Dawson City to Eagle Plains

 August 23 2023

Italics tour description. Strikeouts never happened.

We’ll get an early start today and travel to the Dempster Highway. The Dempster is one of the truly great Canadian roadways. Completed only in the late 1970’s, the Dempster is still the only fully public road in North America to cross the Arctic Circle. Today’s drive is considered most scenic; Tombstone Territorial Park encompasses the jagged peaks to the West that give the park its name and further along, the Ogilvie Mountains offer superb scenery and stunning vistas. Wildlife is often spotted along the roadsides, so keep a good watch for foxes, the occasional wolf and caribou. We’ll stop for a picnic lunch at a creek-side campground, where gray-jay’s, or ‘camp-robbers’ as they’re known locally will keep us company always happy to help with leftovers. As we arrive at Eagle Plains in the late afternoon/early evening, the modest hotel, fuel station, and highway maintenance station – the only civilization for approximately 300km in either direction - feels like an oasis! Accommodation: Eagle Plains

Departure 8 AM Arrival 5:45 Duration 9 hr 45 min A LONG DAY

Weather cloudy 

John went out for coffee at 7, a little chilly.

The Dempster Highway to Inuvik was completed in 1975 as a transportation route.
The surface of the Dempster Highway is all gravel; 2.4 m thick in some places to protect the permafrost, on which the road sits on. The road is like a raised bridge with no sides. If the permafrost would melt, the road would sink.

For most of its length, the Dempster Highway crosses land and territories with no sign of human presence; no side roads, no houses and no power lines.

The Dempster Highway is a 740 KM (460 miles) hard packed, but well maintained, gravel road that winds its way through two mountain ranges, the Ogilvie and the Richardson; crosses the continental divide three times, traverses the Arctic Circle and loosely follows the old dog team routes on its way to Inuvik and the Mackenzie Delta where access to the Arctic Ocean is available.

UNTIL YOU HAVE DRIVEN THE DEMPSTER HIGHWAY IN A NOISY VAN WITH DODGY SUSPENSION and BENCH SEATING YOU HAVE NOT IDEA WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR 700 KM!!!

One passenger declared it was like riding in a rickety tin can!!

Here is a quick video I took another day.

Tombstone Territorial Park's 2,200 square kilometres protect a unique wilderness of rugged peaks, permafrost landforms and abundant wildlife, all reflected in a rich First Nations culture.

Tombstone Territorial Park Interpretive Centre is a good spot for a bathroom break and a tea.

We could have spent less time here.

John and Leo.

Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface. It consists of soil, gravel, and sand, usually bound together by ice. Permafrost usually remains at or below 0°C (32ºF) for at least two years.

We wee a lot of "home made" vans.

No moose...

The road got bumpier and bumpier and Leo got slower and slower driving.

We have a break because they wanted to stretch their legs. John says to me "why is he driving so slow? Doesn't he realize that going 20 KM an hour makes the bumps worse than at 50 KM???"

This was later echoed by A, when we are in the hotel.

Not happy campers at all at 6 PM when we finally check in, a 10 hour day in a van.

I gleefully point out the Cocktail Lounge sign to A!!!