Today started out sunny and warm, but in mid-afternoon it clouded over, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped a lot. By suppertime the sky cleared but it remained windy and cold. Yellowknife's summer was ... yesterday ! And it's over !
HA HA HA !
This morning we dumped our grey waste tank, refilled our freshwater tank, and left the campground to drive 3 km. / 2 miles to the music festival site. We wanted to arrive early in order to find a good parking spot for our large rig. We arrived about 11:30 AM, and did find a good parking spot. The music festival began at noon today.
We viewed a variety of musical performances throughout the day. And when there was nothing of interest to us we returned to our camper to have lunch or a snack or ...
I worked on my computer. We were parked close enough to the festival entrance that
I could receive the festival site's free Wi-Fi in our camper. So I got some online work done that otherwise would have had to be done tomorrow at McDonald's. I also bought some holistic / herbal products from one of the vendors selling at the festival, including an excellent spruce pitch and beeswax salve for wounds that's probably better than what I ( and my mother and my grandmother ) have made in the past.
We left after about the third song of the final performer on the main stage, at about 10:30 PM. He wasn't really our "cup of tea". We returned to the campground, I did some chores, Joanne washed dishes, and we each had a cup of hot chocolate to end the day. We're both still discombobulated by this midnight sun concept. There's no onset of darkness to cue your body and mind that the day is almost over and it's time to "wind down".
We were both slightly disappointed in the music festival. And we both felt that we did not receive good value for money spent, considering the $220 spent on two festival tickets and $134.40 spent on camping fees. And ... there's a generation gap in music festival "appreciation". Our generation of old people wants to attend music festivals to listen to the performers. Younger people attend music festivals to guzzle booze and socialize loudly. At last year's Edge Of The World music festival on Haida Gwaii and this year's Folk On The Rocks in Yellowknife I just kept wanting to turn around and say to the people around us ...
SHUT THE FUCK UP ! ! ! ! !
Monday ; Yellowknife to Chan Lake Territorial Park, NWT
Today was mostly cloudy, a bit windy, and cold !
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled our freshwater tank, and left Fred Henne Territorial Park campground for the last time, to run errands in Yellowknife before hitting the road again. Wal-Mart to replenish supplies, Canadian Tire to adjust the air pressure in all the truck tires, Co-op Market Place to replenish groceries, Co-op Fuel Bar to refill Lanoire with diesel, and Bumper To Bumper to refill one of Elsie's propane tanks. As we left the city we stopped at the Folk On The Rocks site to have lunch in the now deserted parking lot.
As we passed by the meat section in Co-op Market Place one of the butchers had just brought out from the back and was stocking on the shelves packages of freshly smoked Lake Trout and Whitefish caught in Great Slave Lake. Yellowknife is perched on the shoreline of Great Slave Lake. I bought a package of each of the smoked fish. I ate smoked Lake Trout for lunch. MMMMM ! First time I've eaten Lake Trout, and obviously, first time I've eaten smoked Lake Trout. The Lake Whitefish from Great Slave Lake are much larger than the puny little Rocky Mountain Whitefish I catch in the Similkameen River at home, and elsewhere in the BC Interior. I hope that the larger Lake Whitefish are not as bony as the little Rocky Mountain Whitefish.
After lunch we headed away from Yellowknife on Hwy. 3. I hesitate to say we headed south, because for quite awhile the road from Yellowknife heads northwest to get around the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, then the road turns south. Our planned destination for today was North Arm Day Use Territorial Park, but we arrived there earlier than we had expected, so we kept driving until we reached Chan Lake Day Use Territorial Park where we stopped to have supper and boondock overnight.
Again today as we drove we encountered Wood Bison ; a large herd and a solitary large male who became agitated when Bo began barking at him. We quickly drove away as he flicked his tail and gave us the evil eyeball ! GEEEEEZ, Bo ... you're going to inspire a buffalo to charge at us ! When we saw Wood Bison on our northbound leg last week Bo was lying on the back seat of the truck, too ill to care that we were viewing Wood Bison. It certainly is great to see him feeling healthy again and excited about travelling and having adventures. When we viewed the large herd of Wood Bison today, one of the large males was stripping the bark off a tree using his horns.
