First, just a couple of things about the blog. As you notice we have started a separate mini blog for this portion of the trip. But since you are reading this you must have found it ok! Secondly, we have realized that it is sometimes difficult to find the time, internet connection etc. to do a proper blog update with pictures and everything. Therefore, we've decided that the posts from this part of the trip might have a little less photos and be shorter, but as we want to keep the blog going, we think that just a paragraph about the place we are currently in would be better than nothing at all... Sometimes you'll just see the name of the town as an 'empty' post but it will allow you to follow our trip on the map on top of the page.

Ok, that's enough for 'admin stuff'. Back to the fun stuff!

Well, we are now in Medicine Hat, Alberta and unfortunately there isn't anything that exciting to write about it. We came in late last night and after trying to find 'downtown' for half an hour we ended up at the first motel we had seen when we entered the city.

It is quite a change in scenery from the eastern part of British Columbia. After leaving Vancouver and driving east we picked a slightly different route than the way we had come back through when driving from Golden. This time we went more south through Manning Park and stopped in Grand Forks, Nelson and then drove through Cranbrook to Kimberley. From Kimberley we passed through Fernie and then entered Alberta.

We had been told that Nelson was going to be a great place so we spent a night there. It is a beautiful spot with mountains, the Kootney lake and a quite little town. However, to find a breakfast restaurant that would serve bacon and eggs was a bit of a challenge. There are tons of places that serve vegetarian and vegan food but for an Englishman, that just won't do! We eventually found a really nice place on the way out of town so Robert's day was saved by a heaping serving of bacon!

Ferry ride across Kootney lake

On the B.C. side, the landscape in the Kootneys is spectacular with the Rockies and the Kootney mountains. However, almost as soon as we entered Alberta everything flattened out. Like, REALLY flattened out. More like a pancake!!! Miles and miles of farmlands! Cows and horses everywhere!

Approaching Lethbridge which is the first major city on the Alberta side it was evident that the city has a past history in the coal mining industry. Hills from the by product of mining greets you when you drive in and some kind of huge bridge that looks like a transportation system for coal can be seen in the distance.

We decided not to stop in Lethbridge and therefore drove another two hours to Medicine Hat. Today we will drive through the rest of southern Alberta and into Saskatchewan. Probably another few hours of flat lands. Robert is still driving and keeps singing to stay awake. Victoria is awake because Robert sings.....

Oh, to end this post, we just want to share a few pictures from the last part of the Arctic trip. Robert finally got his goat (not the way he had hoped for) and Victoria got a kiss from a camel....

Robert got the goat! ...at a petting zoo.....

A Canadian camel....

Victoria and the goat

Alternatively, just go to our 'homepage' where you will be able to see both our blogs so far (Canadian Arctic and Across Canada):
http://www.blogabond.com/victoriaandrobert

Hope to see you there! Again, feel free to comment and let us know what you think about our (sometimes) crazy adventures!

-Victoria & Robert

written by  Victoria & Robert on October 20, 2009 from Vancouver, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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The three days in Vancouver were spent taking care of som admin stuff, re-packing the car and meeting up with a couple of friends. It was a little strange to back in your 'hometown' (at least for Victoria who have lived in Vancouver for eight and a half years) and not have a permanent address in the city. However, both of us felt a little clastrophobic with so many people in such a small space.

When we checked out from our hotel after three days it felt good and we are now ready to embark on the journey east. We will be maintaining the blog for the next portion of this trip, so come back soon to see what we are up to!

written by  Victoria & Robert on October 16, 2009 from Vancouver, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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So we were finally off to Golden to see if Robert could spot the elusive goat..... Without knowing pretty much anything about the whereabouts and behaviours of goats and neither of us had never been in the Kootneys before so it was a little bit like finding a needle in a haystack. However, we knew what mountain goats looked like because we had seen them in pictures and we saw some 'live' ones on the side of the road high up in the mountains when we drove through the Banff National Park. That must have been a good start. Right?

In Radium hotsprings, Robert had got some leads on where around the town of Golden he might find the goats, so on that advice, we set off on a forestry track straight into 'goat land'.... or at least what we thought would be the home of the mountain goat. We set up camp at a remote site and since there was a little of a chill in the air Robert put in the wood burning stove that we have for the tent. It would turn out that would probably be what saved us from freezing to death!

