to a rest area we had passed on the way in that had awesome views.

We continued back toward Dease Lake and were happy that the road was still in great condition and the slick muddy section was now dry. Our truck was still a muddy mess so we headed to the spray wash to get all the gunk off.

Our truck had started to make some growling noises that were concerning us. We were hoping that it was just the mud in all the crevices but even after the spray wash the noises continued and seemed to get louder. We ended up with more rain so we stopped at a rest area by a lake to camp for the night. As we pulled in, we both recognized it as the same spot we camped when we were here with Gus in 2018.

Craig made a few phone calls and the only mechanic that was kind of on our route that was willing to take a look at the truck was in Prince Rupert. We got up Monday morning and headed 2 km north to get gas before heading back south. We pulled out of the gas station parking lot and were almost back to the rest area that we had slept at and the truck was clanking and scraping and making awful noises. We could see the rest area in view but Craig had to put on the 4 ways and we limped it to the parking lot.

He took off the front passenger tire and could see that the caliper was wonky and rubbing the rotor. He pulled the caliper off and tied up the brake line hoping that was the issue but after driving just a few feet it was obvious it was not the problem. That’s when he knew it was probably a front wheel bearing. We called every mechanic within 200 miles. Many were short staffed or were booking out until mid September. Wild Country Truck & Auto in Two Mile admitted he was extremely busy but said if we could get the truck there he would fit us in.

The next chore was finding a tow truck. I think we called about 6 tow companies and they were either also short staffed or did not have a truck large enough to transport our truck. Thankfully, we got a hold of Paul at Northern Lights in Kitwanga, B.C. He was willing to come out the next morning and his truck had a bench seat so we could all fit.

We hung out in the parking lot and soon a truck and trailer pulled in and parked in the lot. Craig ended up talking to the guy and they had just pulled in to use the bathroom when he noticed he had a flat tire and a broken spring. Thankfully, he had a replacement spring with him. He had some tools but Craig was able to help him replace the spring and plug the hole in his tire. They felt bad that we were stranded but there wasn’t much they could do. He offered Craig money but our motto is always to just pay it forward. They were thankful for Craig’s help and were on their way in the morning.

Tuesday morning, Paul arrived around 10 am. He got the truck all secured and we were off on our 3 hour drive to Wild Country Auto. It was a really clear day so the views were great and Paul was fun to talk to. The ride was not the comfiest of rides but we survived.

We were so happy when we pulled into Wild Country. The owner was so laid back and kind. He had no issues with us camping in the lot until he could get to our truck. He even had a bathroom that he left open for us to use.

After the long uncomfortable ride, we were ready for a walk. We walked into Hazelton for dinner and back which ended up being a 6 mile round trip walk.

Our night in the lot was uneventful but we were ready for showers and some creature comforts. Our parts wouldn’t be in until Wednesday afternoon and the truck would be fixed Thursday if all went well. So we walked 2 miles the other direction to New Hazeleton and got a hotel room for the night. It wasn’t fancy but it was clean and comfy. We grabbed some food and beers to go and watched movies and basketball.

We walked back to the shop at noon on Thursday and were disappointed to see our truck had not been worked on. The mechanic was a super nice guy and it was obvious that he is well liked in the community as people stopped in throughout the day to chat with him. He finally got the front passenger side torn apart and realized that the seal was damaged too.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t ordered a replacement just in case. He ended up sending his father-in-law to get a new one for us so he could get us back on the road that day. The repairs got done and we were back on the road at 9 pm Thursday night. We were ready to put some miles on so we were good to drive a little bit. We found a boondocking spot in the woods just north of Terrace and called it a night.

We woke up to rain and headed into Terrace for water, groceries and gas.  We grabbed a quick lunch at a wings place and stopped at Sherwood Mountain Brewing for a quick flight of beer. We were there right when it opened and the brewer needed to get rid of some short pour beers. He gave us a free six pack and a 20 oz bottle of beer!

And finally, we were ready to get on with our next adventure. We are going to drive the Telkwa Pass Trail which goes from Terrace to Telkwa. Apparently not a lot of full size vehicles drive it but we did a little research and think we’ll be just fine.