< shrug > Don't know why ! Some kind of rutting behaviour ?
No bugs in the cold weather !
During the night we were awakened by the loud sounds of a car and truck entering the rest area. They stopped about twenty feet from the rest area's two bathroom buildings and garbage dumpsters. Many FIRST NATIONS people poured out of the two vehicles. Soiled diapers were tossed out of the vehicles. Bags of garbage were tossed out of the vehicles. Not dropped ... TOSSED ! People urinated and defecated in the parking lot. One woman dropped her pants, squatted, defecated in the parking lot, wiped herself with a towel, and tossed the shit soiled towel in the parking lot !
AND YOU WONDER WHY OUR "FIRST NATIONS" PEOPLE ARE OFTEN STEREOTYPED AS FILTHY DRUNK INDIANS ? ! ? ! ? !
STEWARDS OF THE LAND ... INDEED ! ! ! ! !
I hope some of Canada's "Indigenous" community read this ... and weep in shame !
Tuesday ; Chan Lake Territorial Park to Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park, NWT
Mostly sunny and warm. A half hour of clouds, and twenty minutes of light rain, around suppertime.
Yesterday at lunch time I discovered that Emma quite likes smoked Lake Trout. Today I discovered ... HA HA HA ... Emma LOOOOOVES smoked Whitefish.
This morning we left the Chan Lake Territorial Park Day Use Area and continued south on Hwy. 3. At Fort Providence we refilled with diesel and freshwater at Big River Shell. A few miles later we stopped to have lunch under the five year old bridge over the Mackenzie River. Up until five years ago, crossing the Mackenzie River was done by ferry during the summer, and ice road during the winter, with no way to cross during spring thaw and fall freeze, like the Liard River crossing near Fort Simpson. We had lunch ... and I fished the mighty Mackenzie for twenty minutes ... at the abandoned ferry dock underneath the bridge.
After lunch we continued south on Hwy. 3 until it ended at Hwy. 1 / the Mackenzie Highway. We turned southeast on the Mackenzie Highway until reaching Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park on the Kakisa River. We selected a campsite, checked in at the park office, and got settled in our site. I napped briefly then we hiked to Lady Evelyn Falls with all my fishing gear. ALL my fishing gear, both fly fishing and traditional fishing ! I had read about the wonderful fishing in the deep pools at the base of Lady Evelyn Falls and was eager to give it a try. We hiked the steep trail down to the top of the falls. Well ! What lovely falls ! But no one over the age of about twenty-five would be capable of getting down to the base of the falls in the gorge below ! HMPH ! Tough, steep, uphill hike back to the campground with all my fishing gear ! And, of course,
I had taken my Nitroglycerin spray out of my pocket when I lay down for a nap, and forgot it on the counter when we went on the hike. < rolling my eyes > Dumbass !
Around 6 PM I began preparing for a campfire. About 6:15 PM as I was about to light the fire ... it began to rain. SHIT ! I quickly put the firewood, the folding chairs, and everything else into the truck. About twenty minutes later, after the rain ended, I took it all out of the truck and started over. I cooked stupendous Dan-O-Cheeseburgers over the open fire.
Late in the evening ( around 11 PM ) we took Bo for a bedtime walk, and due to his eagerness we ended up hiking all the way down to the falls and back up again. YUP ... still no Nitroglycerin in my pocket !
Wednesday ; Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park to Hay River to Little Buffalo River / northeast boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park
Sunny and warm. Drove more miles today than any other day on this trip so far. WHEW ... tired !
This morning we dumped our black waste tank before leaving Lady Evelyn Falls campground. Instead of returning to the highway we drove 5 km. / 3 miles to the tiny hamlet of Kakisa, population about 40, to look around. In the village was a government road works crew, using a small "street sweeper" to ... sweep the streets. < blink blink > The Government of Northwest Territories has enough money to bring street sweepers to remote villages with a population of forty people ? ? ? ! ! ! Actually ... we've seen quite a lot of "tax dollars being spent" up here in NWT on projects that seemed rather questionable. Where does the Government of Northwest Territories get all that
money ? Certainly not from income tax ! Most of the population of NWT seems to be unemployed < cough > Indigenous people. Certainly not from sales tax ! There is no territorial sales tax ! Could their money be coming from "transfer payments" whereby the federal government of Canada takes tax revenue that it gets from rich provinces
( like BC ) and gives it to poor provinces / territories ? Could taxes that I have paid as a resident in BC be going to pay for a street sweeper in Kakisa, NWT ?
