Day 93 - Saturday August 19/17 (Written, formatted with pictures, and posted on Wednesday September 5th at Prince Albert, SK)

A travel day today, from Fort Providence to Yellowknife (map)

It had rained during the night and this morning continued dreary. A tasty breakfast of French toast and sausage seemed to brighten the day a bit. We set out in cloud and strong winds and detoured into the town of Fort Providence to try to find a historic plaque there. Unfortunately we never did locate the plaque we were looking for but we did find a reminder of a sad period in our national life and for the local community. There was a monument to those people who had been buried in an unmarked mass gravesite for the Catholic mission in the area. Many were children from the residential school in the town. The school operated from 1867 to 1953. We stood beside this polished stone memorial wall listing as many of the names of the dead as are known and felt such an incredible sense of sadness. The grey of the day became the grey of our souls.(photos)

We discovered that Fort Providence has a ‘pow-wow circle’ like the one we experienced in Fort Simpson. Perhaps these are part of an effort to reclaim indigenous spirituality and culture? (photo)

We didn’t hang around Fort Providence very long. We headed north on NWT Hwy #3 more commonly known as the Yellowknife Highway. Yellowknife was our destination for the day and for the next several days. Nancy has two cousins there and we were going to pay a family visit. The road was quite good with minimal frost heaves for most of the route. We stopped at the Chan Lake Territorial Day Use Park for lunch of egg salad sandwiches eaten in the trailer. For most of the day we are travelling through the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary but we only managed to spot one bison lying in the grass at the side of the road. On a rainy day it seems the other bison chose to stay home.

At a ‘pee stop’ our introduction to and education about indigenous peoples continued through a signboard (photo):

The last 100 km of our trip – from Bechenko (also noted on the map as Rae and Edzo) to Yellowknife saw the road quality deteriorate badly. There were potholes and lengthy, gravel washboard sections. Also there is no cell phone coverage between Fort Providence and Yellowknife. About 50 km short of our destination the control panel on the Ram told us that we had a tire going flat quickly. Nancy checked The Milepost and found that there was a turn out 12 km further on. With fingers crossed we drove on as we didn’t want to stop on the narrow shoulder with poor visibility due to rain. Fortunately we made it to the turnout. Michael had had the foresight to check out the jack and tire changing equipment in a dry run earlier in the trip – as recommended in Milepost – so that he proceeded with relative ease to install the almost full-size spare. And he did all that in the rain. Nancy’s role was gopher and encourager.

It was 6 pm when Nancy phoned her cousin Emily Lawson to tell her we had arrived in Yellowknife. Emily has lived in Yellowknife for over twenty years and her brother Nick Lawson has lived there for 32 years. Nancy has never visited. It felt good to rectify that situation. Emily met us at a gas station on the edge of town and led us to her daughter Kari VanGeffen’s house where we were to camp in their yard. Kari and her partner Lance and their kids were away in Edmonton when we arrived, but we were greeted by Lance’s mother Shirley who helped us hook up a water hose and electrical extension. Then, with a clearing in the clouds, we sat outside and had a rum and coke together. Shortly Cousin Nick arrived as well to join in the welcome libation. It felt so good to be safe and cared for by family, especially after the ordeal of the flat tire. Kari and Lance and their children Kaitlin and Tanner arrived later in the evening, and we had a brief time together before heading off to bed. We slept well that night cocooned beside a niece and her family that we were to get to know so much better over the next few days.

Day 92 - Friday August 18/17 (Written, formatted with photos, and posted on Tuesday September 5th at Prince Albert, SK)

Today is the beginning of our fourteenth week. How time has flown!  A travel day again, from Fort Simpson to Fort Providence, NWT (map)

Having learned a lesson, we instituted a new pre-travel procedure of putting dust covers (i.e., extra sheets) over all the furniture and other flat surfaces.  We had a hard time locating the campground operator in order to pay the fees for our night’s stay, and finally after talking to him on the phone just had to leave the fees in the comments box at the gate! But once that was accomplished and the sewage tanks were emptied, we headed out. It was noon, 17C and cloudy. 

We still needed to find the Canadian Historic Sight plaque that was supposed to be in Fort Simpson. We drove around until we saw what we thought was a significant place. It turns out this was the site of Pope John-Paul II’s celebration of mass on his visit here in 1987 – interesting but not what we were looking for. (photos)

As we were looking at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers,(photos)

a local gentleman stopped to ask if he could be of some help. We chatted for a bit. It turns out that his name is Bert and he is a retired RCMP officer. We had some really good conversation about life in the north - his father used to be a trapper on the Mackenzie River, north of Fort Simpson, and then moved into town. He wasn’t sure where the plaque we were looking for might be, but he directed us to one possible location. Turns out he was right and we found the plaque explaining the importance of Fort Simpson as a post in the fur trade. It was a North West Co. post, originally called Fort of the Forks.  It was transferred to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1822 and renamed Fort Simpson. This was the oldest continuously occupied post on the Mackenzie River. (photo)

We also found another cairn marking the opening of the highway into the town when Jean Chretien was Minister of Indian Affairs in 1971. (photo)

With a bit of a late start we didn’t want to waste a moment so we made tuna sandwiches in the trailer while we waited for the ferry. We ate them as we drove – a very rare circumstance on this trip, as we like to actually take some time for lunch and a break from driving. Nancy was behind the wheel for much of the day as we headed east. The scenery was not particularly inspiring as we drove along the long, flat, gravel road. We did note some areas of muskeg marked by stunted black spruce (the bottlebrush shaped trees).

