There’s a huge sense of relief in me now that I’m almost off the Dempster Highway. The most miserable gravelly road into Tuktoyaktuk is long past. Letting another ten pounds of air out of my front tire did the trick. The near white out conditions created by any truck, RV or large vehicles coming my way or me passing is over. And now food, fuel and lodging can be easily found I am still in Eagle Plains so anything can still change but, I am hoping that it only does so for the positive.
For those not familiar with the Dempster it is the only road in Canada that takes you across the Arctic Circle and into the land of the midnight sun, where north is a way of life, not just an arrow on a map.
The Dempster leads you into a type of landscape that 190 million years ago became the coastline of ancestral North America.
In the 1994 movie Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump says, “I’m pretty tired… I think I’ll go home now” after stopping while running. He had ran for something like three years, two months, 14 days, 16 hours, and 29 seconds. That’s how I now feel after two Canada Golds, a hamburger, fries and a coconut cream pie. All that slipping and sliding just to stay alive has a way of working up an appetite. I am not close to breaking Gumps record but I did leave SoCal for Alaska something like two months, 9 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes.
The following was written this morning.
This is me now writing with a content belly and a brain full of new memories. The grandmotherly woman cooked for me like I was a party of six. I ate indigenous foods like there’s no tomorrow. Hopefully there will be because I am hoping to survive the road out of here. There’s sections of it that are just like walking in a room filled with marbles. And then fifteen miles later the road changes yet again. I figured out that when my front end starts to slip and slide away from me that the best solution is for me to quickly stand up and let her ride herself back up. I’m come close to losing it at a half dozen times but, only once was I ever afraid that I couldn’t handle the conditions. Riding dirt does make you a better rider and that is the reason I made it here safely. Now back to the foods I ate and sanpled; all in one setting. Beluga whale. Apparently they are catching quite a few this year.
Welcome to Tuktoyaktuk, as in the Western Territories of Canada, or as the locals refer to their homeland – Tok. I am now into a second cup of freshly brewed Nabob coffee, that I recently brewed in the local B&B kitchen where I spent last night. The kitchen window is slowly getting peppered by falling rain drops. Nearby I see a red and white flag flying in a westerly direction. There’s no pavement anywhere as this is all frozen tundra and the Arctic Ocean is clearly visible Its entirety flat and there’s not even a single tree to be seen.
I find myself procrastinating because of the weather. It’s suddenly cool to cold. All points south of here we were in a local heatwave. All I have to do is tighten up my chain but, that involves a few tools and steps to make it happen.
There are no motels or restaurants here but, right next door is the Stanton Tuk. The standard reviews by 47 people on google is that it’s an awesome little store with great prices. Thanks to the Stanton and a suitable working kitchen with an electric stove (Yuck) I was able to boil noodles and make some fresh sauce using the ingredients I obtained next door otherwise nothing. Grandmas kitchen was closed. Not surprisingly I found it. It’s a little hillbilly shack of a trailer behind a similar house.
The other two guys whom I am loosely traveling with tossed me one of those mental type of challenges you see on the show “Amazing Race” in a race competition around the world.
Roberto and Kevin are now in the town of Univik that is about 95 miles away. And not surprisingly there’s a reindeer station near Univik.
Reindeer Station is an uninhabited locality in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located in the Caribou Hills, along the Mackenzie River’s eastern channel. The community was established in 1932 to house a herd of 3,442 reindeer purchased by the Government of Canada.
And not to go down that wormhole but, I am here and they are there because I didn’t get the memo that was never sent out. Thankfully, Rebecca who has the only other B&B in town had just one room available.
And if you made it to Tok without flying in then you too can consider yourself an adventurer.
Trawlercat Chronicles 