We returned to Hwy. 1 and continued southeast until reaching Hwy. 2 at Enterprise. We headed northeast on Hwy. 2 until it ended at Hay River, probably the nicest town we've been to in NWT. We ran errands in Hay River. First we bought groceries at North Mart. Very reasonable grocery prices ! Next was the Visitor Information Centre where we refilled our freshwater tank and got some travel planning information.
I stopped at Home Hardware to buy some worms for fishing. They didn't have any. Why not ? Because ... fishing with live bait is prohibited in the Northwest Territories ! HMPH ! Should have read the damn fishing regulations ! HA HA HA ! Refilled with diesel at Homesteader's Inn ( and restaurant and fuel bar ). HMPH again ! Why are diesel fuel prices in most of the NWT towns and villages almost the same price as in BC's Okanagan region ? And way cheaper than fuel prices in northern BC ?
From Hay River we headed east on Hwy. 5. Lots of construction on Hwy. 5 ! When Hwy. 5 turned a bit to the southeast we entered Wood Buffalo National Park through its northern boundary. And not surprisingly ... saw a Wood Buffalo ... more correctly called a Wood Bison. We crossed the northeast corner of Wood Buffalo National Park ... the largest National Park in North America ... and at its northeast boundary at the Little Buffalo River, we stopped around 8 PM to boondock overnight, just pulling off the road near the bridge over the Little Buffalo River. While Joanne prepared supper I fished
( without live bait ! ) for about fifteen minutes, catching nothing. HMPH ! Probably would have caught something if I'd have had worms ! HA HA HA !
Thursday ; Little Buffalo River, NWT to Pine Lake, Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta
SO ... I have just sat down at the picnic table in our campsite ( at 7:20 PM ), to begin working on my laptop while I cook supper over a campfire, when Joanne walks over ...
J ; " < sniff sniff > What's that bad smell ?" D ; "What bad smell ? I don't smell anything bad. Maybe something on the campfire ?" J ; "HEY ! Why is all the hair on your right arm singed off ? ? ? " D ; "< looking at my arm > HMPH ! I don't know !" HA HA HA !
Today was sunny and warm, a very pleasant day. Except for lots of horseflies in
mid-afternoon. We have figured out that the horseflies show up mostly on warm days, in sunshine, away from water. They don't like shade. They don't like water ; creeks, rivers, lakes. They don't like wind.
This morning we left our well hidden boondocking site at Little Buffalo River and continued east on Hwy. 5 towards Fort Smith. Before reaching Fort Smith we took a
13 km. / 8 mile side trip down Parson's Lake Road, "a single lane dirt bush road"
( Parks Canada's description ) to see Salt Plains Lookout in the NWT portion of Wood Buffalo National Park. On the way to Salt Plains Lookout four large Sandhill Cranes flew up in front of the truck. At Salt Plains Lookout we met three friendly people from Alberta who are travelling a similar route to us. They gave me some fishing tips. While walking around the viewing area I found a shed snake skin. Very interesting !
We were driving ( too fast ) back to the highway, on the "single lane dirt bush road", enjoying the warm sunshine, feeling mellow, when all of a sudden ... HOLY JESUS ! ... a large buffalo jumped out of the bush and landed on the road right in front of us !
I slammed on the brakes ... HARD ... locking all six wheels, and as I slid on the gravel, the buffalo turned sideways and lurched away from us. As the truck slid to a stop, the Dodge Ram badge on the hood of the truck looked like it was about to Dodge Ram itself up the buffalo's ass ! I missed the buffalo by inches ! SHEESH !
Now ... at 9 PM ... loons are beginning to "call" on Pine Lake. AHHHHH ... the sound of Canada !
