Dawson City

A full day of learning about Dawson and the gold rush! Our first activity was hiking up the hill behind the town to see some of the old cemeteries. (Mom loves exploring these things) We actually got a guide book for the cemeteries, so mom was able to read all about the people buried there! After walking back down into the town, we visited the S.S. Keno, a sternwheeler used to bring people and supplies up to the silver mines in Keno and later brought here to Dawson for display. We then drove south of the city to Dredge #4, a gold mining dredge used until the 1950s. Seeing how it worked was actually really interesting! Next up was a historic walking tour around Dawson. We got to learn some of the weird things that happened here during the gold rush and get into a few old, refurbished buildings. The final activity for the day was in the evening at Diamond Tooth Gerties – I took my parents to a cancan show at a casino! My mom and I enjoyed it, my dad got nervous every time one of the girls got close to him – not wanting them to sit on his lap, rub his head, or make him come up and dance with them!

Grizzly Creek

We had an easier hike this morning – following a real trail up the mountain north of Grizzly Creek. The trail started as a wide gravel path which changed to dirt fairly quickly, and then the climb began. Near the top, we were hiking up a path of loose rocks. Distance and elevation were roughly the same as Mt. Adney, but the hike was much easier because of the trail. The views from the top of Mt. Monolith were amazing! We made lunch back in the parking lot, then headed back down the Dempster. At the end I tried to write “Did the Dempster” in the dirt on the back of the RV, but it ended up having to etch it in using my nail. I was wearing thin plastic gloves for the job, but my nail broke through and I got quite a bit of dirt under my fingernail! I eventually got it etched in, but had forgotten about the picture under the dirt … all that could be read was “Did the Dem” :( I took a few pictures of us crossing the final bridge, and then we drove the last bit to Dawson. This town looks really cool, but is really touristy too! A lot of the buildings in the downtown area look like they would have during the gold rush … with a few modern bits added on. We did a few groceries, went to the visitor information centre to plan our next day, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Mt. Adney

Our first hike of the trip and it was a hard one! No trail, so we were bushwhacking the entire way … and it really was through the bushes sometimes!

The first part of the hike was across a tussock plain. Plain makes it sound easy, but it’s anything but! It was like walking of cut up mattresses – some firm, some soft, some dry, some wet, some sturdy, some ready to tip over as soon as you put your foot down! We also had to cross a stream. Dad and I managed to hop from rock to rock with no problems, but mom hesitated and landed in the stream. Thank goodness for hiking boots and gaiters – she only got a bit of water on her ankle, not a totally soaked foot! The climb up the mountain didn’t get any easier. We were climbing through low bushes, high bushes, over rocks, etc. But the view from the top was definitely worth the effort! Going down went much faster and the soft sections were awesome – nice and cushiony for the knees. Dad went a bit ahead and found a better spot for mom to cross the stream, this time, jumping across the deep water into shallow water on the other side. We made some good splashes, but didn’t get wet. Getting back in the RV, we made our way to the Tombstone Campground and after finding a spot (unlike last time when we stayed in the parking lot), we went to the information centre to look around. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the RV.

Tombstone Territorial Park

Another day of driving with awesome views of the tundra! We didn’t see any animals, but the landscape was beautiful. Instead of camping at Tombstone Campground and having to back-track for our hike the next morning, we ended up camping in an old gravel pit? campground? off the side of the road. We thought we were down there by ourselves until we took a short walk and found 2 other RVs down by the river. It was actually really nice to be out by ourselves – dark and quiet, and we were able to see the northern lights!

Leaving the Arctic

We had another slow start to the morning, but this time because we had to empty the septic tanks and refill the water before starting back down the Dempster. The first part of the drive was uneventful – long, straight road, trees on either side … The ramps for the ferry crossings must have been re-graded because it was simple to drive on and off the ferry without hitting the back of the RV on the dirt or ramp. I even drove on and off the second ferry! After the second ferry, the trees disappeared and we were able to see huge distances again. We also got to see some wildlife! First up was an arctic fox which ran across the road with some other animal in its mouth, which it then ate at the side of the road. Next were 3 grizzly bears! The first was a bit off the side of the road eating berries, the second was a long way off, and the third was laying on the road when we drove up, quickly got up, moved about 5 meters off the road, and plopped down again. We crossed back into the Yukon, then across the Arctic Circle again. This time, in better weather so we got better pictures. We camped at Eagle Plains. The “campground” was more like a parking lot for RVs and the bathrooms weren’t very clean, but we didn’t want to go any farther, so that’s where we stopped.

Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk

We had a relaxing morning, walking around town and looking at a few stores. We had a late lunch at the campsite, then I uploaded some pictures to facebook. Around 3:15, dad just happened to be walking into the camp office when the tour company for our flight to Tuktoyaktuk called to see where we were – apparently our trip time changed but they never told us! So, we quickly gathered up all our stuff and raced to the airport. The flight to Tuk was in a 9 passenger Caravan, so we each got a window seat. The views of the delta were amazing! The pilot took an indirect route up so as to show us the delta and the pingos around Tuk. Our tour guide met us at the airport and drove us around town in her van. First stop was the Tuktoyaktuk sign were everyone took their pictures to prove that they had made it this far north. We also climbed a pingo in town, walked into the sod house, and climbed down the ladder into the community ice house. The ice house was really interesting – it’s dug into the permafrost so we could see the layers of ice, sand and frozen mud. After climbing back up, we headed down to the ocean. Mom only touched it with her fingers, dad at least stuck in his big toe, but I was the brave one and went up to my ankles in the ice cold water. I think the worst part was actually the rocks that were slippery, hurt to walk on, and left a layer of green muck on the bottom of my feet! The flight back to Inuvik was more direct, but the views were still great. Back at Inuvik, I stopped by the FSS to talk to the guy working there and was able to climb up the tower to see the view. We then headed back to the campground for a late supper and mom and I walked around town looking for a postcard … of course, most places were already closed since it was after 9 pm, but with the sun, it only felt like 6 or 7! We eventually found one, and headed back to the campsite and off to bed.

Dempster Highway - Part 2

I think we were first out of the campground again, and after a few kilometers, drove into the low clouds. The Yukon/NWT border crossing signs were also off according to dad’s GPS, and we took a quick picture in the fog. The road improved as we continued north, but it was pretty foggy for a lot of the morning. Crossing the Peel River by cable pulled ferry was quick, but dad thinks he knocked the trailer hitch on the ramp when he got off – the ferry just sails right into the gravel back and drops the ramp … nothing fancy here! We bypassed Fort McPherson, deciding to see it on the way back. We ate lunch while waiting for the Mackenzie River ferry to pick us up. It looked like he was having a hard time docking on the other side. We finally got on board, with me taking pictures of dad driving the RV up into it, and then I climbed up to the level of the captain to take a few pictures. We docked at Tsiigehtchic and sat there waiting for two more vehicles to board (they were still up at the village, not down by the dock waiting) before heading across and docking after two attempts. The rest of the drive up was a bit boring – perfectly straight road with pine trees on both sides, but at least the road was smooth and I was actually able to get up to the speed limit of 90 km/h! Arriving in Inuvik, our first stop was at Arctic Adventures to book a trip up to Tuktoyaktuk. The weather hasn’t been good up there so there are lot of people trying to get up there, but we were able to book a flight for tomorrow at 5 pm. The trip should take about 4 hours, but since it doesn’t get dark until after 11 pm, it will still be light when we get back. We got a campsite right in the town, and after getting everything sorted, walked into town to find meat for supper and we found dad some arctic char – he’s been talking about getting it since we first mentioned the idea of this trip! We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the campground and enjoying our first shower in 3 days.

Dempster Highway - Part 1

We left the campground around 7:40 – I think we were the first ones out on the road. The road started of pretty good … a few pot holes and rough patches, but most of it was smooth. It rained the night before so the road was damp, but not muddy or dusty! We also figured out a good way for the third person to be able to have a good view out the windows and be able to hear and be part of the conversation in the front – we took the cushions off the table benches and stacked them up on the floor so the third person was sitting between and just behind the driver and front passenger! Probably totally illegal since there was no seatbelt, but there aren’t any police up here checking for that type of thing.

We had a few pictures stops – the views of the Tombstone Mountains were awesome and we all can’t wait to go hiking in there! Coffee was along the side of the road just past Engineer Creek Campground. As we travelled north, the road got rougher and rougher. The views were amazing, but the camera just couldn’t do them justice. We also began to recognize some of the vehicles going in the same direction as us – we would pass them as they were stopped and later, they would race past us on the road. We had lunch in a gravel pull out along a river and just after we parked, a moose walked out into the river … not to eat or drink, just to stand there. Our original plan was to camp at Eagle Plains, but we were there early and the campground is more like a parking lot, so we filled up on gas ($150 worth at $1.69/litre), took a quick look to make sure all the tires were still fully inflated (no flats or leaks so far!), and off we headed.

We crossed the Arctic Circle, took the required pictures at the sign that is actually to the north of the circle according to dad’s GPS, and arrived at Rock River Campground with plenty of time for supper and a walk around. The campground backed onto the river and was mostly empty, but the pit toilets weren’t the cleanest so it was nice to have our own facilities!

As we sat in the campground, we also looked for where the screws that we found on the floor had come from (Dad eventually found out that they were from one of the benches and put them back in), and realized that our microwave had shaken its screws loose.

After playing a game of Bohnanza, we were in bed by 10:30 - the sky was still light.