The first day of goat hunting included a plan to go for a four hour hike up a 7000 ft mountain. A neighbour at the camp site had given us some vague leads on where to go and since we were clueless we thought that it couldn't be that difficult and set out to follow this trail that the guy had told us about. It turned out that the 'trail' was virtually non-existent and we spent the next two and a half hour climbing a VERY steep hillside. 15 minutes into the hike Robert pulled a calf muscle and for a moment we were wondering if the goat hunt had ended before it really even started.... Luckily, the calf warmed up and we continued.

Victoria made a snow man before we set off:

During some parts of the 'hike', we were literally hanging on to tree branches to pull ourselves up! Victoria was the lucky carrier of a 35lbs backpack which contained all our gear and emergency supply, and both of us where absolutely exhausted when we reached the top of the mountain. Having set off quite late we had to pretty much turn around right away so we spent the next two hours climbing down again without seeing any goats or any other animals. Oh, wait. Yes, we did see a few bear tracks and cougar tracks. We even found some fur balls that the big cat had coughed up which contained hair, pieces of bones and claws from some unlucky animal that ended up being cougar dinner.

Completely exhausted and a little bit discouraged, we decided to take the next day off and go down to Golden. That night there was a full moon and in the distance we heard the wolves howling. The morning was a slow one also because we woke up and realized it was minus 12 C! Thanks to the wood burning stove in the tent, the temperature inside was hovering about 10C or so above freezing, but as soon you left the tent, it really felt chilly! Golden is a little town on the west side of the Rockies in the Kootney mountain range on the British Columbia side. The surrounding environment is beautiful in the Columbia valley with mountains on both sides, farm lands and wetlands where the river cuts through the mountains. In town we did our bi-weekly laundry at a laundromat and found a very cute bookstore with a nice cafe.

The next day we got an early start as we wanted to be up on the mountain by mid-morning and our experience from the first hike was that it would take us about 2 hours just to get to the top of the mountain range. Even though we had sworn never to do the same hike again, we decided to take the same route as we knew that it at least would take us to the top. The night before it had snowed quite a lot, but thankfully, it wasn't as hard this time. Perhaps it was psychological because this time we knew what was ahead of us and how long it would take to reach the top, or perhaps it was also because our bodies had adjusted better to the altitude. In any case; one thing was crystal clear: finding a mountain goat is not easy and requires that you are in decent shape! If you are not alread, you will for sure get fit!

We reached the mountain ridge around noon and it provided the most spectacular and beautiful view!!! We had a great view of the Rockies, the Kootney mountains and the Columbia valley.

However, it was quite chilly with a considerable amount of snow and the clouds were sweeping past the mountains very quickly. When the sun was shining it was warm and wonderful, but as soon as a cloud came in everything changed in a second and it was easy to understand how people get caught by surprise by weather on top of mountains and get in trouble... In other words: weather on top of a mountain is very unpredictable and can change quickly.The best way to describe mountain weather is 'temperamental'.

We spent about two hours walking on top of the mountain range but didn't see anything in terms of wildlife. So eventually we decided to head down again and turned around to follow our own tracks in the snow. That's when we saw that a the tracks of a BIG cat had walked the same direction as us very recently. The only feasible explanation is a mountain lion and it was probably a good thing we didn't see it!

After another day's rest we decided to give it one more go. It would be nice to at least see a mountain goat even if only in the distance!
The alarm went off early in the morning again and...ugh... it was -16C!!!!! The wood burning stove in the tent had kept the temperature somewhat comfortable during the night, but by now, the milk, toothpaste, water and everything else containing liquid was frozen solid...... We eventually learned to bring the water into the tent during night, but we didn't want to bring any food inside as we had already seen quite a few black bears and knew very well that we were in grizzly country so we felt it would be unnecessary to invite the bears for dinner inside our tent... A guy with a cabin in the area stopped by and asked if we had seen the big grizzly. "Which grizzly?" Robert asked? "The grizzly, the size of your car" the guy replied. "Hmm.....no... we haven't seen him.....yet".