We ended up taking a side road up to Trapper Mountain cabin, which appears to be a public use cabin. It is surrounded by lakes and is so beautiful up here. When we arrived it was really overcast and felt like we were camping in the clouds.

 

We had a nice quiet night and decided to hang out here for the weekend. Hopefully the rest of the trail won’t be too busy when we leave on Monday to complete it.

Off to Telkwa Pass…

We left our quiet little spot on Gravel Lake and continued on Yukon 2 to Carmacks and then got on the Robert Campbell Highway towards Ross River. The boondocking spots consisted of big gravel lots with no views so we opted for Drury Creek Campground on Little Salmon Lake. We continue to use the provincial parks because they are so inexpensive and so nice. This one had potable water, recycling, garbage cans and free wood.

We continued on and took a quick side trip up to Faro. Faro is a small little town with not much to offer. It was a gorgeous day so we did a quick hike to Odegaard Falls.

After that, we decided to enjoy the afternoon by the river and stayed at another great campground on the Lapie River.

The next day we headed up to Ross River. We fueled up and were ready to tackle the North Canol Road. Canol Road was part of the Canol Project that was built to construct a pipeline from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, to Whitehorse, Yukon, during WWII. It was built to ensure a supply of oil for defense of Alaska and the North American west coast. It was completed in two years at great cost and was abandoned less than a year later. The pipeline no longer exists, but the 279 mile long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during the summer.

The Canol Project was abandoned in 1946-1947. The southernmost 150 miles was reopened in 1958 to connect Ross River, Yukon with the Alaska Highway.The 130 miles from Ross River to the NWT border was reopened in 1972.

There is a short ferry crossing over the Pelly River and then we were on our way. The road would soon be a terrible pot-holed rough ride. We averaged about 30 kph the entire trip. There were times when the road was narrow, wet and muddy. We crossed a couple bridges and were surprised when we came up behind 2 semis. One was carrying what looked to be a metal office building, the other had retaining wall blocks. They got over when they could to let us pass but we were shocked at how fast they were running with the large loads they had.

You can drive all the way to the Northwest Territory border but after that the road becomes almost impassable due to bridges being out. We did not think we had the fuel capacity to get that far. We decided to drive as far as the Army truck graveyard before turning back. It was fun walking around this now protected area checking out all the cool old trucks. The views from here were pretty spectacular and it was a beautiful night! We drove back about 30 km and found a little spot to camp.

The next day we made the long trek back. We made a little better time but were a little nervous about our fuel. We were carrying 10 gallons in our jerry cans but we had not been getting great fuel mileage. Craig waited for the low fuel light to come on and we decided to just wait it out. We kept driving and the truck beeped at us about 15 times. We had always thought we had a 38 gallon tank but we didn’t really know. We made it to the ferry and back to the gas station without having to use our reserve fuel. We made it an additional 45 miles after our low fuel light went on. He put 37 gallons into our 38 gallon tank! It’s good to know but we won’t make that a habit.

We continued on South Canol Road which stretches 143 miles from Ross River to Johnsons Crossing. Right away it was more scenic than the north and we were happy to find an awesome boondock spot right on the Lapie River.

South Canol follows ridges and provides awesome scenic views. The road was in better condition than North Canol although it still had some huge pot-holes.

We finished the road and were happy to pull into Johnsons Crossing Lodge. We paid $25 CAD for a dry campsite. This was a decent little place and they had a lot to offer. We took hot showers, did laundry and filled up on water. We didn’t buy anything from the cafe or store but apparently they are known for their cinnamon rolls.

We headed into Whitehorse the next day. We weren’t going to go into town but decided we could use some supplies. We had picked up a few things from the store in Faro but they didn’t have everything we needed. We stocked up on groceries and had a beer and lunch at Woodcutter’s Blanket – Bar & Brewery. On our way out of town, we stopped in at Winterlong Brewing. We have been drinking their beer a lot since being in Yukon and it was cool to go to the brewery and try some of the other beers they have.

We continued south on the Klondike Highway and found an uneventful spot to camp for the night. The next day we stopped in to check out the small town of Carcross. This is where the White Pass Scenic railroad trip from Skagway ends. We arrived right as they were dropping off a trainload of people. We ducked into the Historic Caribou hotel for a beer to wait out the crowds. The bartender gave us a little history of the hotel and the area. It’s a neat little town and we  were glad we took the time to check it out.

