Dawson to Inuvik ~ The Special Journey

 

Ferry to Cross the Might Yukon River

Beautiful sunny warm day, with the sun shining over the Yukon River, was our wake-up this morning. I wrote a little more on the blog before and after breakfast. Helen really knows how to treat a guy in the Yukon with a nice breakfast and a cup of coffee. I went outside down by the river and watched the paddle boat struggle to cross the swift current. She came to this side of the river to have her passengers look at the old paddle wheel boats that have been discarded along a section of the river.

Tombstone Territorial Park

Taking the ferry again to cross the river to Dawson, we headed to the bank for an exchange of money ($59.05 for $60.00 American… not a bad rate)… next over to the post office for stamps. ($2.21 for two postcard stamps with tax) Just before turning on Princess St. to get to the bank we met the bike guy, Marten. He had stayed at the other end of the same campground that we had. He said that he would go to Inuvik (God Bless Him!) We met him again at the gas station. He was going to stay on more night in Dawson for a good hot shower. I said that he was just giving us a head start to Inuvik.

Every Turn is a Picture!

I had downloaded some geocaches for the trip up north. Sure enough, there are caches in the Northwest Territories and also above the Arctic Circle. We would take the trip up north nice and easy. 476 miles from Dawson to Inuvik, that’s 942 miles at maybe 40 miles per hour. “Why do it?” To use someone else line “Because that’s what we do” Seriously, this road is one of the world’s most scenic drives. It is nature at it’s best! You don’t see big RV’s on this road. Truck Campers are the weapon of choice. We have the weapon and I want to use it.

This is Marten from the Netherlands
A biker ~ Pedal Type ~ On his way
to Inuvik ~ God Bless!

The ride…hard packed gravel, level, smooth, not too hilly was the normal for the first 108 miles. We are at Engineer Creek campground (4 campers) and one local family from Inuvik stopped here for a rest. I naturally asked him how the road was up ahead. He said, “not too good”. “Very rutty, but if you take your time you should be ok”. He also told me that some tourist got stuck in Inuvik for ten days because of a forest fire. The fire was not close to the highway but, the smoke was too heavy for vehicle traffic. “Man that’s not too encouraging for tomorrow trip.”

That is what we did and saw