Robert had studied the maps in great detail and had this idea that taking a new route up the side of a mountain would be worth a go. Oh boy, were we wrong about that!!! This time we went straight into the woods. No trail whatsoever but a bunch of fallen trees which we climbed over and under. After that, bushes with branches sticking out in all direction making it extremely difficult to walk forward. In short: we spent four hours struggling through very dense and difficult terrain- all on a steep incline. During our lunch break we discovered that all the food was frozen so we chewed on some icy sandwiches and tried to not break our teeth on the granola bars.

Still no goats in sight but we did see some tracks! However, after five hours we decided to turn around again. As stated before, we concluded that going down is at least as difficult as going up! Victoria was trying to keep up as best as she could with half a foot shorter legs compared to Robert but after falling flat on her face in the snow for the 20th time and getting even more snow inside her boots, she couldn't keep quiet anymore: "Robert! I don't want to come across as complaining, but I AM NOT HAVING THAT MUCH FUN ANYMORE!!!!!" Thankfully, Robert's reply was 'Well, that's ok. I stopped having fun about 3-4 hours ago! But don't worry. We are almost there!"

It turned out it would take two more hours before we reached the road where the car was parked and by now we had hiked non-stop for eight and a half hours!!!! Needless to say we were completely drained and we concluded that the day had been somewhat of a disappointment. The only good thing was that it was a hell of a good workout! Our legs were covered in bruises and our hands were full of bits from the trees we had been grabbing on to, but at least we must have buns of steel by now!!!!

The day after, we decided to break up camp and head back into town. By now, we had spent ten consecutive nights in the tent so the thought of a 'real' bed and being able to go to the bathroom without having to worry about running into a bear felt quite compelling!!! The last night we woke up to find that 'somebody' or 'something' had picked up the core of the corn on the cob from our meal that we had thrown on the the camp fire ... It could have been a bear the size of our car or something smaller and it's probably better that we don't actually know what it was...

Tomorrow we are heading back to Vancouver. Probably via Revelstoke and then Kelowna. We plan on spending 3 days in Vancouver to sort out all our stuff and re-pack for the next leg of this journey which will take us east across Canada!

written by  Victoria & Robert on October 11, 2009 from Golden, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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We arrived to the campsite early evening and were greeted by a very grumpy camp site receptionist. We were the only ones in the whole campsite that stayed in the tent so we quickly became labelled as 'the brave ones'. The weather over the three days was a mix of rain, clouds and some rays of sunshine. The temperature dipped down to around freezing at night, but we have finally mastered the art of bundling up with blankets, extra sweaters etc. when going to bed so it didn't feel too cold (however, not applicable to Robert as he insists that his sleeping bag is 'toasty warm').

The reason why were are in this area of British Columbia is that Robert is on the hunt for a mountain goat. Through the province there is a draw for certain animals and he was 'lucky' to get the goat. Victoria, with no hunting experience whatsoever is observing and learning. While she has never been an opponent of hunting, she has never really understood the attraction to go out and kill an animal. However, she is quickly realizing that the people hunting for wildlife in most cases are way more environmentally conscious and respectful for nature and animals than the people who never have been involved with, or close to hunting. Through our travels we have met many people who are out hunting as it is prime hunting season. The knowledge and respect for nature and animals and a wish to live in harmony with the environment is very geniune and sincere. There is a personal opinion on hunting, but Victoria's point of view is definitely changing.

In Radium we visited the hotsprings on several occasions. It was the perfect way of ending a chilly day; soak in the 40C warm waters! Victoria took it a bit to the extreme and ran up the mountain to the hotsprings, swam and then ran back. Perhaps not the most common opinion on relaxation!

'Cold' pool at Radium hotsprings

After three days in Radium we realized that we are still in the Alberta time zone even though we have crossed back into B.C. We thought it was just this little village that was the exception because it is so close to the Rockies, but when yet another waitress looked a little annoyed when we came in to the restuarant 10 minutes before closing time, we realized it was because it was 9:50 and they were closing at 10. We thought it was 9pm!

We are now heading a bit north towards Golden. We will find a backcountry campsite and set up a base camp. From there, we will go out on day trips to try to spot the elusive goat!

written by  Victoria & Robert on October 4, 2009 from Radium Hot Springs, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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We continuted from Fort Nelson To Dawson Creek and with the arrival to Dawson Creek which is known as 'mile 0' on the Alaska Highway we concluded that we had driven pretty much all of the Canadian part of the Alaska Highway from Haines Junction to Dawson Creek. The Alaska highway was built in 1942-43 during the WWII by the U.S. Army and completed in just eight months.

