Yet another mud and gravel road with a sea of potholes…yet the views of Alaska Range peaks, deep valleys supporting herds of caribou, and glaciers, are too stunning to bypass. Originally the Denali Highway was the only access road to Mt. McKinley, AKA Denali, and now is mostly used by hikers, hunters and fishermen. The Continue Reading »
Our return on the Dempster Highway again reminded us that this is the most beautiful road we’ve ever driven, even if it is 1000 miles of mud and gravel roundtrip to Inuvik, near the Arctic Ocean. We did get to see grizzly bears up close, just the way we like…from the safety of our vehicle, Continue Reading »
As volunteers and workshop participants at the ten day, “26th Annual Great Northern Arts Festival” in Inuvik (in-NEW-vik), we enjoyed making friends, sharing meals and learning new art techniques from the generous, mostly Inuit artists from the Western and Eastern Arctic. Due to their traditions working with ALL parts of the animals they hunt, there Continue Reading »
July in the Arctic….each day brings more warmth, more humidity as the bogs heat up, and more bugs. They are also the biggest mosquitoes and horseflies we have ever seen….actual size shown below…Ha! Our least favorite weapon is a deterrent: DEET, which works but is sticky and smelly. We have read independent research indicating that Continue Reading »
You must cross two rivers, the Peel and the Arctic Red by ferry, and take a boat or flight from Inuvik, out the Mackenzie Delta to reach the far northern town of Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories. The land is predominantly settlement lands that have been the homes and hunting grounds Continue Reading »
….OF DIRT AND GRAVEL ROADWAY. Specifically, that would be 467 miles North, and 467 miles South, crossing 2 mountain ranges, 2 river ferry crossings, the Continental Divide and the Arctic Circle, and requiring 25-35 mph maximum driving speeds at all times. We feel lucky to have only 2 rock chips in our wind screen; almost Continue Reading »
This DC-3, a workhorse in the Yukon for years, went nose down twice, skidding the icy runway, and landing in too deep snow using tires instead of the attachable skis. It also sunk once when it landed on melting lake ice, and broke through. Now it swings in the wind outside the Yukon Transportation Museum. Continue Reading »
The featured image is a shot of sunset over the Yukon River… photographed at 10 minutes before Midnight last night! We sleep for a few hours in twilight before the sun rises again around 4 AM, about 20 degrees off the location it set 4 hours earlier. Weird. It feels a lot like jet lag Continue Reading »
We donned our hard hats and safety vests and toured the inner working of the dam creating the 3rd largest artificial lake in North America, Williston Lake. It is so large it took 55 million cubic feet of dirt to build the dam and five years to fill the lake with inflow from two rivers Continue Reading »
We are big fans of a hot soak; we seek hot springs out everywhere we go. Soaks under 104 degrees F. qualify as “warm springs”… and just don’t cut it. Our favorite hot spring, Pah Tempe in Hurricane, Utah was taken by legal action last year due to taint of the flavor of city water. Continue Reading »