The drive from Carcross to Skagway was absolutely gorgeous! One of our favorite scenic drives yet. We were so happy to have a sunny clear day for this drive.

We had to wait a few minutes at the border crossing and the Agriculture police took our green pepper. Everything else we had was just fine so it was kind of weird. I think they play veggie bingo and he needed a pepper to complete it! Our friend, Paulo, who crossed after we did, told us that they took his US grown tomatoes but not his pepper. Theory confirmed! Ha! Ha!

We drove into Skagway and found it to be a cute charming place. We didn’t stay long because we knew we’d be back another day to devote to exploring town. We headed up toward Dyea and found a great spot to boondock right on the Taiya River. It rained off and on all day Sunday so we just hung out in camp.

We headed into town on Monday and were met with sunshine! We thought we were going to have 4 days of rain while in Skagway but it cleared up and we had a great time. We had a yummy drink at Skagway Spirits and excellent beers at Skagway Brewing. We meandered in and out of the stores and found a couple souvenirs. We had to have lunch at the famous Red Onion Saloon. It was built in 1887 during the height of the Gold Rush and operated as one of the finest Bordellos in town. The staff were fun and friendly and the pizza was awesome!

We headed back out to the Taiya River outside of Dyea and found what we think was a better boondock spot. This spot was down river from where they launched rafts for tours and we waved as they floated on by. More rain was on the way so we hunkered down in camp for a day. Our friend, Paulo, joined us for the night and we sat under the awning catching up on our adventures as it rained.

Wednesday we headed back into town and hiked Lower Dewey Trail. It was a great hike and had cool views of town from above. The lake was beautiful and it was a great day to walk around it.

After our hike, we took showers at the Harbour Master then made our way to historic Dyea before heading back to our campsite. You can drive out to the Dyea Flats, which is a tidal plain and the site of long docks and crowds of ships disembarking gold-seekers back in 1898. We walked around the ghost town that is all but reclaimed by the forest and then made our way back to camp and hung out with Paulo again.

Thursday we were packing up when a man walked up and asked if we needed to leave soon. He said a helicopter would be coming to pick up supplies from the gravel lot behind us and they didn’t want us leaving while that was happening. We told him we would stay so we could watch. It was pretty cool to see the helicopter with a long line arrive, hook up the supplies and take off to deliver them somewhere on the Chilkoot trail that has been impassable since 2022 due to flooding.

After that we headed back into town to grab supplies and fuel up. We met Paulo at Skagway Brewing and had lunch, beers and chatted with a couple gentlemen from Iowa and Arizona that were on a cruise. It was a great time and a fun way to spend our last day. We really enjoyed our time in Skagway and would recommend visiting the small town if you get a chance.

We had checked out a nice little place to boondock on our way down to Skagway so we headed to that spot and were happy to see it was still unoccupied. We had a gorgeous view overlooking the Watson River.

We took a nice little hike down to the river and then along the now defunct railroad tracks. We were happy with another day of sunshine! We are slowly moving south and have a few side trips planned.

Off to Atlin…

 

We were really excited to be starting up the Dempster Highway again. We didn’t have the nervous excitement like we had when we drove it for the first time six years ago, not knowing what to expect and only going on advice from people online. But the fact that we were able to get back up here to drive it for a second time was fun for us and we were ready for another adventure.

The Dempster Highway, also known as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories 8, connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Year-round road access from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk opened in November 2017 with the completion of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway. This became the first all-weather road route connecting the Canadian road network with the Arctic Ocean.

We stayed at a very uneventful spot on the Dempster Highway just 20 miles north. We had gotten our chores done in town and decided to head up late in the day since there are a ton of places to camp.

Monday we made a quick stop at the Tombstone Interpretive Centre and then headed on our way. It was really cool to see all the different rigs traveling this road.  We saw everything from cars, trucks and semis to huge overlanding rigs, trucks pulling triple axle trailers and motorhomes with toads. Six years ago it was the normal local traffic and trucks with truck campers. It is definitely more popular and well traveled today.