After leaving Dawson Creek we entered into Alberta. The first towns to drive through were Grand Prarie, Beaverlodge(!) and then Grande Cache were we camped for two nights.

In Beaverlodge we were greeted by a giant beaver statue.

Of course, Robert had to climb up on the statue to get a picture with him and the beaver...

When he got down again we realized that apparently the town of Beaverlodge were not encouraging climbing the beaver as we noticed a sign that pointed out that climbing the beaver could be dangerous and lead to injury. Two things come to mind: 1. Beaver jokes... don't climb the beaver! hahaha! 2. If there is a sign saying something is 'forbidden'; Robert will do it.

In Grande Cache we decided to set up camp and were surprised to find a really nice municipal camp ground. We spent two nights here and for the first time experienced camping in weather below freezing. The town is on a high altitude so during night the temperature dipped into a couple of degrees in the negative territory (Celsius). A little chilly, but after putting on a touque, socks, long sleeved shirt and and extra fleece blanket, even Victoria was warm!

To keep us warm in the afternoon and evening we kept a camp fire going. Victoria had a go at chopping wood for the first time and managed quite well to chop the logs without chopping her legs off!

Robert took the opportunity for some grooming. With kitchen scissors and the side mirrors to the car, he took to the task of trimming away some of that hair. Victoria assisted and these are the 'before' and 'after' photos....

We explored the surroundings of Grande Cache a little bit by taking a trip out to the Sulphur gates which is where two big rivers merge; Smoky River and Sulphur River. The landscape is beautiful and a geologist's dream with different types of rocks in a beautiful setting.

Our first night in Grande Cache we had just arrived when the family in the camp spot closest to us came over and invited us to their camp fire. Very friendly and perhaps even a little bit surprising! Nice people in Alberta!
The next night, a lone motorbiker pulled up to the camp site when dark was setting in and since he looked cold and probably didn't have an axe to chop wood for a fire, Robert went over and invited Marc. Marc was a super nice guy who was on his way home to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories from a two month long trip down south through the U.S and back. Since Marc is an experienced outdoor person and (obviously) avid motorbiker, Robert and Marc connected and had a good chat about motorcycles, hunting and stuff. It is really amazing how many nice people you can meet if you just reach out a little!

Back on the road the next day we entered the Jasper National Park. We first drove to Jasper where we spent the night at a really nice hotel. We were getting a little 'lazy' but truth to be told, most campgrounds are closed for the season and as we now were in a national park you can't really pitch a tent just anywhere.

We saw some mountain sheep.

Dinner in Jasper was consumed at the local Korean restaurant. The very friendly staff tried to force Robert to use a fork as they doubted that he would be capable of using chop sticks. Robert insisted (and presvered) that he was fine eating with chop sticks but the Korean lady was hard to convince. Victoria ordered a traditional dish but needed help preparing it. The Korean lady looked questioningly at Victoria and then showed her how to mix the veggies with the rice. Then she went back to the rest of the staff and the conversation probably went something like this "strange Korean girl sitting over there. Can't pronounce the food she ordered correctly and doesn't know how to mix the rice with the veggies!!!" Victoria eventually explained she was born in Korea but grew up in Europe which was met by a long sentance in Korean and more confusion as Victoria looked like a big question mark.

The next morning we drove into Banff national park and made two stops: one at the Athabasca falls and one at the Columbia icefields.

As we were going higher and higher, we reached an altitude of over 2,000 meter. It got chillly and by the time we got out of the car to look at the glacier it was again below freezing and with some snow flurries.

We hiked up to the end of the glacier which is a rapidly receeding glacier that reached about a mile further down the hill just less than a century ago. Little markers along the hillside showed the reach of the glacier at different years.
Once at the edge of the glacier there were a billion different signs warning for the danger of stepping out of the designated trail. Of course that made Robert want to take a closer look.

Back in the car we now headed for Lake Louise and then on to Banff.

written by  Victoria & Robert on September 30, 2009 from Banff, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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We came back to Whitehorse and spent one day just doing 'boring' chores. Even as free spirited travelers, there are some necessities that have to be taken care of such as laundry, fixing with the car, taking a nap ;) etc. so we spent one day dealing with that.

