Rain it did, last night. We slept by the Rock River, and indeed it was a little fuller and rushing a little faster this morning.
Given how much mud we accumulated, we managed to keep most of it outside quite well. That is, until Ryder went under the van, brushed some mud on himself (He’s the black dog), then came into the cabin and had a big shake. We’re finding specks of mud all over the place.

We, or at least I was surprised that the roads weren’t in worse shape considering how much rain we had. The clouds were a bit heavy, but still the beauty shines through this amazing place.
I say it daily, but the colours and landscape are still changing at every turn.

In the first hour of driving today, we accomplished 38 km. Not because of highway conditions. It was because we couldn’t keep our eyes on the road, and our jaws from dropping! We kept stopping every couple of kilometers. As we looked at carpeted landscapes of gold and red, I saw a black thing in the distance. It was our first Grizzly. He was far away and clearly in a patch of good eats.

The landscape was changing yet again. Our beautiful rolling hills were turning into bolder mountains yet. And they were dusted with snow.

And then, just like that – we were in the Northwest Territories!

We stopped to take a few more photos. It was cold and WINDY! The scenery was just as captivating as anything we’ve seen so far. We wove through this mountain range and were rendered speechless. There are no words.

The clouds gave way to the sun, revealing the fall colours that grow more vibrant day by day. The road was good to us today – although we didn’t get far fast. Who wants to miss any of this?!

And just as we thought things couldn’t be more special – this happened.

It was the most brilliant, close-to-the-ground rainbow either of us has ever seen. Simply Magical.

It wasn’t long before the winter mountain majesty was in the rear view mirror and we were back in the rolling hills, bursting with colour.

Now it was time for the first (and sometimes out-of-service) crossing on a cable ferry. The CF Abraham Francis Ferry takes passengers from one side of the Peel River to the other. This free ferry is part of the Dempster Highway. In the winter, when it freezes, they install an ice bridge. When water levels get too high, as they did last week, the ‘landings’ get washed out, and the cable ferry is put out of commission until the waters recede and the landing can be secured. It’s a bit rustic, but we’re grateful they are providing this service.

The road on ‘this side’ of the river is different. It looks good, but it’s rough. Instead of washboard and potholes, it seemed to have vertical ridges that made for a pretty rough ride.

When transport trucks come up behind us on the Dempster, Eric pulls over and says, “Time is money for those guys.”
And today we held back a bit until he was well ahead of us. No one wants to be too close behind this mess.

Shortly after that big fella went past us, we saw what we thought was someone on a horse way in the distance. As we got closer, we saw it was a cyclist! As we came up behind her, she was dressed for the occasion and didn’t seem to have an abundance of gear – so she’s local? Local to what?

A short distance later, we saw another couple of bicyclists. This couple was fully loaded with gear, though.

We’ve seen photos of people who have done the trek to Tuk on bikes, but actually seeing it, knowing how dirty, hilly, and long our own daily driving is… I can’t fathom doing this trip in anything other than our Van. Our hats are off to their stamina and determination.

We drove a bit further and decided to start looking for a place to spend the night. The options on iOverlander didn’t appeal much to what we were looking for, so we kept driving. The last 30 or so kilometers we drove, there were little lakes everywhere.

The one thing we have found on this trip is that it doesn’t matter if you are only ‘just off’ the highway when you camp. The traffic is sparse, and there’s never anything at night.
So tonight when we saw this amazing little pullout well off the road directly onto a beautiful lake, we both said ‘yes please!’

The air was a bit chilly, but the sun was incredibly warming.

We sat and enjoyed a couple of hours by the lake, and we had visitors! They were on the other side, but they were lovely to watch.

I was in the van and heard something on the roof. Eric called out to the intruder. A raven. Again. Showed up out of nowhere. I guess to check us all out. I love ravens, but it still feels unsettling how… assertive they are.

A little bit later, a truck pulled up off the side of the road right where we pulled off. I thought for sure someone was coming to tell us we couldn’t camp there. A couple of local ladies came out to say hello. They were super friendly. Eric told them he thought they might tell us not to camp here. “Oh NO! I’d never do that.” When Eric asked if it was ok to camp where we were, she gave a big laugh and said, “You can camp anywhere you want to here.” She explained that she and her friend, while driving, saw us pulled up tight to the lake, all cozied in. Eric had our chairs out looking towards the lake, and the dogs were on their blanket chewing their bones. She said, “We just had to stop to take a photo. Your setup looks so cool with your van, chairs, and dogs out front, and the lake in the background,” and so they indeed took photos. It’s kind of funny that the locals were taking photos of the tourists.

I was cleaning up after supper, standing in my kitchen looking outside. I could hear something but wasn’t sure what it was. It was the cyclists! First of the three. She shouted out as she went by, “You found an awesome spot!” A while later, the other cyclists went by. Truly a whole different level of accomplishment. Or crazy. Take your pick. It’s impressive nonetheless.

We enjoyed our dinner as we watched the sun become more golden. Eric looked to see when the sun would set – 10:34pm.

But it felt like the sun had been in the same spot for the past couple of hours. That’s when I said, it’s not setting down; it’s travelling sideways. The sun doesn’t set here like it does further south. This far north, the sun does not rise and set vertically like it does near the equator. Instead, it moves across the sky at a very shallow, slanted angle. When it approaches the horizon, its path is so flat that it appears to skim and slide sideways along the horizon for hours rather than dropping straight down.

We had an incredible sunset tonight. We are so in awe of this epic journey we are on.
We are incredibly grateful to have a life in which we can do this.

Just a couple more days until we reach Tuk and see the Arctic Ocean.