 Just ducked into the Northwest Territories info center in Dawson City, Yukon for a road and weather report. They predicted "fair", so we went! |
 The Dempster highway is one of the most remote in the world. The first gas station is 370km (231 miles) from the first community. |
 Toombstone campground about 90 minutes north of Dawson City on the Dempster. Last toilet facilities for hours. |
 Toombstone region scenery. |
 The Dempster is a year-round 769km gravel road that connects Dawson City, Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. It is Canada's most northern road, which, as the French say, puts the "N" in North. |
 They say you'll have a flat tire or two (or three) on the Dempster due to sharp rocks on the road. We'll see... |
 Beauty eh! |
 Only a few hundred kilometres to go before we can stop for gas. Luckily the scenery is amazing. |
 Mountain views all around. |
 "Which way is the artic circle, Paul?" |
 Just in case you didn't take notes in 6th grade, here's an informative placard FYI. |
 Paul, Bert, and Poppy (the van) at the artic circle marker on the Dempster highway in the north Yukon. |
 Bert, Dot, and Paul enjoy their first trip into the Artic Circle. Burning retinas concealed for your benefit. |
 Another FYI |
 More science class |
 What is permafrost? Now you know! |
 Only two more FYIs, class. |
 Northern Lights. Read all about it. |
 Burts buggin' about riding on the spare tire in front of the van. |
 To another marker, the beginning of the Northwest Territories, north of the Artic Circle. |
 The Northwest Territories is the only state/province/territory in North America with a non-rectangular license plate. They have a polar bear...cool! |
 In the Northwest Territoris (NWT), the Dempster highway relies on ferries at two crossings in the summer. During the winter, you would simply drive across the frozen river--called an "ice bridge". |
 Here's the Peel River ferry. |
 Now, Paul's buggin (off) |
 Ferry ride. |
 The north end of the 769km Dempster highway. Paul smiles proudly, we made it to Inuvik, NWT with all tires intact. |
 The "igloo" church in the center of Inuvik. |
 Downtown Inuvik. Inuvik means "Place of People" in the Inuit language. Inuit people prefer to be called "Inuit" instead of "Eskimo". |
 The Happy Valley campground in Inuvik. Nice campsite within walking distance to everything. |
 TV sattelite dishes in the Northern Hemisphere always point to the equator (south). This far north, they have to point down to hit the equator. |
 Another shot of Inuvik's main drag. They have a drugstore AND a hotel in their town of 3200 people. |
 This Volkswagen engine powered trike was in Inuvik. Must be a bummer to drive in the winter when it's -60 degrees. |
 One night there were many mosquitos at Happy Valley campground. The mosquito hats worked beautifully, except when Paul tasted the sauce before pulling the screen away from his face. |
 "Paul, please tell me that the sun is going down soon...it's 1:06am and my sunburn is killing me." |
 An Inuvik single family home, complete with log fence and truck. The logs have to be imported from "down south" since Inuvik is north of the tree-line and trees don't grow big enough here. |
 Following Paul's incredible late-night veggie dog in Dawson City, we tried our own grilling in Inuvik. It was scrumdillyicious! "And look Ma, no nets!" |
 This may not look like a cineplex, but we played DVD's on our computer inside the van for "cozy nights at the movies" while camping out in the artic circle. This particular night it was sleeting outside. |
 Inuvik multi-colored apartments. Once again the happy colors help brighten up the dreery winters. |
 The steel passageways between buildings are called utilidoors. Water, sewer, and heat, travel through these above ground conduits. In they were below ground, everything would freeze in the winter. |
 Heading back down the Dempster returning to Dawson City. |
 Maaahhharvelous! |
 Dot points like the arrow and wonders if we going the right way. Paul explains "there's only one way to go". |
 Dempster winds through the mountains. It seemed even prettier on the way down. |
 "I told you, not while I'm driving." |
 Beauty. |
 Back in the Yukon (again). |
 Snow in June? you betcha!, we're still above the artic circle. We stayed in Inuvik an extra day because random snowy weather. |
 We could hardly drive 5 minutes without stopping to take another picture...The Dempster Highway was so pretty. |
 The road (and scenery) seems to unfurl before us more magnificantly each moment. We see about 1 vehicle each hour on this road. |
 Rocky! |
 Peaky! |
 Paul poses among peaks, plaques, and plankton. (ok, no plankton but it begins with a "P"). |
 Happy mountain valleys on the Dempster. |
 Back in tree-land. Almost near Dawson City! |