Once again we stayed at La Bicicletta B&B where Anne and Ante took good care of us!

The second full day we decided to drive out to Haines Junction which is the gateway to the Kluane National Park. It's a junction because if you continue north on the Alaska highway it will eventually take you to Anchorage but if you go south at the junction you will end up in Haines, Alaska.

Haines Junction's airport

The drive out was absolutely stunning and the mountains got higher and more impressive the further we drove.

Taking off

Since the weather was perfect we decided to take an air tour over the glaciers. Sifton Air offers different kinds of tours so we were lucky and got space on the one that would give us a glimpse of the large ice fields.

The plane felt very small. Robert got to sit with the pilot up front. Victoria was sitting in the back.

Inside the plane

The flight was amazing! Photos can only give you an idea of what it was like. The weather was clear, mountains were high and the sky unlimited. In a small plane like that it also gave you a true sense of how large nature is and how little humans are. Every little bump could be felt but it gave you a perspective of the magitude and size of the mountains compared to five humans squeezed into a yellow tin can!

Glacier!

Amazing view from the plane.

Safely back on ground we both concluded that it was worth every penny and something we would strongly recommend to anybody wanting to experience something special.

Back on earth again...

Next morning we got in the car again and embarked on the last bit of the Alaska highway that would eventually take us to 'mile 0' of the highway which starts in Dawson Creek (not to be confused with Dawson city) in British Columbia.

The drive wasn't much to write about and we spent the night in Watson Lake which definitely wasn't much to report. There is a tourist attraction in form of a sign post forest where street, city and town signs are collected. That was kind of cool to see, but beside that, there was not much going on in this town!

Sign post forest in Watson Lake

We continued the next morning to see the bisons that we had heard rumours about. Our hopes to see anything weren't too high though since we haven't seen that much wildlife. So when we suddenly spotted a couple of bisons on a field next to the highway we were so excited!!! Robert got out of the car to get a better look.

Robert checking out the wood bison

We saw more bison (we learned that they are called 'wood bison') and were quite pleased with seeing so many when we turned the corner and... there was the whole herd! Not one or two but more like 40 or 50!!! strolling down the highway in a leisurely pace. Bulls, cows and calves all in one big group. Very amazing sight.

Wood bull herd

One HUGE bull was eating grass next to our car and he was so close we could have touched him if we had reached out.

BIG bison

A couple of minutes later we also saw some caribous that crossed the road. Suddenly the drive felt like a Canadian safari!

Caribou

The drive continued and at Liards Hotsprings we stopped to stretch our legs and to dip into the supposedly warm water. A boardwalk took us into the hotsprings which were beautiful and VERY HOT!

Beautiful water with slight hint of sulphur.

There were three pools were the top one was just too hot to get into. The second and the third pools were managable but still in the range of 45-50C. Natural hot tubs! Very relaxing and nice and a good break in the driving. The only thing that was a little bit of a turn off was the smell of sulphur from the water. We probably smelled like rotten eggs when we were done!

Hot springs!

Natural hot tub!

In the evening we reached Fort Nelson and set up camp for the first time in a couple of weeks. Being back in B.C. and more south, the weather has warmed up to be more suitable for outdoor life. We also think we are getting better at the 'setting up camp' part and the tent was standing in only 10 minutes. We are very proud!

Tomorrow we are off to Dawson Creek and the end of the journey on the Alaska highway!

written by  Victoria & Robert on September 22, 2009 from Haines Junction, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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To mix things up a little, we decided that both of us would do a blog entry each. Just to get a little different perspectives on things. After all, the way Victoria perceives and describes things in the blog might be a little different from how Robert sees them.

So here we go. First out is Victoria who will write about searching for gold in Dawson, keeping fit in the wilderness and having a good laugh about grey flamingos.

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Back in Whitehorse! We are back at the B&B where we stayed the night before we set out to conquer the Dempster highway. In a week's time it feels as if fall (yes, 'fall', not 'autumn') is a little bit further along. All the leafy trees are bright yellow and orange and the air has that little 'nip' to it that kind of smells snow or at least colder times.

