Drive to Inuvik

 

The hamlet of Tsiigehtchic is right before the McKenzie River ferry.

The next morning we drove by without turning off to see Fort MacPherson and an hour later reached the McKenzie River ferry.

The ferry operator told us that some years ago the River flooded out those buildings up on the opposite shore.

Another two hour drive and we reached Inuvik.  We looked for a restaurant and we liked the sound of Mamaqtuq.  It turned out to be a charm less hotel restaurant and expensive.

We liked our waiter though. He told us he was a student in Ottawa but taking a year off to work in Inuvik and save all his money.

The hotel had a display of traditional Inuvialuit clothing.  The hoods are made of  wolverine fur, complete with dangling paws.paws

We camped in the municipal campground and later took a stroll around town.

Of course we had to get a photo in front of the iconic igloo church

Later we walked down to the river.

An old wooden riverboat converted to a storage shed.

Inuvik's water and sewage are fed through these above-ground heated pipes called Utilidor lines.

Across the Peel River to camp at Nataiinlaii Territorial Park

 

Today was some of the most spectacular scenery though we don't seem to have taken any photos.  The highway climbs up in elevation to Eagle Plains hotel, gas restaurant and rv park.  A few weeks ago the ferry across the Peel River was out due to high water and Eagle Plains ran out of gas but no drama today.

Gassing up at Eagle Plains

The price of gas here is really reasonable, 1.95 per litre.

We had lunch in the cafe and the prices there made up for the deal on gas.

Next we stopped at the Arctic Circle.

I was napping when we crossed into the Northwest Territoties so no photo of that milestone.

Eventually we reached the Peel River ferry.  Of special interest to us because back in 2016 when we paddled the Snake River We had to be sure to take out at an island in the Peel River just past the confluence with the Snake.  It was flooded and unrecognizable and we almost missed it.  Had we gone by we would have had to travel 3 more days to Fort McPherson. 

And here we were

Crossing the Peel River where it meets the Dempster Highway.

It was a short drive to Nataiinlaii Territorial Park campground.  It was a nice campground with a great heated, mosquito-free shower house.

Starting in Engineer Creek and continuing till we got back to Dawson, I pretty much wore my mosquito net (thanks Birgit!) all day long sometimes accompanied by my bug jacket.

Skipbo in the bug tent.

We were the only people in the campsite.  A pair of jeeps drove through but they didn't stay.

Whiskey Jack

Engineer Creek Campground and a hike up Sapper Hill

 

A short drive today to Engineer Creek campsite, about 2 hours north of Tombstone.  Pretty spectacular scenery with gray Beringian mountains untouched by the ice age glaciation.

It rained on and off and we considered driving further but the sun peeked out of the clouds so we camped at Engineer Creek.  

We headed up the Sapper Hill trail but it started raining and we slogged through wet foliage and creeks running down the trail.  Too bad as it really was quite a spectacular hike even in the downpour, culminating in this window in the rock wall.

From the top we could look down on the Ogilvie River.

There were some great new flowers, including a yellow ladyslipper and this delicate yellow poppy but I couldn't get any decent photos in the rain.

The mosquitos at the campsite were outrageous and it poured rain all day.  Fortunately there was a mosquito-proof shelter with a roaring wood stove.  Here we met Mark, a retired pilot who was bicycling from his home in Kelowna to Tuk.  He was spending a day here to dry out.  His family was flying into Inuvik to meet him and then he was flying home.

We played many a game of Skipbo to pass the time.

Tombstone Mountain -Day 3

We got up bright and early to visit a few birding sites recommended by the Naturalists at the interpretive centre.  The first stop was an area known for Smith's and Lapland longspurs.  Although Merlin picked them up we had no luck finding them.

On the other hand we had no trouble finding this willow ptarmigan who was wandering about next to our parked truck. 

 

Bird of the Day!

And the white-crowned sparrows were all over the place.

Next was Two Moose Lake for waterfowl.  Lots of ducks, horned grebe and a pair of tundra swans with 6 Cygnet.

Not a single Moose though, never-ending two.

Heading back to camp we stopped by another pond to look for more waterfowl.

Can you spot the exciting something?

  

I looked out of the truck down toward the pond and spotted something exciting.

Can you spot it now?

How about now?

Tombstone Mountain Park Day 2 - Goldensides Trail

Mark, Leo and I hiked up the Goldensides Trail.  There's a road to a microwave tower
 

And then it turns into a single track trail leading up to a ridge.

There's panoramic views of mountains all around.

Looking downstream at ice along the North Klondike River.

I was going to wait for the others to climb to the top at this point but the mosquitos were so bad I just kept going.  Eventually they came back before reaching the end of the trail.

The bear was right by the rock spire in the background

Mark had seen a bear. It ran off but they figured it was better to head back down.

There were lots of flowers blooming but my camera takes lousy pictures.

Bistort

Birds of the Day were white-crowned and American tree sparrows pretty much everywhere.

Up the Dempster to Tombstone Mountain Park

There was a last desperate rush this morning before we left our trailers behind in a storage facility.  Then it was just a short drive up the Dempster Highway to our first stop, Tombstone Mountain Territorial Park.

We set up our tents in the campground. We'd reserved sites as we'd heard it's very popular.  The campsite did fill up by evening days but we got there early enough we could have got a walk-in site.

That done we walked down to the Interpretive Centre where this Say's phoebe had made a nest in the rafters above the entrance.  (On our way back from the Arctic they had blocked off the front entrance to prevent disturbance of the newly laid eggs).

Bird of the Day!

Outside the centre was this artistic rendering of a caribou fence which the Gwichin used to funnel cariboo into a corral.

The naturalist suggested we hike the North Klondike trail which takes off right from our campground.

It starts off following the river through the spruce trees

But soon we climbed up into the taiga with grand views of the mountains around us.

Here we saw American tree sparrows, fox sparrows and white-crowned sparrows.

Eventually the trail led back down to the river where the ice had not melted yet.