Dempster Highway Blog – My Journey to the Arctic Ocean

I traveled on the Dempster Highway from August 10 to August 15, 2019.  This is my Dempster Highway blog.  Click this other post for things to see and tips on Driving the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk. 

Saturday

I arrived into Dawson City in the afternoon, after a rough start in Chicken, AK (too many PBRs) and driving the Top of the World highway.  I stopped into both the Dawson City and Northwest Territories visitor centers, located across the street from each other.  I got a great map and guide of the Dempster Highway and learned there was rain forecast for the entire highway for at least the next week.  But, it was dry in Dawson City and I was hoping to at least see Tombstone Mountain Territorial Park in partial sunlight so I decided to fill with gas and get started on the Dempster immediately, rather than start on Sunday morning.  The first bit of the Dempster was smooth and dry – much better than expected.  I saw a porcupine and enjoyed the views of the Tombstone Mountain.  North of the park I encountered rain, but I decided to get as far as I could as the roads might even be slicker the next day.  There was some slipping around but it got really slippery in about 5 inches of pure mud as I approached the Ogilive-Peel Viewpoint Rest Area so I decided to camp there with a couple other cars and semis parked for the night. 

Sunday

I had slippery roads in the morning, especially near Rock River, and I stopped at the major sites along the way, including the Arctic Circle (believe it or not, this was my first time crossing the Arctic Circle), and the Yukon/NWT border.  The roads got much better in NWT.  I stopped at a territorial park and got a certificate for making the Arctic Circle crossing, and had to ride on two river ferries. 

I eventually arrived in Inuvik in early evening after a very full day of (slow) driving.  I wasn’t crazy about the choices for free camping and talked to a couple that said there was no camping between Inuvik and Tuk, so I decided to stay at the great Jak Campground for $23.65, just outside of town.

Monday

Got up early, had a hot shower at the campground, and hit the road for the 144 km drive to Tuk.  The start of the road wasn’t too bad, but it got worse as I approached Tuk, as there had been quite a bit of rain in the previous hours and days.  I stopped to see the Pingo and went into town.  Got some photos of the famous “Arctic Ocean” sign and stopped in the visitor center.  Had lunch at Grandma’s Kitchen – a sampler plate I had them put together of the various local delicacies – smoked white fish, smoked Beluga jerky, and raw Beluga blubber.  I’m pretty sure I’d lose weight if this was the make-up of my diet.  The raw whale meat was not good. 

I took my time driving back to Inuvik, stopping to pick cloud berries, soft orange berries with an indescribable taste.  Tart and mushy but unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before.

Back in Inuvik, I did a tour of the Igloo Church and watched a documentary about placing a Canadian flag on the land nearest the North Pole and a fictional story about a young woman from the city that returned to her mother’s small village in NWT.  I stayed in the Jak Campground again.

Tuesday

It was raining all night and morning so I was in no hurry to start driving the Dempster Highway as it would be mush.  Slept in a little and made coffee.  Hung out at the library and visited the Aurora Research Center.  I took a free craft class at the Western Arctic Visitor center, making a dream catcher.  I was hoping to do a tour of the Inuvik Greenhouse Community Garden at 5:30 but there was a sign on the door cancelling the tour, but they let me have a little walk around inside.  Since this ended early and it hadn’t been raining, I decided to start my return trip towards Dawson City.  I made good time and didn’t have to wait for the ferry long, so I was able to make both ferry crossings well before their ending times of the day.  It was along this stretch that I had one of my coolest wildlife experiences of the trip.  I came upon a fox that had a limp, dead rabbit in its mouth.  It watched me, and I shot photos.  I drove by it and it started following behind my van.  So I stopped and it trotted by my van.  I started to drive again, and it followed again.  We repeated this process 3 times before the fox decided he had enough and ran off into the brush.

I made it to Midway Lake – half way between the Peel River and the Yukon border.  There is a First Nations festival here in August to coincide with the Caribou herd running, but it’s a virtual ghost town the rest of the year.  There was a couple from Switzerland camping too so I felt safe.

Wednesday

I woke up early and got on the road immediately.  There was some rain in the morning, so the roads were bad, especially near Rock River.  I stopped in Eagle Plains for gas and decided to relax a little since I was making great time and didn’t need to be to Dawson City until tomorrow for the festival so I drank several cups of excellent coffee in the Eagle Plains restaurant.  It was pretty quiet in the restaurant and I watched Canadian news, and heard of the big stock market drop. 

I continued driving to Tombstone Mountain park.  I was planning on doing a hike, but the rain seemed to be off and on, so I found a spot in a gravel pit on the north end of the park and spent some time doing some writing.   I went to sleep only to hear some noise on the roof of my van around 11:15.  At first it sounded like raindrops but then I could tell it was something different.  It was only on one edge of the roof.  While solo camping, I have a lot of fear that someone is going to mess with me, so the first thing that comes in my mind is that someone is throwing gravel at my truck.  The noise stops so I peek out from behind my curtain and see if I can spot something in my side mirrors.  On my right mirror, I see a flash of white.  Was someone wearing a white t-shirt and lurking about my van?  I keep myself partially hidden as I grab my bear spray and keep looking out the windows and mirrors and then I spot the culprit… a large owl is sitting on the ground, just staring at me.  Owls are so cool, so I grab my camera and try to take a photo.  At nearly 11:30, there is still some light in the sky in August.  The owl flies over my head and lands on the side of the gravel pit.  It sits patiently before it starts flying over my head.  It disappears behind a hill and a second owl is following it.  They keep circling and swooping over my head, getting as close as 5 feet away.  I can see their faces in the partially dark/light skies.  And then a third bird joins them – 3 owls swooping my head.  Eventually, they fly away and I don’t see them again.  I go to bed thinking about the cool experience.

Thursday

Tombstone Provincial Park was beautiful in the morning.  The sun was partially shining, and the fall colors were starting to show.  I stopped into the visitor center and enjoyed the view and sipped Labrador Tea with yarrow and cranberries. 

I drove back to the start of the Dempster Highway where it joined the Klondike Highway.  I stopped at the Dempster Highway Interpretive sign, it felt very anti-climactic.  I did a little jump for joy and a bridge construction worker saw me – she didn’t care and went back to her job. 

I drove into Dawson City, arriving mid-afternoon.  After checking e-mail for the first time in a couple days, I popped into the Northwest Territories visitor center to sign in on completing the Dempster highway and enter the drawing to win an NWT diamond.  I was telling the lady the story about the owls and she got a concerned look on her face.  “Did anyone you love die?  Owls are the messengers of death and someone you love will die in 24 hours.”  I freaked out a little and tried to call my parents.  No answer.  Eventually I got hold of my sister-in-law and found out everyone was fine.  A strange end to my Dempster Highway adventure.

If my Dempster Highway blog of driving 1,100 miles on a gravel road to the Arctic Ocean sounds interesting to you, read more on this post for things to see and tips on Driving the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk. 

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