We spent three really good days in Dawson City which is highly recommended! Great little town that has been able to maintain a century old atmosphere without being overly touristy. Most towns trying to preserve old buildings and history still has Starbucks and Tim Hortons crammed into a heritage building but Dawson is just... Dawson. No 'Gap', no 'Blenz', no 'Superstore'. Some of the little shops are even the same as they were almost 100 years ago. Mud roads without pavement and houses that truly look like they are 80 years old!

There is a claim along the river where people can pan for gold for free ('without getting shot' as one local explained it. It sounds like there is still some strict rules on who any little gold flakes that might have been overlooked in this heavily explored area would belong to).

Panning for gold

Victoria searching for gold

As we approached the claim there were already a few people by the river in pouring rain with their shovels, pans and buckets. We didn't have our own equipment but the couple that was there offered us their to have a try. I started out first by scooping up some dirt and washing it in the stream. No luck though but it was fun. Robert had a go at it as well but unfortunately we didn't get rich!

No luck but having fun!

Looking deep into the gold pan....

We continued on to have a look at Dredge number 4 which is now a National Historical site.

Back in town we also visited the city museum which was located in a beutiful building. It was very impressive, informative and interesting with exhibitions and artifacts telling the story of this area from a geological, native people, as well as the gold diggers' perspective.

City museum

The next morning we left Dawson but if opportunity presents itself, I would love to come back! We took the ferry over the Klondike River to drive a bit on the Top of the World highway which goes into Alaska but unfortunately, the fog made it impossible to see anything so we turned around after about 20 miles.

Oh, before we left I went for a run in the morning and I would dedicate just a few lines on my attempts to stay in shape during this trip. As most of my close friends know, I'm known to be a litte bit 'nutty' when it comes to exercise and some have asked how I mangage that being on the road. Well... it does take some creativity. While I realize that I won't be able to swim everyday I think that almost four weeks into the journey, I've got a fair amount of exercise in. I've done one ocean swim, one lake swim and two pool swims. On top of that I've run seven times and gotten a bit use out of some stretch cords. Some of the runs have been around the camp ground eight times in fear for bears if I would venture out on the road. On runs where I have gone outside my 'comfort zone' I've been running with a bear bell that makes sound like Jingle Bells that probably can be heard in half of Canada! Other runs have been like orienteering with me running with a map trying to figure out where the heck I am and where is the hotel????? So again; it is possible to stay in shape but some creativity helps...

On our way down to Whitehorse we passed an air field with lots of grey birds. I thought they looked as cranes but Robert is convinced that they were flamingos. I've heard of Canada geese but never Canadian flamingos! 'Flamingos don't have to be pink!!!!' Robert says. I had a very good laugh over the grey flamingos and we still are not agreeing if grey flamingos exist (I maintain that the birds we saw were cranes) but if somebody knows, let us know!

written by  Victoria & Robert on September 21, 2009 from Whitehorse, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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Here is a little synopsis over our trip to finally took us to the arctic circle and above!

We left Whitehorse - which by the way is a really nice city that both of is instantly felt we liked- to start our journey that would take us up the Dempster highway and to Inuvik. We had stayed for one night at the Bicicletta B&B which is owned and run by a guy who has biked around the world ! and his wife. Really fabulously nice people!

Whitehorse

Instead of going to Dawson City on the way up, we decided to just go to the junction where the Dempster starts and overnight there. On the way we went through little places such as Pelly Crossing where this interesting note was posted on the board outside the local store:

Sign on the board outside the grocery store...

We ended up at the Klondike River Lodge. On the way we saw a mommy bear with her two little cubs crossing the road.

the Klondike River logde at the start of the Dempster. INTERESTING place!

Mother bear with two cubs

The Klondike River lodge is a VERY interesting place! The service was mediocre (Victoria's diplomatic judgement. Robert thought it was complete sh*****t). We weren't too sad to leave early the next morning to embark on the epic Dempster highway.

Start of the Dempster

We were lucky with the weather which was a mix of sun and cloud. The experience is truly an 'experience' that is difficult to describe in words, but to give you a little taste of it, here are some photos:

LARGE sky. Large plains. Small humans...

Canadian tundra

Sheep? Moose? Squirrels? ANYTHING?

At the mid-point of the Dempster is the Eagle River Plains hotel. Everybody traveling up the Dempster pretty much have to stop here as it is the only gas stop in the middle of the highway. We only stopped for fuel and some food and then continued on.