It started raining pretty quickly and the truck would be muddy for the rest of the trip. The road was not really that bad although we did slow down significantly through a section that was wet and squishy. We passed a couple of graders a few different times. It was so nice that they were working hard to keep the road in good condition. As tourists, we are very aware that this road is important for the local people and is not just for our adventures. Many semi trucks and work trucks use this road and we were always sure to get out of their way so they didn’t have to worry about getting over for us.

We had let a semi pass us and then came upon him on the side of the road pulling a biker with a tow strap. There were 4 guys on motorcycles and one had gotten over a bit too far. The sides of the highway are extremely soft and pretty dangerous if you get over too far and one of them went down on his side in the soft shoulder. We pulled up behind and Craig got out to offer some help. Thankfully, they already had the biker out and upright and everyone had a good chuckle and we found out they were staying at Eagle Plains.

We decided we would stay there too. We sat at the bar and were happy to see our biker friend come in and chatted with him for a bit. We found a spot to camp and listened to it pour! But hot showers in the morning were awesome! We got gas here in the morning. It was the most expensive gas on this trip at $6.79 a gallon USD.

We continued on, enjoying the beautiful changing scenery. Sometimes we remembered sections of it, some of it we didn’t. We drove through more rain, sunshine and then it was raining while the sun shined. It was pretty wild and beautiful. We got to the Arctic Circle and were happy to have it to ourselves. We took the obligatory pictures and put a sticker on the post along with many others. We didn’t have stickers in 2018 so it’s been fun leaving some behind.

The section of the road north of the Arctic Circle is known to have black shale like gravel and if you go too fast and/or don’t air down, you will get a flat. We had already aired down and we were in no hurry. So this section went just fine and we ended up completing the entire trip without a flat!

There are two ferry crossings on the Dempster, one at the Peel River and one at the MacKenzie River. We timed both pretty well and didn’t have to wait long at all. They are short ferries anyway but it’s always nice to drive right on. We had to get gas in Fort McPherson and we wanted to go to the Tent & Canvas store in town.

We arrived after hours so we camped at a free campground right in town. It’s nice they offer these spots although it’s not exactly our cup of tea. The neighbors are close and the porta-potties were not in great condition. But it worked for a night. We fueled up in the morning and grabbed a cute canvas bag from the store.

We made our way to Inuvik, which is the only major town up here. We grabbed some supplies and gas and decided to continue north. There were a couple of boondocking spots on iOverlander that we checked out but it wasn’t super late and the one closest to town was the locals snow machine parking lot. We could’ve stayed there but decided to push on and got to Tuktoyaktuk before the Visitor Center closed.

We paid $63 CAD for 2 nights of dry camping on the Arctic Ocean. We figured why not pour into this community and spend a little cash. You definitely pay for the view. The campsites are close together, the porta-johns weren’t in the greatest condition and people really just park wherever they want but it was still totally worth it and we would do it again.

When we drove it in 2018, we had no idea what to expect and the Inuvialuit hamlet didn’t know what to do with all of the tourists that descended upon their small town. Back then, we all camped out for free on the day use peninsula. The locals would come down and say hi and some would walk around selling their crafts. We had talked with a local and he said that they were definitely not ready for the amount of visitors that had already been there.

Fast forward six years and they have designated camp spots along the Arctic Ocean for $31.50 CAD for dry camping, $63 CAD with power. The tip of the peninsula is now blocked off so everyone can still enjoy the day use area. At the visitor’s center they offered a pamphlet that had a map of the town and showed where you can buy souvenirs, hike to the pingos and places to grab food.

Our timing has been a little off with the weather. We tried to avoid rain on the way up, but we didn’t. We thought the temps would be pleasant but it was chilly. It had been in the 80s the week before we arrived but it was 47 degrees on Wednesday. Thankfully it wasn’t raining so we were able to walk all around town and even had a little sunshine. We walked to the point and I just put my hand in the water this time. I had dunked my toe in with Gus in 2018 and just didn’t feel the need to do it again.

Unfortunately, the souvenir shop was closed and the other stores that were listed as having souvenirs didn’t have much. We made our way to the RCMP office where I bought a sweatshirt and chatted with the officer about life up in Tuk. She had studied forensics in University and had been stationed in Tuk for 6 months. She said they pretty much hold down the fort unless something major happens.

