49 - The Dempster Highway: A Landslide, Inuvik & Tuk

       Wow! A lot of amazing things have happened since our last post. Doreen caught everyone up to Tok, AK and on to Dawson, Yukon Territory. Since then we headed up the Dempster Highway, which is another dirt and gravel road that winds through beautiful mountains and alongside numerous rivers, lakes, streams and melt-water ponds.

       The conditions were cool, cloudy and rainy when we started which, as you might guess, turns dirt and gravel into a muddy, slippery mess. After only about fifteen minutes we took a windshield full of pebbles and rocks from a tour bus heading the opposite way who showed no interest in slowing down as we passed! It was loud and it took a few swipes from the wipers to clear it all away. We already had a few chips in the windshield from passing semi's on the way to Alaska, but luckily no cracks...that is, until now. As we drove along the vibration from the rough road was enough to finally create a crack. Maybe you can see it in the lower left portion of this pic:

       All in all this wasn't a big deal. Once you get into this part of the world, you notice that many cars have one if not more cracks in the windshield. We were given a Yukon translation sheet that said that a cracked windshield is equivalent to death and taxes. It also said that getting a flat tire on the highway was equivalent to farting in an elevator. The sense of humor here is great! See more translations in this pic borrowed from our new friend, Lonnie:

       The scenery was fantastic and the weather quickly improved, although there was enough rain to cause a landslide far ahead of us. Apparently, there was a forest fire there last year and since the tree roots don't penetrate very deeply in the permafrost, the conditions were ripe for a slide. Luckily, the  workers who live along the road patrol regularly and closed the road so that repairs could be made.  

       We were stopped about 10 kilometers or roughly six miles short of the landslide area and camped for the night at a road maintenance gravel pit with several other campers who were on their way north.

      The next morning the workers told us they would have a single lane open for north and south bound traffic and to be ready to go promptly at 1 p.m. We made it through with no further delays other than simply driving more slowly than usual on the rough parts of the road. We stopped at Eagle Plains for a night and luckily we were able to rent one of the six campsites with electricity to give the batteries a good charge. Being this far north we don't get direct rays from the sun and we spent a lot of time in mountain shadows.

      We crossed the Arctic circle but we decided to save the celebration for when we arrived  at the campsite in Inuvik, which we did at about 10 p.m. with nearly full daylight! From Inuvik, we headed up to Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk for short).

It took about six hours between Inuvik and Tuk on the way up, mostly because we have to go really slow when the road is rough or really soft...which it was for us. As we got closer, conditions improved and we finally arrived and quickly found a place to dip our toes in the Arctic ocean. Yes, you  guessed it...it's COLD! But not as cold as I thought it would be. There was definitely no temptation to swim though. We'll post more pics, since I'm currently having a little technical difficulty with the WiFi here in Inuvik. More to come soon!