Today marks a month since we pulled out of our driveway to begin this unbelievable road trip. In many ways, it feels like a month; yet, at the same time, it doesn’t.
As we head up the Dempster Highway toward the Arctic Ocean on part two of this adventure, I find myself reflecting on all that has occurred and all we have seen and been through during part one - the Alaska leg.
The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a 453 mile highway in Canada that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta. The highway crosses the Peel and the Mackenzie rivers using a combination of seasonal ferry services and ice bridges. Year-round road access from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk opened in November 2017, with the completion of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway,[1] creating the first all-weather road route connecting the Canadian road network with the Arctic Ocean.
We are filled with excitement and a bit of uncertainty as we begin this part of the journey. We have heard and read so many stories about how rough this part of the traveling can be. Many have started with the intention of making it to the Arctic Ocean. Many have made the decision (or had the decision made for them due to damaged vehicles) to turn around at one point or the other.
Below is AFTER the Dempster Highway when we arrived at a hotel at 12:30 a.m. It was really 1:30 a.m., but we had a time change along the way today. From the clock on the truck, it was 16 hours regardless.
We began the day at 7:00 a.m. We lost signal early in the day, got it back briefly at a ferry crossing (one of three), and lost it again until we reached Inuvik
We are as prepared as we can be. Onward!
This portion was written after we arrived in Inuvik.
It was a very long day. We drove 16 hours through what can only be described as extremely dusty, rough, unimproved roads - 458 miles worth. There were some spots that weren’t bad, but they were few and far between
John and Mary were ahead of us, and it didn’t matter if we were close to them or further back. The dust that was kicking back to us was relentless. There really aren’t words to describe it. On over 90% of the drive today, we could not see their RV or the road ahead of us at all, and we were eating dust. It was beyond stressful.
The picture below is actually one of the better times when we actually could see them and the road.
We had read and heard about the Dempster. We had heard about the inside of RV’s being covered with dust. The dust is even thicker because they use calcium chloride on the roads in an attempt to keep the dust down.
There was some incredibly beautiful areas throughout the drive, and we were able to enjoy those. I will add pictures later, but because we were remote and without signal for so long, I wanted to at least get this posted
We knew long before we got to Inuvik that we would have to get a hotel and stay a couple of nights. Even though Mike put extra seals on the doors of Tramper, the entire inside is covered in dust and calcium chloride. There is no way we could sleep in there. Below are a few pictures of some items in Tramper covered in dust. You can get the idea.
It’s a gritty, dusty mess in there. Thankfully, there was room at an Inn in Inuvik. Not the greatest room, but it’s all they have available. So we will make do.
We told John and Mary to just go on to the Arctic Circle tomorrow. There is no way we can be ready. We know not to do a huge clean up yet knowing we have more of this road to do (like the return trip), but we have to be able to sleep in there
I am beyond sad that we won’t make this part of the trip together — this final destination of the Arctic Ocean. But when you think about it, we haven’t really been traveling together anyway for all but maybe a week — if that — when you add it all up.
Tomorrow is another day. We will regroup and move forward.