The Dempster Highway and Arctic Ocean: uncertain ferries, flat tyres, and new friends.

 

2022 June 8 to 18

We had looked forward to this part of trip for various reasons, including Alan’s interest in visiting the places he had worked many years ago. Uncertainties associated with this highway included the weather, and impact of the weather on other uncertainties, the state of the road, and the timing of opening of the Peel River and Mackenzie ferries.

It has been a cold spring, not that there’s been much spring, more of a transition from winter to summer with no intervening period. In the days prior to heading north there had been snow, and later a blizzard south of Eagle Plains which had closed the road. The ferries, which in the last 15 years had opened in early June, with the latest opening having been June 10^th, were still closed on the 11^th. Gathering information on the state of the ferries was not easy. Our decision leaving Dawson City was to head for Tombstone Mountain campground and check with the Interpretative Centre there before heading further north. We had to be somewhere with internet connection on June 13^th, and so if we could not rely on getting to Inuvik we would have to return to Dawson, and then try again the following week.

Tombstone was a good stop, and we enjoyed the Goldensides Trail with the guides there, as well as walking the short North Klondike River trail and exploring the immediate area. This area is distinctly different from the forest further south, as we made the transition from taiga to tundra, with smaller trees, bushes, lichens, and grasses predominating. The views were amazing, and we saw a variety of birdlife on the lakes we passed as well as sandhill cranes in the way north and in Tuktoyaktuk. We also saw moose twice on this part of the trip – both times a mother and a young moose. 

 

We decided, on the basis of the information available, that we should head for Eagle Plains, where we would make the final decision to head to Inuvik or return to Dawson, with time to get back to the latter if the ferries (and road) were still closed. The last part of the road to Eagle Plains was very muddy, and we met people who has struggled to cover this section on motorbikes, as well as others for whom it had been a challenge in four-wheeled vehicles. It was still raining, and the prognosis was not good to continue north, however after breakfast, and rumours that the ferry at Peel River was both open and closed (!), we met someone who had crossed the river that morning heading south. So – the green light! We left in rain and successfully crossed both Peel River and the Mackenzie with no problems, however meeting groups who had been turned back because their vehicles were too big.

 

We had a puncture on a section of the highway north of Eagle Plains which had recently been “maintained” with knife-sharp shards of shale! More to follow on this section of road later in the post.

Our original plan had been to spend the week in Inuvik, with a day trip to Tuktoyaktuk mid-week, however we found that there was a conference that week, on that accommodation was more or less impossible to find, and in the end spent one weeknight in Inuvik, three nights in Tuktoyaktuk, and another night in Inuvik before heading south again.

The campsite in Inuvik proved to be closed, and we moved to the other campsite south of the town, then into town the following day. We then headed north on the new(ish) road to Tuktoyaktuk, enjoying views of this tundra and finally reaching the village late in the day. 

 

Since it was June there is sun above the horizon 24 hours a day, and the weather proved good, albeit still colder than expected.

 

We visited the operations bases which had been in operation when Alan had worked in the Beaufort Sea years ago, although they are shut down so the visit was more of a “drive-by”. We also enjoyed our time in the village, finding it good to gain a deeper appreciation of life locally, and exploring the nooks and crannies of the area. On our first night we met Dennis, Clifford, and Norm, with whom we enjoyed dinner and conversation. 

On returning to Inuvik Alan was able to visit the EGT base, hosted by Willie and Scotty, seeing the Wurmlinger and exchanging stories with them. 

Our subsequent travel south was still uncertain, since the ferries had both closed again while we were further north, however it turned out that both opened conveniently for our travel south. So we continued south, stopping a night in Eagle Plains and then continuing to Stewart Crossing for the night.

 

Punctures:

In addition to our puncture northbound a vehicle whose driver, Mike, stopped to help us with ours found that his vehicle had a puncture as well. We all, with Taylor and Hayley who also stopped, worked to fix these, successfully.

Southbound, our day through the black shale section was a long story: first we stopped to help a couple with a puncture in one of the tyres of their trailer, then further north we came  upon a disconsolate couple whose pick-up had three flat tyres – simultaneous punctures in the three! While helping fix these (replacing the unrepairable tyre with the spare, and repairing the other two) a couple also heading south stopped to ask whether we needed more help, which we felt we did not, so they continued on their way. A short distance further south, we came upon them stopped fixing their own puncture, and helped them with this. Finally, we experience our own puncture, and fixed that.

Roadside camaraderie was evidenced throughout the day’s travel, as well as some comments at the use of the sharp shale which was clearly causing these punctures.  

Reflections on the Dempster

This iconic highway, with characteristics reminding us of the Gibb River Road in some ways, although somewhat cooler, was a great journey. The scenery is distinctive, particularly once in the tundra, and travelling is different, both in terms of the frequency of problems, and in the way that travellers stop to help each other on the road. A good trip!

Our next stages of the trip:

We plan to return to Watson Lake via Ross River, taking a different route from our route north, then east and north to various Forts (Nelson, Smith, Providence) to explore the Waterfall Route, Wood Buffalo National Park, and Yellowknife.

Hugs

Alan & Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes, with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com.