The Dempster Highway is about 740 km from the intersection with Yukon Highway 2 (the Klondike Highway) to Inuvik. Yukon has a great guide to the highway here, and as mentioned in a previous post, the Yukon information centre in Whitehorse gave us this guide.
We woke up in Tombstone Territorial Park feeling refreshed. We took a few minutes in the morning to explore the area around the park's information centre.
Everywhere we travelled, we saw loads of Yukon fireweed. Very pretty!
The landscape in the park is stunning.
The info centre provided lots of information about the history and ecology of the area. The Dempster Highway is named for RNWMP Corporal (later Inspector) William Dempster, who led the patrol that found the famous Lost Patrol of 1910, and later improved the main overland trail between Dawson and Fort McPherson.
Arthur and I explored the short interpretive trail.
We then set off to our next destination, but stopped at the viewpoint to look up the valley toward the Tombstone Mountains.
Arthur almost even smiled!
A short distance along the Dempster, and the look of the country changed significantly. The mountains were no longer jagged and rocky but now rounded, looking like gigantic talus piles.
We now reached the most rugged part of the Dempster, north of Engineer Creek over Ogilvie Ridge to Eagle Plains. Views were spectacular, but the road was uneven, bumpy and rocky. We now had to slow down, and drive carefully with care for potholes and similar irregularities.
At the end of Ogilvie Ridge, we found the Eagle Plains gas station and hotel - an absolutely crucial oasis for travellers on this highway. Eagle Plains is almost exactly halfway between the start of the highway and Inuvik. It's 369 km from the start of the highway, so a crucial opportunity to refuel your vehicle, and with the restaurant, also to refuel your body, for the next 180 km to Fort McPherson.
40 km after Eagle Plains, we made it to the Arctic Circle and our next photo op. As usual, extremely beautiful landscapes.
Arthur and Matt, too cool for school.
Our next stop was Rock River Campground, aka Mosquito Central! Tim and Matt went full bug suit.
Arthur preferred to hide out inside the truck.
I found that the river had fewer mozzies, as there was a pleasant breeze there.
Next morning, our first stop was the border between Yukon and the NWT. Weather that day was wild, as we woke with sun, then drove into cool and cloudy conditions at the border - but we were back into the sun by the time we reached Ft McPherson.
Next stop was the cable ferry across the Peel River just outside Fort McPherson. This is a free ferry, just drive up, wait your turn, and get carried across the river!
We fuelled up in Fort McPherson, then carried on to the next ferry, the MV Louis Cardinal across the Mackenzie River. The Louis Cardinal has three stops - two for either direction on the Dempster Highway, and the other is the connection to the small community of Tsiigehtchic, which was known as Arctic Red River in 1932 when it was the home base for Constable Edgar Millen during the hunt for the Mad Trapper (see my other post for the game we played based on this event!). The Mackenzie is a massive river.
Tsiigehtchic from a distance - quite pretty but we didn't have time to visit :)
And finally Inuvik! The sign is meant to be evocative of the Northern Lights. Note the motorcyclists in the background to the right, they will be significant in a future post!
We stopped into the tourist centre, where we were directed to Mavis's house. Mavis is a coordinator for local artists, and sold us some absolutely gorgeous handmade items. We then set up our tents at Jak Territorial Park - a fully serviced park on a ridge to the south of Inuvik. The campground had showers (absolute luxury for us!), as well as a viewing tower that provided more spectacular views of the Mackenzie delta.
Then off to bed, in prep for the trek to Tuktoyaktuk the next day!
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