The Dempster Highway is one of the iconic drives – 734km on a gravel road that leads you to Inuvik. Essentially it is the furthest North that you can drive in Canada during the summer.
The landscape along the Dempster Highway is incredible – we crossed two mountain ranges and saw the landscape change with the elevation. Tombstone Territorial Park was at the highest elevation of 1100 metres. It is scenery that we have never seen anywhere, it is unique to this area.
Our plan was to spend the first night in Rock Creek campground but we were advised against it as it was extremely buggy. The next option was to spend the night at Eagle Plains which is the halfway point to Inuvik, but that was not possible as there was a bear in the area. The lady at the hotel said that we could have 2 rooms for $169 each per night. $169!!!! For a motel/truck stop? I think not, so we continued our journey, crossed the Arctic Circle, entered North West Territories, crossed Peel River and Mackenzie River on a ferry and spent the first night at Nintainlaii Territorial Campground. There is no charge for the ferries as it is part of the highway system. We drove more than anticipated that first day.
The next day we arrived in Inuvik. We explored the town and went into a craft store recommended by the staff at the visitor center. Caroline and Marcus each bought a 1″ owl made from seal fur. I thought I pick myself up one of those beaded slippers as a neat souvenir and to keep my feet warm in the winter time but it was way too expensive! $450!!! Maybe one day I’ll order it online, LOL!
That evening we attended the opening ceremony of the Great Northern Arts Festival. Marcus danced with the traditional drummers and dancers – but Caroline was a scaredy cat and didn’t want to dance.
Inuit art is really impressive! Even their traditional clothes are works of art. I liked a blue parka that had wolverine and wolf fur trim for $1800 – I pick this over a Canada Goose parka any day – but only if I live in some cold place..
That night it rained – and guess what, Jeff woke up because his feet got wet. Water was getting in on his side of the tent.. and so at 1am he got out to throw a tarp over the tent. It was not even dark.. Yup, it was really difficult trying to fall asleep when there is almost 24hours of daylight! (Let it be known that I (Gladys) did question the reliability of the tent previously.. I wasn’t surprised that it failed.)
We had planned to stay another night along the Dempster Highway on our way back into Dawson City but that did not happen due to the weather. It started to rain and pitching a tent would not be an option since it had failed with less rain while on a tent pad. We had to make the 11hr drive out on one day – that’s when you appreciate the 24hr daylight and a 2nd driver. When we finally retired for the night, it was almost 9:30pm, and yes, everyone slept really well in the trailer that night…
The only wildlife we saw on the Dempster were the Dall sheeps, moose, bald eagle, arctic ground squirrel and not much else.. That was quite disappointing, I think we’re there at the wrong time of the year… Maybe next time 🙂
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