We were exhausted last night. My cheeks hurt from smiling. This has truly been an epic adventure to Tuk.
We finally went to sleep just after midnight.

We always sleep so well in the cabin, but I was awake early. The sun set on Eric’s side of the cabin, so I peeked out my window to greet the morning.

It was so lovely to have that quiet time to myself, as Eric and the dogs softly snored away. Eric had been up with Harley a few times in the night with a tummy issue. She’s good – just ate too much of a good thing.

It was cloudy today, and the wind picked up.
On the Arctic Ocean.
Brrrr.
After breakfast, we packed up and drove around town a bit before we headed back south. The cloud cover was heavy. The darker sky cast a whole other veil over the landscape. Deeper, moodier.

As we drove, we chatted about Tuk and how incredible a place it is. The local people would all wave. Not just a casual wave, but a big wave and a smile or a cheerful hello. Truly warming.

The previous evening, out on our walk, there was a small group of children who wanted to say hello and pet the dogs. Something tells me that most of the dogs in Tuktoyaktuk are big. At least the ones we saw were!

When we decided to do this trip, we found a couple of Facebook pages for the Dempster Highway. We’ve followed along for a while now. Collecting information about the conditions, what works, what doesn’t, what gear to bring, so on and so forth. You see people posting photos, but you simply can’t FEEL what it’s like until you’re there. We did a post on the day we left, and we would catch up on the FB page at the end of the day, or in the morning just to see if there was weather, if the ferry was operational, and to see who else was driving the Dempster at the same time we were.
It’s kind of neat when you read about someone’s travel and then see them at some point.

This fellow had posted the day before we saw him that he was riding his bike and would be in Tuk on the first of September. He tossed it out into the universe that if anyone had space for him, his bike, and the gear on his bike, He’d really appreciate a ride back to Dawson City or, in a perfect world, Whitehorse. I looked at Eric and said, “That’s a big ask.” On September 1, we passed him. Riding his bike. He looked good and strong, and we carried on.

In Tuk, we all camp along the edge of the Arctic. The fellow who was next to us was a chatty guy. Having conversations with anyone willing to chat. Some time later that evening, we heard our neighbour chatting with yet another passerby, and it was the bike guy. Yay! he made it. Well, later on, our neighbour invited him, and the next day, they left together. I guess there’s always enough room for a stranger if you’re willing.
I try to hold onto the idea that people are inherently good and kind.

The road was great, and mostly dry. We knew it would take about 2.5 hours to get back to Inuvik. There seemed to be a lot of hauling of road materials today. We saw several big rigs full, and they certainly kick up a lot of dust.

There’s only one road into Tuk, so for the next 700 or so kilometers, we’ll be revisiting sites just seen. However, going in the opposite direction makes it feel like a whole new visual experience. It can’t be possible that in just a day or two the colours are popping even more.

We pulled into Inuvik at about 1:30pm. I popped into Northern Mart to pick up a few things. Life is expensive in the North. Understandably so. Eric tells me when I go. “Don’t look at the price”.
Let’s just say, we haven’t been eating quite as many fruits and veggies as we typically do. It’s not even the price; it can be the quality. So I took a pass on these.

We went back to the same Campground in Inuvik that we stayed at before. The gals there suggested we get food from Little Ava’s. It’s in the recreation center. Ok.
The arena is huge, and sure enough, tucked away is a window to order food. Pizza, Pasta, Burgers, fries, etc. The pizza is made by hand, so we gave that a go. I also ordered a lasagna to have tomorrow. Delish!
So Little Ava’s for the win!

We headed back to camp for the night, and just as we were settling in, Eric looked out the window and said, “Fox!” so I grabbed my camera and simply clicked the photo. Here’s the result.

I’ve never seen an animal do the deed so swiftly and carry on as if to say “Nothing to see here.” And then I picked up after him. Don’t need the campground people to think it’s our dogs!

We’re not sure how far we’ll go tomorrow. Having just driven the road, Eric now knows what to expect. For now, it’s time to settle in and rest.