Day 4 – Arctic Circle to Inuvik – 328 km (204 miles) – 9 hours
Read our “Summary of the Dempster” post for an overview of The Dempster!
Today’s drive turned out to be a long one. After awhile the constant bumps jar your brain or what’s left of it! We departed our Arctic Circle boondocking site and headed north with the goal to cross the border from Yukon into the Northwest Territories and hopefully make it all the way to Inuvik.
We left early and weren’t on the road but a few minutes and there was a grizzly bear on the road. As soon as it saw us it took off so I didn’t get a good photo. The Mighty Ram (us) scared it away!! Then we saw a motorcycle without a rear wheel. Upon further conversations with travelers along the way they told us the rider had gotten help and went to get a new tire/rim which took him a few days. Yuck. The dangers of the Dempster.
From there on we encountered, as expected, terrible roads and beautiful scenery, but like a broken record…we took it slow!
It was a 60 km (37 miles) to the Northwest Territories border. The Dempster Highway guide and The Milepost warn that this area has quite a few grizzly bears and to stay alert. We read that there are many around there but you have to park for a bit ad get our your binoculars and scan around…and you will see them. OR they may greet you at the Northwest Territories sign!! One of the other.
From here the kilometer markers start at 0 for NWT. We were at NWT 0 km. I still love the Arctic Ocean signs!
We continued on north and found that the roads in the Northwest Territories were in much better condition than the Yukon. That gave us hope. Plus we have driven in the Northwest Territories many times and always had well maintained (graded) gravel roads…but not in the Yukon!!
We passed by Midway Lake (NWT 44 km) about 30km south of Fort McPherson which is home to a large music festival in early August where nearly 2,000 people attend (and camp). A bit of a Woodstock of the North?
Before our first ferry crossing at the Peel River we stopped at the Tetlit Gwinjik Territorial Viewpoint (NWT 71 km) to check out the views. It was somewhat of a hazy, smokey day but it was still nice views. We could see the Peel River in the distance.
As we went back to the motorhome we noticed something very long dragging behind it. Hmmm…it appears a rock knocked off the cap of the sewer hose container and the sewer hose fell out partially and the road unraveled the sewer hose for about 100 feet or so. That was fun! Now we were down to one sewer hose. Just add it to the list of things to repair.
We also noticed a bit of a funny smell almost like grey water. We walked around inside and out and could not find anything unusual.
On to the Peel River Ferry crossing (NWT 74 km). The ferry is the only way to continue on the road north. It is a very short crossing and runs on demand and on a cable and it’s free. During winter with all the ice the ferry doesn’t operate as you can just drive across on the ice. During the fall and spring the ferry doesn’t operate until the ice breaks up. But in summer you have this great ferry to get you across the river. We didn’t have to wait long and soon we were on board and shortly thereafter on the other side of the river. Onwards and upwards!
We had about 68 km to drive before our next ferry crossing and went by the turn off for the town, Fort McPherson (NWT 86 km), which offers fuel and a few other ammenities. We didn’t stop as we had already fueled in Eagle Plains.
Next up was the Mackenzie Ferry Crossing (NWT 142 km) with the confluence of the Arctic Red River and Mackenzie Rivers. This crossing is a bit longer than the Peel River crossing, runs on demand, and is also free. It operates similarly to the Peel River crossing in the sense that it is an ice road in the winter and doesn’t run in the spring and fall during ice break up. But the main difference is this crossing connects 3 areas, the south shore of the Mackenzie River, the north shore of the Mackenzie River, and the town of Tsiigehtchic. This small community is a Gwich’in community known for its dryfish and berries.
The Mackenzie River is the longest river in Canada and flows 4,200 km from northern British Columbia to the Arctic Ocean.
We continued driving and stopped for a bit of a break at the Vadzaih Van Tsik campground (NWT 221 km). No one was around, we could just park on the road, and walk around. It has 11 campsites and is on the Caribou Creek. We noticed that smell again.
There are a few other campgrounds in the Gwich’in Territorial Park but we didn’t get a chance to check them out. It was a very long, bumpy road day and we were ready to get settled in for the night.
We eventually entered into the town of Inuvik, a town of about 3,400 people, and the largest town above the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories. When you enter Inuvik near the airport, the gravel road becomes paved. After over 700 km of bumpy gravel roads this comes as a welcome relief to most travelers.
The Happy Valley Territorial Park is located right in Inuvik which offered us the opportunity to walk to stores and resupply.
Check-in was easy and we could get a site without a reservation, but we did try to arrive early. Later in the day the campground did fill up.
Campground: Happy Valley Territorial Park
Location: Inuvik, Northwest Territories
Site: 19 (pull thru)
Cost: $35 (CAD)
Services: E (30 AMP)
Comments: A convenient campground located right in town and walking distance to the Home Hardware store (a must for all travelers due to all the repairs required after driving this far on the Dempster, the North Mart (for all your grocery store and clothes and snowmobile needs), and a few restaurants.
After we got parked Norm went to work to uncover what that “smell” was. He did his investigative work and discovered it was one of the Ram chassis batteries. We have two of them and one of them had been shaken so badly that it was gassing off. He unhooked the battery and removed it and started calling the auto parts stores in town. He knew he needed to replace it and he wanted an AGM battery. Of the 3 auto parts stores in Inuvik, one was closed, one never answered the phone, and the third one didn’t have any AGM batteries in stock. Well, we could survive with only one battery as we also had a number of batteries for the house part of the motorhome so we were sure we could always get the rig started. BUT we lucked out with our vehicle not catching fire or the alternators not being damaged. Oh My!!!
We did walk around the town some, to the North Mart, and Alestine’s Restaurant (a must in Inuvik), and checked out the church and the Visitors Center. There are also a number of tour companies that offer trips to Tuk and the Arctic Ocean to those who don’t want to drive the next section of road.
Since we are well above the Arctic Circle at the end of June the sun never sets. So I could not resist taking photos out our window at 2am. It looks like middle of the day. I love the north!
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