Eagle Plains River Loge- Mid-point on the Dempster

After about four hours we arrived at the Arctic Circle! It was cold and windy, but Robert thought it was a good idea to show off some muscles! Victoria kept her clothes on.

At the arctic circle... Robert being...hmmm....manly?

Victoria and the tundra

The rest of the trip was breathtaking with tundra, mountains, forests but again.. surprisingly little wildlife. We saw four caribous but nothing else. The trees got shorter and shorter and were leaning all over the place. They actually looked a little pathetic. Or as Robert put it: Want to be a tree???? Grow some needles!!! And stand up straight!!!!!

Sad trees after forest fire

Soon enough we crossed into the Northwest Territories where they have really neat license plates on the cars:

Cool license plate!

Our plan was to not drive the entire way up to Inuvik but to stop overnight in Fort McPherson. As we drove into town and asked for a rate at the only hotel (which apparently had monopoly over the whole lodging business) we decided to continue to Inuvik as they wanted $200 for a room that you might have to share with somebody else!

We arrived Inuvik late in the evening and stayed at a bed and breakfast that was run by a Swiss/American lady and her Norweigain/Canadian husband. One wonders how people who weren't born in these remote towns end up there!

The next morning we went out to get a good look at Inuvik. Trying to be diplomatic in case there are Inuvik residents reading this blog, the best way to describe it was.... hmmm..... quiet.... and a little... boring.... Not much was going on after the summer season ended and even the camp site was closed. We went to visit the Igloo church (closed), the tourist centre (closed), the swimming pool (closed), the greenhouse (closed) but manage to find a liquor store and a grocery store that were open!

Downtown

Igloo church

Colourful houses

All houses are built on stilts because the permafrost in this part of the world makes it impossible to put the houses directly on the ground.

House on stilts!

We had this idea that we wanted to go on a chartered plane ride to Tuk, a little town right by the arctic sea to see pingos and perhaps even a polar bear. Unfortunately, since the tourist season is over, the cheapest way to get there would have been with a regular scheduled flight at a cost of $700. As we thought that was a bit steep and since there didn't seem to be much else to explore in town we decided to hit the road again.

We didn't mean to drive all the way back to Dawson as the weather now was getting bad and the gravel road was more like a muddly rollercoaster, but when we came to the mid-point of Eagle Plains we decided to keep going. 10 hours from the start we rolled into Dawson and decided to get a room at the first hotel we could find. We ended up staying at the Downtown Inn which is (in)famous for serving the 'sourtoe' cocktail. According to myths, the drink contains a human toe which is dropped into the drink. You are not supposed to drink the toe, just let it touch your lips as you throw the drink back but if you do, you will be part of the brave group of people that has done a 'sourtoe'... As it was too late we decided to have a good night's sleep before deciding if that was something we wanted to do.

Downtown hotel in Dawson

In the morning, we ventured out to take a look at town. It is a really charming place which is being restored to the state it was in during the 1890's gold rush. The houses are wooden and a lot of old signs are still up.

Store fronts in Dawson City

Robert by the Klondike river

Tomorrow we will be visiting some gold mines and try panning for gold ourselves! Tonight we'll stay at Bombay Peggy's which is an old house built around 1900 that has an history as a private residence, brothel (!), bed & breakfast and now, a posh boutique hotel.

written by  Victoria & Robert on September 17, 2009 from Inuvik, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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Our stop in Dease Lake was truly amazing and since we spent four days there, we’ll write a little more about our adventures and excursions. After our second night at the Dease River Crossing camping, we set out southwest towards Telegraph Creek and the Edziza Provincial Park which is the home of several dormant or extinct volcanoes.

Pointy mountain in the distance

Every morning, despite our best efforts we seem to not be able to hit the road before 10:30 so in an attempt to get an early start we rushed so much that Victoria had to bring her coffee in a portable cup in the car. Well, she didn’t get to enjoy much of it as Robert put the cup onto the roof of the car while packing and then we drove off. We had driven a few minutes when we heard a loud ‘clunk’ and the second the cup hit the road we remember what it was. However, Robert stopped and found the poor cup in the ditch!

Robert found the coffee mug!

