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"You and I have memories
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead
…
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home",

"Two of Us", Lennon–McCartney, 1969

Ron's Shadow on the Dempster Highway, NWT

There is nothing like getting home after a few months away. I sleep so deeply, so contently. I’m slowly going through the images. It will take a while. It never seems like I’m getting anything worthwhile during the trip. I’m always driven to find that illusive image, that trip defining moment that is a touchstone. As I pick the best images, my “keepers”, I’m finding a few surprises, images I didn’t think much of at the time. There will be a few photos that emerge as trip defining. I don’t think many will be more rewarding than the Aurora Borealis images from the Yukon

Northern Lights, Yukon

As hard as these trips are, traveling this way has been very productive. We keep trying to come up with a new way to do this. So far this is the best way for us. I’m not sure where our next trip will be. But I’m not in a hurry to be on a 3-month road trip again.

Old Church Saskatchewan

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB

Rainbow in Yukon

Train Tracks, Saskatchewan

Tangle Creek, Jasper, AB

Larson Homestead, Grasslands, SK

Stones

“I’ve got Stones in my Passway
And my road seems dark as night.”

Robert Johnson, 1937

Dust on the Dempster Highway

Every now and then, a stone will get caught between the metal plate and the break rotor of the van. It makes a noise of metal on metal. If you didn’t know what it was, it would cause you to worry when so far from home. It can be very loud! If you drive in reverse for a while, it will usually dislodge. This kind of noise can frighten off wildlife long before you get close enough for a photo. We are back on the Dempster Highway in the Yukon. The leaves and tundra are just starting to turn Fall colours. We will wait a few more days and hopefully see it close to its peak.

Young Silver Fox (Red Fox)

North Klondike River, YT

The Road

Dempster Highway, Yukon/NWT Border

I’m always a little nervous as I turn north on the Dempster Highway. This time was no exception. The road was rough. It was closed in several places just the day before. I worry about the van, the tires, and the gas. I mostly worry about the road. It can be a challenge when it is rough. We made our way to Tombstone Territorial Park.

Tombstone Territorial Park Sign, YT

We got a great campsite with a 360-degree view. I didn’t drive much after we got there. I wanted to save gas for the run to the Arctic Circle the next day.

The next day we woke up at 5am to frost on the dining tent. About 6am as we drove north past the Tombstone Viewpoint we caught the full moon setting - a good omen.

Full Moon, Tombstone Park, YT

The road was very rough in some areas but we made it fine. We camped at Rock River near the Yukon/NWT border. It is very beautiful. Lori and I looked for caribou but we must have been a bit early, as we didn’t see much of anything. Driving back to camp, we did spot a Grizzly at the side of the road. I did my best to get a shot but it never stopped. It just kept eating and walking. Still it was a thrill to see.

Grizzly Bear

The next day we decided to head south. It is so wet that we fear one more rainstorm will close the road again. We will resupply and head back up as far as Tombstone tomorrow.

Northwest Territories on the Dempster

12 Days

Fall comes early on the Dempster Highway.

Frosted Cloudberry Leaves - Click for larger

It would change every day. Lori and I enjoyed our time here. We spent 12 days up the Dempster Highway.

Blackstone Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon - Click for larger

It's not always a forgiving highway. We did have a flat tire but it could not have come at a better time - no traffic and solid ground to jack up the van. The warning light came on and indicated the left rear tire was losing pressure. I stopped and grabbed the tire pressure gauge. But as soon as I was out of the van, I could hear the air leaking. A sharp shale rock had punctured it. This is a common problem here. It is also the reason we came prepared with 2 full spares.

Changing the Flat Tire up the Dempster Highway - Click for larger

Camping for all of the 12 days was tough. It is a dusty place when it's dry and muddy when wet. The road can wear you down.

Camping up the Dempster Highway - Click for larger

The road is wearing especially when you are working both early mornings and late nights. We would usually wake up at 5 am and check the sky. At 5:30 we would get up and drive/hike to our designated spot for the morning shoot. Sometimes the light would co-operate and sometimes not. After shooting the morning we would go back to camp to do backups and have a snooze. Later we would play cards, eat dinner and head back out to shoot landscapes and anything and everything that showed up. Generally we would get back after 10 pm and head to bed.

Male Spruce Grouse - Click for larger

Male Willow Ptarmigan - Click for larger

Arctic Ground Squirrel - Click for larger

Cloudy Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon - Click for larger

Blackstone Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon - Click for larger

We head to Alaska next. I really hope to see the Dempster again. It's easily the most spectacular place I have ever been.

Beaten by the Road

Ah, but not this time. We made it to the end of the Dempster Highway!

Igloo Church, Inuvik - Click for larger

Our last attempt at the Dempster Highway was in 2010. We almost made it to Eagle Plains but had to turn back because of bad weather. This time we faced a very different road. Dry, warm weather made for good but dusty driving. This has to be one of the most beautiful highways in the world!

