True north: Tucson to Inuvik, NWT (almost)

[cewillis]

I set off to drive the Dempster Highway to Inuvik, NWT. Didn't make the last 100 miles of so as will be explained -- but it was a great trip anyway. Most of my photos and descriptions are on my web site, here , and a few teaser photos follow.


Impromptu campsite, eastern Wyoming - 2nd night on the road.


Part of the Teton range -- sure looks like a scene from Lord of the Rings to me.


Mt Teton -- happy to say I've never seen any that look like this.


Here we go --


Tombstone Mountains -- sure can't complain about this road.


The Klondike River






The Ogilvie Ridge


At the Arctic Circle -- brrr, 15 degrees


Just kidding. 15C, that's 59F.


Not the place to be if you're looking for company.


The Peel River -- end of the line for me due to incompetent ferry non-operation.


Now what could that be?


Oh, a Grizzly, now about 40 yards away. He just kept going.




Close encounter of the cloud kind.


On the South Klondike Road to Skagway.


On the Cassiar Highway


Finding a campsite in BC.


The Oregon 'badlands' - not so bad.


Saddle Bag Lake, Tioga Pass, 10100 ft. Thought I might find jefe4x4 here, but I was a couple of days early.


Finally, the Sierras, while heading for Death Valley. Mt Whitney is second from the left, farthest away.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. It was a lot of driving in a short time, but worth it to me.

[Wet_Coast]

wow, the road sure has improved. I did the trip in 1981. The record that summer was 22 flats on an 18 wheeler. I had 7 for both directions on my Chev truck and camper. The road base was limestone shot rock and worked just like arrow heads!

[cewillis]

Thanks all, for the many nice compliments. Just a few replies --

loulou57 wrote:
The only places in Canada we have not been is the Yukon, the North West Territories and Nunavik.

If you know a way to drive to Nanavuk, please let me know. Someday, I might take the road to Fort George, Quebec, on Hudson Bay. (but it looks like a long way between gas stations) Maybe Churchill, Manitoba - too bad there are no roads to there.

silversand wrote:
Excellent photos; some great camp locales, too!

I like to find those extemporaneous spots -- and increase my chances by staying away from interstates and crowds.

crabbin cabin wrote:
So - just why was the Peel ferry not operating?

See the web site link in my second sentence above.

To us you missed the best 1/2 of the Dempster!

I'll take my 3/4.

seldomseensmith wrote:
Why so mysterious? The trip looks amazing, but what possessed you to make such a long drive in such a short time?

Of what 'mysterious' do you refer, Eric? That's the time I had, and the place I wanted to see. (and I had already put it off a year)

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Some very atmospheric pix here.
What a whirl-wind trip! You travel about like Jeanie and I do. No grass grows down there underfoot. It was nice being on different trips together.

We will meet up somewhere, sometime jefe -- maybe even by plan!

Bleugoat wrote:
I am envious of your photography skills. The pictures are really special.

Thanks, but you (and others) accord me far greater credit that is due. My 'skill' is primarily in taking a lot of pictures and saving only the better ones. I try a few different exposures, but don't 'Fujify' the results (except for my signature photo).

sue.t wrote:
That is Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River

Right you are, Sue - of course. Double dumb of me since I had a picture of the 'Five Finger' sign to remind me where I was. Moving pretty fast that day.

Tombstone isn't visible in your picture.

Try as I might, I couldn't do anything about the overcast -- and using your angle didn't help.
As I mentioned on my web site, see Sue's excellent pictures on her site.

[Bigfootchevy]

Excellent pics.

Thanks

Paul

[Butch50]

Boy, the road looks a lot better than when we were heading up to Inuvik. Looks like it was graded when you were there. It was mostly traveling at 15 MPH or slower when we went up it. It was so rough my camper was moving around on me in the bed and I do have a rubber mat and sprayed in Line X. This was in early June and we made it to the Arctic Circle sign and I decided I was not going to beat my truck up anymore and we had also talked to some people that had been up there and with the high water the ferry at the Peel was not running a lot of the time so all together we just thought we would call it quits.

[Butch50]

sue.t wrote:
Um ... oh ... the picture you have labelled, "On the South Klondike Road to Skagway." was actually taken on the North Klondike Highway. That is Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River, north of Carmacks.

Here's one of my shots of it ...

Thanks Sue as that is what I thought it was but then I thought I might be worng. I took many pictures at the pull off at the Five Fingers area. A lot of good information signs at the pull off also.

[Harleybullet]

Nice trip it will remain in your memory.
Do any gold panning... I would have to stop just to say I did it...the Klondike river...great

Dave

[sue_t]

This shot of yours, is looking west from the Dempster to Tombstone Mountain. Only, Tombstone isn't visible in your picture. That is the North Klondike River running through the valley.



Here's a shot with Tombstone (way, way in the back) in September 1993



And again, but in July 2011



Courtesy of the telephoto lens, here's a close-up of Tombstone Mountain

[sue_t]

Um ... oh ... the picture you have labelled, "On the South Klondike Road to Skagway." was actually taken on the North Klondike Highway. That is Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River, north of Carmacks.

Here's one of my shots of it ...

[Bleugoat]

What a great trip.

I am envious of your photography skills. The pictures are really special.

Thanks for posting.

[sabconsulting]

What a great trip 🙂

Thanks, Steve.

[jefe_4x4]

Seldom,
"Why so mysterious?" Is that a self-portrait? 8<)
Cal,
Some very atmospheric pix here.
What a whirl-wind trip! You travel about like Jeanie and I do. No grass grows down there underfoot. It was nice being on different trips together.
If anything, with a trip that far afield you must expect the unexpected, and have a certain flexibility, especially on the road to Inuvik! Our neighbor told me of his trip to Inuvik on an expo motorcycle. He had a tire blow. What do you do then?
We were on the the road to Inuvik when we had a major tread separation on a BFG
AT. Jeanie stood 'grizz watch' while I tried to fix the tire with 17 tire plugs to no avail. It was too far gone. We finally put the spare on and called it a day driving back to
Dawson City to find a replacement tire. That scuttled our trip on the road to Inuvik. If we ever do that again, it will be with two spare tires.
regards, as always, jefe

[seldomseensmith]

Cal,

Why so mysterious? The trip looks amazing, but what possessed you to make such a long drive in such a short time? If I had the wherewithal to take that journey, I'd linger as long as the weather allowed. Even so, thanks for posting the beautiful pics.

[jmckelvy]

What a great trip! Thanks for sharing.

I just looked at all the photos of the trip on your blog. Spectacular color! My muddy truck looked similar to yours after our trip up the Dalton. That stuff is really hard to get off.

[Tiger4x4RV]

You got it all: glorious fall color, off-road adventure, mountains, and solitude. Thanks for the trip report!