Dempster hiway

The road is better between Eagle and Inuvik than before Eagle. There are two ferries. The first across the Peel River would be no problem. The docking ramps where lvel so a rig with long rear overhang would have no problem. The second accross the Mackenzie was uneven. Maybe they could have made it better if needed. Most shorter C classes weren't having any proplem. Later when the road firms up the wieght restriction will come off, then you could likely take your rig right to Tuk.

D&D Wonderers wrote:
Made it up and down the Dempster Hiway. What a great drive. Saw wild life, and miles of beautiful scenery. The road was a little pot holey in places, but no need to be in a rush. Very few bugs. The only hazard was idiot truckers that insist on driving beyond their ability and shower your windshield with rocks. Left the coach at Eagle Plains and went the rest of the way with the toad. Nothing more than 5000lb allowed from Inuvik to Tuk. Real soft in places but a great drive in a lighter vehicle. What a amazing experience, sitting on the shore of the Beaufort Sea and watch the sun almost set and rise again.

That's awesome. Especially the sunrise/sunset thing. What an experience! We'd like to give it a try some day.
Did you wind up with any "stone shower" damage? We almost made it through the "kill zone" in northern BC/YT in 2016, but a pinhead driving a semi rig did exactly what you described to us (the roadway was medium-small sized aggregate, posted as 50kph, and he was doing at least 90kph through it - we had no where to escape to), and we took a chip high on the passenger side. Got fixed in Great Falls, MT at the Safelite there. Great service, great price, Great Falls.
Could you have driven the coach/towed combo to Inuvik? Or would it have been more trouble than it's worth? I see there's at least one ferry crossing between Eagle Plains and Inuvik, possibly two. Would that have been passable with both vehicles?

Made it up and down the Dempster Hiway. What a great drive. Saw wild life, and miles of beautiful scenery. The road was a little pot holey in places, but no need to be in a rush. Very few bugs. The only hazard was idiot truckers that insist on driving beyond their ability and shower your windshield with rocks. Left the coach at Eagle Plains and went the rest of the way with the toad. Nothing more than 5000lb allowed from Inuvik to Tuk. Real soft in places but a great drive in a lighter vehicle. What a amazing experience, sitting on the shore of the Beaufort Sea and watch the sun almost set and rise again.

Yes, I did say it was one of the reasons and like you, our main reason is because we almost never ever reserve campgrounds (because we use them as little as possible) so need to work on the assumption that what we have on board might have to last us for a week or more.

tony lee wrote:
One of the reason we travel with full fuel and supplies and full water and empty waste tanks so it is no big deal to spend a few days sitting on the side of the road.

The #1 reason we follow your lead is in case we find a spot to camp that we hadn’t counted on. Your reason is number 2 on our list...lol...
Black water tank :E is about the only reason we will head into town.... or run low on Beer... ;) noticed I said low on beer.....:W

Yes, similar to what happens in the desert in Australia. Dirt road gets lots of rain and is closed by the authorities (on pain of multi-thousand dollar fines nowadays) to stop damage. Morons drive around the barriers and turn it into a quagmire that extends the road closure for weeks rather than a few hours.
Just needs us to be flexible the same as for the rest of the Alaska trip where landslides and fires can force major changes to timetable and route. One of the reason we travel with full fuel and supplies and full water and empty waste tanks so it is no big deal to spend a few days sitting on the side of the road.

tony lee wrote:
We are a couple of weeks behind you.

Aim is to get to Tuk provided the road condition is reasonable. My Class A doesn't like too much washboard and pothole

A friend drove to Tuk today. She said the road is good although there are some soft spots.

D&D Wonderers wrote:
Are the wait restrictions before or after Eagle Plains ??

It's just for the new Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk road.

Are the wait restrictions before or after Eagle Plains ??

Check this article from CBC, Tuktoyaktuk mayor says little in place for tourists travelling new highway

"Although the road is under a weight limit restriction of 5,000 kg after it was shut down for nearly three weeks in May, Gruben says there are still RVs and campers rolling in. Some are overweight."

Note: 5,000 kg = 11,022 lbs