Tombstone Territorial Park - Click for larger

Beaver - Click for larger

We drove all the way up to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. This is as far as the road goes in the summer. In the winter you can drive all the way up to Tuktoyaktuk on ice roads.

Crossing the Mackenzie River - Click for larger

On the way back south we decided to spend a few days at the Yukon/NWT border just inside the Arctic Circle. The Porcupine Caribou herd winters here and they are starting to move in. We spotted a small herd and waited by the side of the road. They walked quite close to us. I didn’t have much light but I did what I could. This was very exciting to see barren-land caribou!

Porcupine Caribou Herd - Click for larger

Porcupine Caribou Herd - Click for larger

Porcupine Caribou Herd - Click for larger

As we were shooting, hunters came by and started shooting, but in a very different way! I had the opportunity to help a local hunter gut and drag his kill off the tundra.

Native Hunter - Click for larger

Fred, a 70-year-old Gwich’in man was very worried about Grizzly Bears. Especially when Lori and I told him we had just seen 2 just south of where we were sitting. I now had blood all over me and I smelled like a caribou. He said he didn’t have a permit to shoot a bear. I said “But you would shoot one if it came at us?”
He smiled and said, “Yes, but we would need more firepower than this old gun” as he pointed to his old 303 British rifle.
“What have I gotten myself into?” I wondered.
He then said, “Every thing follows the caribou, men, wolves, ravens, bears and even photographers! Those bears can smell these guts for miles. Keep a close watch. Always stop what you are doing and have a good look around.”
Thankfully, we didn’t see any.
What a great experience this has been!

Dreaming of Home

We have driven over 20,000 km by now. We are weary and dreaming of home. The places we have passed through are a blur. The bad memories are fading. The good memories are growing stronger - like the wolf at the side of the Dempster avoiding my gaze and my camera. In Dawson I didn’t bother to wash the mud off the van even though I passed right by the most used car wash in the country. No, I just let the rain slowly reveal the license plate. We are so privileged to live in Canada.

Quetico Provincial Park - Click for larger

I need to do more to protect it. We undervalue and overuse everything.

Osprey - Click for larger

It’s been a wonderful trip. Sometimes I wake up and think I’m already home. My bed, my shower and all the comforts waiting there. But still, it’s out here where I really feel alive.

Sand River Beach - Click for larger

By the time you read this, we will have had some down time at a northern beach and made the long drive home. The dream of the next trip has begun.

Beaten but not Defeated

The drive to Haines Alaska is one of the most spectacular I have driven. What a wonderful landscape.

Haines Highway View - Click for larger

We camped for a couple of days near the town. Ran into a co-worker, Luis from Seneca. We also walked with a Grizzly Bear. There are lots of bears and Bald Eagles there.

Grizzly Bear - Click for larger

Bald Eagle - Click for larger

After Haines, we drove to Kluane Lake and spent a couple of nights there. At the shores of this beautiful lake we celebrated our 28th anniversary. Time flies when you are having fun!

Kluane National Park - Click for larger

The roads north through Alaska to Dawson have been closed off and on this summer. We were advised to go back through Whitehorse to get to Dawson. We spent the night in Whitehorse, resupplied and headed north. We didn’t make it far. Lake Laberge seemed like a great place to spend a couple of warm days. We got a site right on the lake and lazed in the sun, swam and read our books. Nice to get some down time.

Lake Laberge - Click for larger

We drove on to Dawson. This is still very much like a frontier town with saloons and dirt roads.

Dawson - Click for larger

It’s a small town but large enough for us to find everything we needed for the trip up the Dempster.

The morning we left for Tombstone Territorial Park, I was kind of nervous and excited. I have always wanted to drive this road. It sounded hard but wonderful. The Dempster is gravel for most of its 750 km stretch. It starts out fine and there is no problem holding 70 – 80 Kph. The speed limit is 90, a little too fast for me. Along the way, I stopped to take a road shot and spotted an American Dipper.

American Dipper - Click for larger

Tombstone is out of this world beautiful. We are already planning our next trip there. We waited for good light for a couple of days. It rained and rained. The third morning we headed north. The roads were bad. We made Eagle Plains Plateau. The van was sliding all over the road heading up the mountain pass. Once we made it to the top and started down the other side I thought, "ok we can still do this". But then a truck stopped and said we should turn back. The road was almost impassable. We were near the point of no return in terms of gas. Eagle Plains with gas and a restaurant was 100 km away. Gas to the south - over 300 km. We decided to play it safe and turned around. We drove back to Tombstone and got a campsite. As we set up camp, I noticed that one of our rear tires was going flat. We had dinner and then I changed the tire.

Tire Troubles - Click for larger

The gas gauge was now near empty and we still had 70 km to go. The drive the next morning was a bit nerve wracking but we made it fine with about 3 liters of fuel to spare!

Tombstone Viewpoint - Click for larger