Just on the outskirts of the small city of Fort Smith we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park to have lunch in their picnic area. After lunch we entered the city and went to the Wood Buffalo National Park headquarters to get information. We paid for one night of camping at the Pine Lake campground then headed into Wood Buffalo National Park, driving south on Pine Lake Road to Pine Lake, crossing the sixtieth parallel from NWT into Alberta on the way.
Once we arrived at Pine Lake we selected a campsite, then went for a short hike to the lake. Very beautiful. Crystal clear water, sandy beach. Bo waded in and drank. We walked down the beach to the day use / picnic area, then walked back to the campground down the road. Joanne and I changed from long pants into shorts, then returned to the lake to go wading. Thanks for the great idea, Bo !
As you already know, I lit a campfire, burned all the hair off my right arm, and cooked supper over the fire. Another great campfire dinner of baked potatoes, a thick juicy steak, and Caesar salad. MMMMM ! Well done, Daniel !
As I'm sitting at the picnic table typing this at 9:15 PM Joanne is playing with the campfire like some kind of juvenile pyromaniac. HA HA HA ! Playing with campfires turns her into a twelve year old again ! You go, girl !
At 10:30 PM we could see that the sun was a large orange ball "sitting" on top of the trees across the lake. We walked down to the lake to watch the sun set behind the trees. And watch and listen to a group of about six or eight loons, flying over the lake, "water walking" on the lake, calling loudly to one another with those wonderful loon calls, and just having a great time on a warm, romantic, summer evening.
Life was good today. For us and the loons ! Well ... except for just about schmucking the buffalo !
Friday : Pine Lake in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta to Hay River, NWT
Mostly cloudy, warm, humid, sky clearing late in the evening.
This morning we drained our waste holding tanks at the Pine Lake campground's
sani-dump station, then drove 60 km. / 38 miles north on the Pine Lake Road back to Fort Smith just across the sixtieth parallel into the Northwest Territories. Before arriving we stopped to hike the Karstland Loop, an 800 meter / half mile hike through karst terrain, with sinkholes that are hibernaculum for garter snakes. HEY ... I kid you not ! That's what it says in the Parks Canada information sheet. HA HA HA !
Bo had difficulty with the hike. I think he is having cardiovascular issues ... ( aren't we all ? ! ) ... and certainly he is having poor vision issues. Poor old Bo ! I think his hiking days may have ended today ! Despite his struggles to complete the hike, he did enjoy harvesting his own wild Saskatoon berries and wild raspberries. Although I just about had to bring the berries to his mouth before he could see / smell them !
In Fort Smith we stopped at the Parks Canada Wood Buffalo National Park headquarters so that I could drop off a survey form. And they had Wi-Fi so I retrieved e-mail while Joanne prepared lunch in the camper in the parking lot. < sigh > Getting my old laptop computer booted up, connected to the Internet, retrieving and reading e-mail was a forty-five minutes process. Slow, old computer, and slow Wi-Fi !
We refilled with diesel before leaving Fort Smith, then headed west on Hwy. 5 all the way back to Hay River. Around 4 PM I became sleepy so we pulled off the road and
I had a brief nap. Saw a buffalo as we drove, probably the last one we'll see. We arrived in Hay River around 7 PM. We refilled our freshwater tank at the Visitor Information Centre then drove to a local car wash and washed a lot of mud and gravel road grime off the truck and camper. WHEW ... spent twenty-four bucks ... a Loonie at a time ... at the self-serve car wash. We drove across the West Channel of Hay River to get to Vale Island, to explore and find the Fisherman's Wharf where fish are sold right off the boats on Saturday morning. We stopped at a Great Slave Lake beach access spot for a few minutes to view and admire the driftwood laden beach.
BUT ... it was late already. We were "out of steam", hungry, tired, and crabby. We sniped at one another as we drove back to the Visitor Information Centre to prepare and eat supper, and boondock overnight. We arrived back at the Visitor Information Centre around 9 PM and had supper about 9:30 PM, continuing to snipe at one another for the rest of the evening.
