Unbelievable vistas for the whole drive.
Map - Dawson City to Eagle PlainsEagle Plains Hotel, Eagle Plains YT (1 star)
Well, we started on a trip that Lee has dreamt about for years. We are going to the Arctic Ocean, specifically Tuktoyaktuk on the Bering Sea.
Lee had looked at the junction of the Klondike Highway and Dempster Highway on Good Maps Street View many times. And there we were, turning onto the Dempster. Only 886 kilometers to go, and then the same coming back.
The countryside is exactly as advertised in the brochures. Endless vistas of mountains and then hills for as far as the eye can see. A good portion of the 390 kilometers was on the Ogilvie ridge, where the road is high up and you can see forever on either side. It is stunning.
Not so stunning is the road conditions, but they are as advertised. It had rained earlier in the day so the road was wet. Chuck is now the colour of Yukon dust. The bonus is that we had virtually no dust. That would have been irritating each time a vehicle came the other way. Note on that - we had no more than 25 vehicles pass us going the other way the entire day.
We are now in a hotel in Eagle Plains, the first gas station since we left this morning.
Today was a travel day as we left Dawson City and the Schooner behind. Our next destination is Tuktoyaktuk.
The road is long, with many a winding turn. Oh, it's also gravel the further north you go. We were very fortunate to watch a heavy set of rain clouds on our horizon, but not affecting us. Later, we learned that it had been raining all day long along that road, just ahead of us. No wonder there was little dust flying as we got further north. It was also very quiet along the way. We had no incidents of animals crossing in front of our vehicle. We stopped at one place to stretch and smell the clean air. Several motorcyclists pulled in to take a break. I cannot imagine dealing with those corduroy road conditions on a motorbike. Earlier, we passed a man and woman pedalling their bicycles on the road north. That is insane.
We have stopped for the night at Eagle Plains and are spending our night in their hotel. It has been quite a while since we have done that kind of travel. A few memories of days gone by.
We have our laptops and luckily remembered an extension cord for two machines adding to the typical room's two table lamps.
Two big comfy beds await our 'weary' bodies. However, LOL, one is currently used for suitcases, coats and other paraphernalia.
Weather forecast is sunny for tomorrow. Another 100 plus photos will be taken.