We had no real expectations for this trip other than to do something each of us has never done before.
When I say that so far it has been an EPIC adventure; it has been that and then some. And we’ve hardly started!

Today we embarked on the Dempster Highway.
The Dempster Highway officially opened on August 18, 1979, as Canada’s first all-weather road to cross the Arctic Circle. The Dempster Highway was famously dubbed “the Road to Nowhere” early in its rocky construction history. The road was designed to support oil and gas exploration in the Mackenzie Delta and supply the town of Inuvik. It starts 40 km east of Dawson City, Yukon, and ends in Inuvik, Northwest Territories (with an extension via the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway to the Arctic Ocean). It is the only public highway in Canada that crosses the Arctic Circle. Gravel-surfaced, winding through the Ogilvie and Richardson mountain ranges and crossing the continental divide three times. Seasonal ferry services in the summer and ice bridges in the winter across the Peel and Mackenzie rivers are part of this highway. The Dempster is roughly 740 km of gravel road. Then another 120 km to reach Tuktoyaktuk.

In our first 190 km, I must have taken 100 photos. Every curve in the road presented us with a kind of majesty we’ve never experienced. To say awe-struck would be an understatement. The landscape cannot be given justice by any photo. I’m so grateful to experience this epic adventure.

There’s a lot to take in as you drive. Eric is driving this road like a champ (as usual), and we stop at any opportunity to take time to be fully present in the moment.

The road is not for the faint of heart. There are incidents. We saw a couple today.

The Peel River ferry crossing was down for 3 days due to high water levels but opened again yesterday afternoon. As we are tucked into the cabin for the night, in a rock quarry (yes, you read that right), it’s raining. The Dempster mud is thick and slippery. We’ll take it ‘extra’ easy tomorrow.

It’s definitely fall. The weather is getting cooler as the kilometers go by, and the colours are starting to change.

We spent a little bit of time admiring the Tombstone Park – it’s magnificent.

There was a peak of a mountain in the distance we remarked on. I watched it get closer and closer. Finally we were in front of this incredible landscape.
It was truly breathtaking. I could see movement in the distance at the base of the mountain in the wetlands.
It was horses! I counted 13 horses, grazing and wandering the wetlands. Gobsmacked! There were no words.

None.

We just watched in awe.

I had read that the feral/wild horses are deeply hardy, compact survivors. Many are descendants of horses left behind during the Klondike Gold Rush, or animals released decades ago by big-game outfitters. Over generations, they have completely adapted to the sub-Arctic. However, some folks say there are no wild horses here- that they are outfitter horses that graze in the wetlands and only brought out until Winter, then taken south. (We did see some outfitter horses earlier) Either way, they were beautiful.

We are amazed at every turn.

So tonight’s stay is in a rock quarry.
It seemed like a good place to stop for the night.
Besides, I collect rocks, and my backyard proves it.
I think I found the one I want to take home.