Yukon / North West Territories: 08. – 15.07.2009

Now it was supposed to go on the 740 km (462 mi) long, infamous Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Inuvik. The northern most point we wanted to reach with our Nisto. Lots we have heard and read about this road; terrible gravel road, where you should have multiple spare tires and you’ll be using even more. Indeed we have heard in the Visitor Center in Dawson City that just last week a trailer used 6 spare tires. Well kind of understandable if you look at these tires that are made for a wheel barrow and have to carry a trucks load and that on gravel, they are just meant to explode.

Three days we planned for one way. There even where some campgrounds and one has to imagine 3 villages, but we intended to stay in the wild, since it was even officially allowed. We started with great weather. The drive being as wonderful as we have heard, and if you ignore the occasional truck or RV it was also very lonesome. Nevertheless it showed us that we live on a small world, because as we stopped for a short hiking trail we met Peter and Petra with Alessandra, from Lucerne who we met in Florida already. They were on the way back to Dawson City. And after a chat and some great camp tips, we all continued our drive.

The next day the weather has changed and it was raining for most of the time, so we missed most of the great scenery. While at the Arctic Circle, we just got out of Nisto to take a picture, at the border sign to the North West Territories we would not dare to get out anymore. In the mean time Nisto was covered in mud that we could not even see out of the rear window anymore, not to think about reading the license plate.

Our next sleeping place we found short before the first ferry at the road side. Here it seemed that it didn’t rain, yet, and so we felt secure on the clay ground. But the wetness caught up on us and we could watch how it got wetter and wetter. With the upcoming wind the attachment tent looked almost as dirty as Nisto, and the wind got as strong that we had to store everything away in the middle of the night. Almost miraculously Markus kept from getting as dirty as his surrounding, if you refrain from his shoes, which gained at least the double weight.

After that night it meant just get out of here, no breakfast and no coffee. But at least on the other side of the ferry at least Markus got his every morning brown liquid. Because in the Visitor Center of the Nitainlaii Territorial Park, Robert, a native from Inuvik keeps fresh coffee for the tourists ready. While he talks about his home, culture, work and life in winter. He also shows pictures of everything, even one from a Polar Bear that must have gotten lost last summer. Even though the area is supposed to thrive with wildlife we have only seen a fox with its cub along the whole way. That is if you don’t count the thousand of mosquitoes that attack you as soon as you get outside.

Two day after we left Dawson, we reached Inuvik at a bit cold but wonderful weather. First we secured us a campsite in town and just afterward we organized our trip to Tuktoyaktuk. A village at the north polar sea, which only can be reached by car in winter across frozen lakes and rivers, in summer a small plane secures the connection. And just on the next day there were some spaces open for us. But before that in the evening the opening ceremony of the Great Northern Art Festival took place, and of course we were seen there as well.

The ‚night‘, even if it cannot be called like that anymore since the sun did not set at all, was relatively short, because there was the conflict between the body who said: “Hey, I’m tired!” and the eyes who told: “But it’s not dark, why should I go to bed?”. Completely spent we started the next day to Tuk. The tour that was lead by a native was really interesting. There the generation contract still works. For example every child has to choose two elders beside his grad parents that it wants to care for. This promise is kept for a lifetime. Also single mother are taken care of and their children are ‘adopted’ by hunter and educated that way. For us it was enough to dip our feet in the north polar sea, for more it was just too cold. But we had a look in the community freezer, manmade caves in the permafrost that supports the whole village.

With a speedboat we started the way back through the Mckenzie Delta. In our latitudes one would think that Mosquitoes would abandon the scene at temperatures below 10°C, well not here. On every land break we got latterly attacked by hundreds of them that we had to abandon the scene to get back on the boat. At about 10pm we got back to our starting point where we found a message at the window of Nisto. Ruth and Walter, who we met in Dawson Creek, caught up on us and stayed at the same campground. Together we made the ‘night’ to the day (or just followed the flow of the season). The next day we spent relaxing before the two teams took the road back to Dawson City, this time fortunately with great weather.

With two more stone chips we got to Dawson City, in the Bar of the Downtown Hotel we could surprise Christina, as she wasn’t expecting anything at all. The delight was great on all sides, and the night was another long one.

Already the following day we moved on towards Alaska where we are at the moment. More on that, in the Alaska-Report.

Adios, from the since Inuvik diligent Spanish learning World travelers.

Sonja and Markus

Here it goes to the pictures…