What a treat Inuvik was! Aboriginal Day festivities really brought
life to the town, much more than we had hoped for. I’m so glad we were able to experience
it. We left Inuvik at around
5:00pm. The skies were clear and the
weather surprisingly toasty for the most part.
We met up with MikeRD400 & WheatWacker in Fort McPherson and decided
to camp together. It was funny watching
WheatWacker scoping out potential camping spots. He would ride his V-Strom off the highway
into very questionable terrain while the three of us watched in amusement. With the suspension bottoming out
occasionally and back tire sliding all over the place, WheatWacker managed to
make it out unscathed.
Crossing the Peel River
When we got to the other side of the river,
MikeRD400 asked one of the homeowners if it was ok for us to pitch our tents by
the river. Not only did she suggest that
we camp in her neighbor’s yard, she invited us over for breakfast the next
morning. Her name is May.
The four of us had dinner over a small
campfire sharing adventure stories and laughing at good times. To commemorate the longest day in the year,
we all walked out to the river to get a better look at the midnight sun.
The next morning we went over to May’s and
formally introduced ourselves.
We had freshly brewed coffee …
…with freshly made bannock, a staple food
amongst the Aboriginal peoples
May lives in her cabin year-round. She hunts, fishes, and uses techniques passed
down to her from generation to generation to preserve and prepare her
food. She told us stories of how her
Grandfather used to travel back and forth to Dawson City for supplies via dog
sled. So much can be learned from May
it’s astounding, yet she presents herself as very down to earth and simply
matter of fact. What an amazing
woman. Although brief, having breakfast
with May was the highlight of the Dempster.
The four of us continued heading south. MikeRD400 & WheatWacker rode at a faster
pace than us so we insisted that they go ahead and reconvene at Dawson City for
D2D. Here’s WheatWacker tearing it up on
his V-Strom...
...and us on our trusty KLRs
.jpg)
Getting ready for round 2 on what we
thought was the hardest part of the Dempster.
Cold and happy that we made it out of that
section in one piece, we stopped at Rock River Campground to have lunch. We stayed in the bug hut where they had a
woodstove for travelers to use.
Bannock with beans, an adventurer’s meal
I know it’s not good to vandalize public
property, but so many travelers have left their mark in here that we decided to
leave ours too.
Longest
day of year.
The
land of the midnight sun.
A
true survivor.
No comments:
Post a Comment