End of the road!

Our trip from Dawson City to Tuktoyaktuk was 576 miles each way on dirt, rock, and gravel roads. What we had heard of the roads were they were terrible and would literally slash your tires so carry multiple spares. We were in Gary’s Jeep Rubicon and Tom’s Honda CRV. Wrong. We found the roads not bad. There were some rougher sections where we drove 30 mph but most of the road was 50+ mph. I guess most of those thinking that it was so bad had never grown up driving gravel or shell roads. We had no problems other than a couple rock chips on the windshields which we expected. We did stop on the way back to help a guy change a tire on a rental truck camper. Since it was a rental all he had was the OEM jack. So we grabbed our air compressor, tire plugs, and impact driver. Tried plugging but there were at least 4 slits leaking so helped him change the tire. Met up with him later at Eagle Plains where they were able to repair it properly.

Once again we crossed the Arctic Circle like we did in 2019. We spent the first night in Eagle Plains which has a ?hotel?, very dated but comfortable, a restaurant, gas pumps, and a mechanic shop. Nothing else but it is halfway so a good place to rest and eat.

Then we drove into Inuvik for 3 nights. We were fortunate that weekend coincided with the Summer Solstice and National Indigenous Peoples day. Our room overlooked the baseball field where they had a tournament going each “night” until 2 or 3 am. The sun here would just circle around us never setting. We did facetime with Ella at midnight on Friday to show her how bright the sun was. On Saturday there was the Indigenous Peoples festival where they cooked whitefish, burgers, hot dogs, and caribou stew. Missed out on the stew but the whitefish was very good. And it was all free. We also visited the famous Igloo Church and were treated a tour of the attic and basement areas.

This picture was at about 2am

Then Sunday morning we drove into Tuk for the day. Cindy and I walked into the Arctic Ocean there which is actually the Beaufort Sea. Air temperature was 38ºF and the water temperature was 31.8ºF. A couple weeks ago there was still ice but it has since all broken up from wave action. We did see lots of ice driving up in the lakes. With the cold north wind blowing the water didn’t feel as cold as it actually was. But still too cold for a total plunge!

Then Cindy and I along with Darlene and Diana enjoyed a nice traditional meal cooked by Eileen, a local lady. We had muktuk (beluga whale blubber) which was thankfully boiled. Quite tasty. Then caribou stew, moose chili, baked Husky lake trout, baked Arctic char, bannock donuts, salad, coleslaw with blackberries, blackberry muffins, cream cheese tart with arctic berries. Oh and Tom and Gary went to Grandmaw’s kitchen to have “white man’s fast food” as Eileen said. 

Then back to Inuvik for our last night. Then we drove back to Eagle Plains for the night. While we were up there the road down to the Klondike hwy and it were closed due to wildfires. So when we got up yesterday morning and saw the road was open we battled our way through the mosquito hordes, jumped in the cars and started driving. We were able to get back to Dawson City and our RV’s with no problem. And we saw no evidence of fires or recent burns along the road but did see plenty of smoke. Last night it rained so the air is clear today. 

We did see a grizzly bear crossing the road. And saw a moose.

We’ll probably leave in the morning and cross the Yukon river on the ferry. There is a campground about 90 miles in Alaska we’ll try to spend there a few days if there are open sites. Of course 90 miles on gravel roads will take us 3 hours. Or longer if the rain deteriorated the roads.

Where are we now?

After 5 days in Ft. Nelson and the road only being opened once at 8pm to 6am we all decided we’d leave at the next opening. Gary/Diana and Cindy and I left at 7am to sit in the line at the closure hoping it would open sometime during the day. No such luck. But at 7pm as we were prepared to spend the night parked on the road a RCMP officer came by and told us it would open at 8pm. We called Tom/Darlene and they left the campground to meet up with us. We drove the almost 4 hour drive through the mountains and where the fire had burned along the road, through thick smoke, and finally got to Strawberry Flats where Gary and I were able to get 2 sites. Unfortunately Tom couldn’t fit so he continued on to the Liard Hot Springs. We spent a few days here in 2019 and remembered how beautiful the lake was. Still beautiful but the sky was hazy from the fires and the smoke got worse until we couldn’t see across the lake. 

We spent a few hours at the Liard hot springs which were very nice. Tom’s son said it reminded him of the movie “Cocoon” with all the old people soaking! Then we picked up dinner at a lodge near our campsites. On the drive we saw a bear, moose, and porcupine.

Then because of the smoke we left the next morning for Watson Lake. Spent a couple days there and went searching for our sign from 2019. Cindy remembered that it was near some antique equipment used to build the Alcan hwy. We found it! And were able to hang our new sign near our old one. We also found a sign that Jen and Kirk hung in 2019 that was very near ours. We didn’t know them at that time of our trip but they were excited that we had found theirs and it was so near to ours. Maybe one day our kids or grandkids can find our sign.

Tom and Darlene also hung their sign.

Then on the road again to Carcross. Still looking for clear blue skies. Not today as it drizzled all day. Got to Carcross and woke up to fog! But it burned off by 8am. We visited the Tlingit First Nations Center and saw the same canoe that we watched being carved in 2019.

  

                                                

Cindy and I left the others since we had seen Carcross and Whitehorse before. We drove a couple hours and found a small campground on a lake that is actually a very wide area of the Yukon river. 

We’ll spend the night here then find another campground on the way to Dawson City where we’ll meet up with Tom and Darlene and Gary and Diana. Then we’ll start our drive up to the Arctic Ocean!

Hotel California

About time for an update. We made it into Canada at the Roosville border crossing. No problems, answered the standard questions and got through. Then drove up and across the Rockies to a nice campground in Black Diamond, Alberta. Spent a couple days there then up to Glen’s farm west of Edmonton to meet up with Tom and Darlene. Gary and Diana went to Banff to see that area which we saw a few years ago.

Had a very nice time visiting with Glen and some of his friends when he bbq’d for us.  From Glen’s we drove to Valleyview, AB. 

Stop! Do not continue! Danger Will Robinson! 

After a very tiring drive through the country roads with lots of wind I was tired. And there is a fire that has closed our road a few hundred miles from us. So we sat at a nice campground for a couple of nights to see when the road will open.  Gary and Diana are a couple hours ahead of us and will sit tight until we decide to move and meet up again. So Cindy caught up with laundry and it’ll be a day resting.

Something interesting, we have a Starlink mini and have been setting it outside on a tripod. Until yesterday it’s been pointing north. Now it’s pointing south. Interesting.

On Wednesday we arrived at “MILE 0” which marks the beginning of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  Gary and Diana were waiting for us and finally we were all together to make our way on to Alaska.  Of course the ladies had to take their picture to mark their arrival to the Alaska Highway.

Thursday brought another windy day which meant another challenging driving day ending in Pink Mountain, BC.  Our neighbors at this new campground were with us a couple of days before.  They are from Wisconsin and driving to Anchorage, so we will be traveling together for a while.  Our party of three is now a party of four RV’s.

We next arrive in Fort Nelson for the night.  As it turns out, the wildfire to our north has caused another road closure.  Guess it is time again to pause our forward motion.  Hey we are not on a set schedule and are free to meander at will.  Just take advantage of a few days of rest while the firefighters do their job.  They are keeping us safe.  Other than the high winds, we have been blessed with good weather and welcoming Canadians.  Life is Good!

Last thing I remember 
I was running for the door 
I had to find the passage back 
To the place I was before 
"Relax," said the night man 
"We are programmed to receive 
You can check out any time you like 
But you can never leave"