New attempt to get going…. We really wanted to see some moose as everybody had kept telling us that this is ‘moose country’. Signs were everywhere warning for ‘wildlife’ and moose, so how hard could it be to get a glimpse of the king of the forest? Our eyes were peeled in search for the elusive moose and as we headed down the gravel road towards Telegraph Creek we saw something in the bush! We excitedly peered through the trees and saw this:

A moose? Not exactly....

Unless there are black and white moose, this was not quite what we were looking for. It turned out that the black and white moose was a horse! So we have driven hundreds of miles into the Canadian wilderness to see a horse!?

On the way to Telegraph Creek we crossed into Stikine River Provincial Park which is the home to the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. A very steep, narrow, serpentine unpaved road took us first down to the river bed and then up again through the mountains. The landscape is fascinating as the mountains are formed by volcanic activity that the Stikine River over millions of years has cut through to create an amazing canyon. After the disappointment with the horses, Robert was now looking for a mountain goat but all we saw were white rocks what kind of looked like goats for a distance. In fact, we have seen very little wildlife or at least less than we expected.

The Grand Canyon of Canada. Very impressive

Volcanic landscape

Stikine River

Telegraph Creek is a surprisingly developed community with a police station, school and school bus service! Unfortunately, to get any closer to the volcanoes which we could see in the distance we would have to hike by foot as the area is not developed for traffic.
As we haven’t been lucky with the fishing (yes, answer to the question what we had for dinner the other night was store bought food), we decided to spend the following day to explore the little lakes in the area.

Old log house in Telegraph Creek

We drove north to Boya Provincial Park by Boya Lake. It is truly an amazing lake! At an altitude of 3,000 feet (about 1,000 meters) this lake has crystal clear water that is as blue as any water you would find in the Caribbean! We could even see the fish and how uninterested they were in our attempts to catch them!

Not the Caribbean but almost...... only a little bit colder and on an altitude of about 3,000 feet

Despite our hard efforts, the fish didn’t even take a nibble. We tried everything including attracting the fish with bread. The only thing that ate the bread was some kind of fearless little birds that shamelessly snatched the slice right in front of us!

The view compensated for not catching any fish

Two little fearless birds stealing our bread!

As this would be the perfect opportunity to go for a swim, Victoria felt ‘obligated’ to go for a dip. How could you give up on such a treat? However, as strange as it may sound, Victoria is actually quite scared of swimming in lakes. She much rather swim in the big scary ocean and get nibbled on by a shark or a seal than venturing out in a lake with ‘who knows what’ is lurking at the bottom.

Victoria ready to swim

Yes- this is Canada, not the Caribbean!

Even when wearing a full body wetsuit, the water was FREEZING!!!!! When she finally got in she must have set a new Boya Lake record in swimming from point A to point B which was a distance of about 800 meters! She did admit afterwards though that the swim was one of the most amazing ones she’s ever done. The water was so clear and when it got too deep to see the bottom it was like floating in an aquamarine coloured universe! Sounds poetic and if she hadn’t been so afraid of being eaten by the Boya Lake monster or getting hypothermia, the swim was perfect! To all swimmer friends: highly recommended as one of the most amazing open water swims you will ever do!

Victoria is swimming towards the dock

No lake creatures ate Victoria- thank goodness

On the way from Boya Lake back to the camp, we took a little side track straight into the woods to Hot Lake. Not sure what gave the lake its name. It didn’t seem particularly warm and it wasn’t hot for fishing either…. Once again we returned to the tent with nothing to show for…

Bumpy dirt road to Hot Lake

View over Hot Lake

The next morning we set off to Whitehorse in the Yukon! We only made a couple of stops; one of them at the junction of highway 37 and the Alaska highway.

Different modes of transportation: motor cycle or a home on wheels..

Restaurant at the junction joining highway 37 and the Alaska highway

The landscape has now changed from the wet rainforest of central B.C. to more of an alpine environment with sparse and short trees and big mountains! We reached Whitehorse in early evening and found a really nice Bed & Breakfast where we will spend the night. More to come as our brains are exhausted from looking at too much highway today. Apologies for the somewhat dry and boring report. More to come shortly! Good night folks!

written by  Victoria & Robert on September 14, 2009 from Telegraph Creek, Canada
from the travel blog: the Canadian Arctic
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