We hung out in the camper after doing all the things in town we wanted to do. We opted not to sit outside because the mosquitos were still pretty ferocious and we had a great view from our comfy chairs. Around 9 pm the sky cleared and it was bright and sunny and was almost getting warm as the sun came into our camper.

We decided we wanted to stay up for sunset. We were here on Summer Solstice in 2018 when the sun never set. But now, more than a month after Solstice, it was going to set at 1:20 am. We have found if we leave the camper windows uncovered and let the light in, we don’t get tired. It’s a little crazy because sometimes we are just drinking a beer and reading or on our phones and all of a sudden it’s super late. It’s been kind of cool to just listen to your body and go to bed when you need to go to bed, not because of the time on the clock.

We took photos for a couple hours as the sun slowly set and it was cool to see others out and about enjoying this absolutely beautiful view. Honestly, we said it looked like a sunset over Lake Michigan, but just to know we were watching a sunset over the Arctic Ocean just gave us all the feels.

We were ready to hit the road on Thursday. On our way out of town, we took a picture by the Arctic Ocean sign and put our sticker on the back of that sign as well. It’s pretty cool to see all the stickers. So many people have ventured up here for this amazing adventure!

We were so glad to see that the souvenir shop was open and enjoyed talking with the owner. He runs his store on consignment and everything in the store was made by a Tuk local. This was exactly the store we wanted to find. Craig had wanted an ulu knife since the last time we were up here but we never connected with anyone making them.

He found an ulu with a caribou handle and steel blade. The shop owner said this artist’s ulus sell really fast so we considered ourselves lucky to get our hands on one.

So with that, our time in Tuktoyaktuk was done. We enjoyed this experience so much. Our first time up was obviously different but this time it was neat to see that tourists come in and seem to add to the community instead of taking away from it. We enjoyed the views and our laid back time there.

We started the long trek south. We were feeling pretty good and decided to drive a little longer. We made a quick stop in Inuvik for gas, did the Peel River ferry crossing, got gas in Fort McPherson and also did the MacKenzie river crossing. We found a spot to boondock off the road and called it a night.

The rest of the trip back was pretty uneventful. Our weather app said there was like a 4% chance of rain, well of course we got rained on! We had to stop again at Eagle Plains for expensive gas. Our truck was a disaster!

We decided to stop short of the end after another long day. We tucked into a decent spot next to a small creek.

The next morning was actually sunny and we were excited to get back into Dawson City. We were 20 miles from the end of the Dempster when we passed a work truck that chucked a rock into the lower passenger side windshield. UGH!!! It hit really low and there are only 2 small cracks starting but we were so mad! We went 1100 miles with no flats or other issues. We were so close! Oh well, we’ll deal with that another day.

We drove straight to the car wash and only spent $12 CAD. I thought it was going to be way more expensive than that considering how much mud we collected. We filled up on water and then headed to the public pool where we paid $6.50 CAD each for a pass for use of the hot showers.

It was a beautiful sunny day so we wandered around town and grabbed a few more souvenirs. We had lunch at Sourdough Joe’s and grabbed an ice cream cone. We passed a small flea market and chatted with a local who was selling items out of her 1964 Mercury schoolbus! I had my hands full with my ice cream cone and the little purse I wanted to buy so I didn’t get a picture but it was pretty cool. It was a fun day!

We are going to head south and east. Craig has a few fun roads in mind for us to go check out but we don’t really know what to expect. We drove about 60 miles east of Dawson City and found a beautiful spot on Gravel Lake

When we arrived, there was a gentleman taking pics of his bicycle by the water. He was from Germany and has been riding his bike all over the place. Tuktoyaktuk is his next destination. We saw many people riding their bicycles on the Dempster and man, we give them so much credit. Not only does the elevation change like crazy but the road can be soft and the dust from cars and trucks blasting by is brutal. We filled up his water bottle, wished him luck and he was on his way.

We are excited for the next month since it’ll be roads we have never traveled. It’s fun to revisit places but we really love to see new roads!

Off to explore Yukon some more…