Just around 6 pm we crossed the Deh Cho Bridge across the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence. The bridge opened in 2012 (previously there was a ferry in summer and an ice road in winter) following many construction and financing problems. But it is quite a handsome structure. (photos)

Series of photos of the Dec Cho Bridge crossing the Mackenzie River

Can you tell it was raining as we crossed the bridge?

The Mackenzie River, from the Deh Cho Bridge

Our Territorial Campground for the night was only a short distance north of the bridge. We once again lucked out in getting a prime campsite directly on the Mackenzie River. The Mackenzie is the longest river in Canada and it felt very special to be close enough to feel its presence. 

Views of the Mackenzie River from our campsite

There is a lot of 'bear aware' information posted everywhere throughout the north. This is one of the common messages given:

A rainy evening made it easy to crawl into bed and read early tonight.

Day 91 - Thursday August 17/17 (Written, formatted with photos, and published on Tuesday September 5th at Prince Albert, SK)

A travel day again today, heading now into the NorthWest Territories for the first time on our trip, travelling to Fort Simpson, where we needed to stop for gas - and stayed the night! (map and photos)

We got underway at 10am (BC time, but almost immediately 11am, NWT time!). It was beautiful 27degC in the sun, under clear skies. We were driving through a mixed boreal forest with big, lush deciduous trees, seeing many mountains in the Liard, La Biche and Franklin Ranges to the west as we approached and passed Fort Liard.(photos)

We came across a large herd of bison along and on the road about 10km north of Fort Liard, (photos)

We also saw deer on the road (no photos), and beautiful yellow flowers along the roadsides (photos)

A little further along we found another lone male bison bull (photo)

The milepost advised that, in a couple of places, the road widened (it really was the verge of the road on both sides, not the roadway itself), so that the road could be used as an emergency airstrip (we scanned the skies for airplanes!!!)

We stopped at Blackstone Territorial Park for lunch, and discovered THE ABSOLUTE WORST DUSTSTORM EVER had occurred IN THE TRAILER (photos).

After have a near-meltdown, we had an ‘emergency lunch’ of PB&J sandwiches (rather than the hot dogs we were going to cook), taped up vents in the trailer to try to prevent further dust intrusion, switched over to a new propane tank on the trailer, and continued on our way in sunny 24degC weather.

We have seen a lot of 'fireweed', especially aware of it since we were introduced to it by our bus driver/tour guide in Denali, who first let us know that, once the top of the fireweed blooms, it is only 6 weeks until winter comes on. Fireweed is the Territorial Flower of the Yukon. Here is some further information about fireweed

As we proceeded north, we noticed that the vegetation was alternating between open tundra, thick black spruce, and deciduous forest. We decided that we needed to go into Fort Simpson, about 60km off the Liard Highway, to get gas, as we would not have enough to get to Fort Providence 240km away, the next place gas was available. To get to Fort Simpson we had to ride on a small ferry across the Liard River - Fort Simpson is at the confluence of the Liard and the Mackenzie Rivers. (PHOTO)

As it was by now late afternoon, we decided to stay overnight at Fort Simpson, in the Territorial Park. We got to the campground at about 5pm. The park operator was on supper break, so we marked a campsite with folding chairs, and went off to the Visitors’ Centre for information and to fill the trailer water tank, got gas and groceries, and cash at an ATM.

Back at the campground we undertook to clean up enough of the dust coating as we could to make us functional (WHAT A MESS!!), and then had a quick supper of hot dogs. At the Visitors’ Centre we had been told that there was to be a drumming circle at the nearby pow-wow circle, so around 9pm after supper we walked over. It was quite enjoyable to just sit and listen and watch as some folks danced with the drumming, and to see many young people enjoying themselves (we found out later that the event was part of a regional youth event; many young people had been camping in the park as well). (photo)

At about 10pm we returned to the trailer, did some more cleanup, and got to bed about 11pm. At some time in the night, we heard geese flying overhead - gathering to begin southward migration!

Day 90 - Wednesday August 16/17 (Written, formatted with photos, and posted on Tuesday September 5th at Prince Albert,SK) 

A travel day for us today, from Muncho Lake Provincial Park to a ‘boondocking’ site at the Petitot River, just 3km south of the BC/NWT border (map):

We were on the road at 10:15 under mostly cloudy skies, temperature 13C. Gassed up at Muncho Lake.

There was a lot of information in "Milepost" about alluvial fans/plains, from rivers flowing down out of the mountains, washing down sand and gravel. (photos)

As well, there was more information about “folded mountains”, particularly evident here at the northern end of the Rockies (we had first been introduced to ‘folded mountains’ while on the boat cruise on Waterton Lake in Waterton National Park/Glacier National Park (US), down at the ‘other end’ of the Canadian Rockies!) (photos)

We paused at Summit Lake, in Stone Mountain Provincial Park, the highest point on the Alaskan Highway (4,250 ft / 1295m), along a section of the highway that apparently was particularly difficult to build (photos)

We had a picnic lunch at Steamboat Mountain Summit, near the junction of the Alaska Highway and the Liard Highway. We turned north on the Liard Highway, heading to the NWT. We ran into TERRIBLE ROAD DUST as we continued on the Liard Highway, both before and in the (now requisite daily) construction area. 

We finally called it a day around 8:30pm when we found a delightful riverside sideroad at the Petitot River and ‘boondocked’ well off the highway.(photos)

Not a bad view for a free campsite