Saturday ; Hay River to 60th Parallel Territorial Park, NWT
Joanne's sub-title for today ; Adventures In Eating With The Kirby's
Sunny and warm during the day, cloudy in the evening.
This morning we left the parking lot of the Visitor Information Centre in Hay River and drove across "New Town" Hay River, crossing the bridge over the river into "Old Town" Hay River where we went to the Fisherman's Wharf for their weekly Farmer's & Fish Market. We wandered around looking at all the vendors, deciding that it was too early
( about 11 AM ) to have fresh fish and chips for lunch. Joanne bought fresh produce. The only boat selling fish at the wharf was selling only fresh Lake Whitefish caught this morning in Great Slave Lake. We wanted fresh Pickerel. We drove to the far end of Vale Island / "Old Town" to a fish seller. She only had frozen Whitefish, no Pickerel. Darn !
We drove back across the river into New Town to buy groceries at North Mart. MMMMM ... great fresh baked cookies ! After grocery shopping we drove back to Old Town to have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. It was about 12:30 PM. Joanne was worried that if we waited too long the fish and chips sellers would run out of fresh fish. Good point ! We selected a fish and chips vendor who was coating her fresh Whitefish in a beer batter then deep frying it and serving it with freshly cut French Fried potatoes, home made cole slaw, and freshly baked bannock. Good meal. Not cheap !
After lunch we drove back to the Visitor Information Center to dump our waste holding tanks at the sani-dump station and refill our freshwater tank. Thank you very much, Hay River Chamber of Commerce. We RV'ers really appreciate those amenities. We began to drive out of town westbound on Hwy. 2, stopping on the edge of town at Homesteader's Inn to refill the truck with diesel.
As we pulled off the highway and into the fuel station, there was an inebriated First Nations man / drunk Indian staggering down the side of the road facing into oncoming traffic. As I was filling the truck's tank with diesel fuel, an RCMP truck with two officers pulled over beside the drunk man, who was carrying a bottle in his left hand. After a brief discussion, one of the RCMP officers began the process of arresting the drunk. The second officer "assisted" his partner by launching a flying tackle into the drunk, knocking both of them tumbling into the ditch. The first officer walked a few steps into the ditch, kneeled on the drunk's back, and began to hand cuff him. The second officer, who had rolled further down into the ditch than the drunk, picked himself up, ran over and again "assisted" his partner by kneeling on the back of the drunk's head. They got him cuffed and into the RCMP truck.
I was watching this while refilling the truck's fuel tank, and began to make loud, "smart ass" comments ( similar to bold, highlighted comment below ) about use of excessive force. Joanne suggested that I was expressing my concerns in an inappropriate manner. SO ... I walked over to stand across the ditch from the two officers, who were finished arresting the drunk, identified myself by first and last names, and asked for their identification cards as it was my intention to file a complaint about use of excessive force. The "bully" / second officer loudly and aggressively told me his name. The first officer sheepishly did the same. No identification cards were offered, despite my request.
HOW "ROUGH AND TOUGH" DOES A BULLY RCMP OFFICER HAVE TO GET TO ARREST A SCRAWNY DRUNK INDIAN WHO IS ALMOST TOO DRUNK TO STAND UP ? ! ?
I will be filing a "use of excessive force" complaint !
We drove west on Hwy. 2 to the little village of Enterprise. We viewed a Black Bear and a Wolverine while driving. We stopped in Enterprise to shop at Winnie's Dene Art Gallery & Gift Shop, buying a couple of small items as souvenirs of our visit to the Northwest Territories. From Enterprise we headed south on Hwy. 1 to the 60th Parallel Visitor Information Centre and 60th Parallel Territorial Park campground at the Northwest Territories border with Alberta. We picked up some Alberta travel information and paid for a night in the campground. As we were returning to our truck in the Visitor Information Centre parking lot we began to chat with a couple from Switzerland who have travelled all over the world in their camper van and today were entering the Northwest Territories. We chatted for quite awhile, and invited them to visit us in Yuma, Arizona next winter when they are on their way to Baja California, Mexico.
We got settled into a campsite, and while Joanne prepared a sautéed fresh vegetable medley using vegetables purchased today, including beet greens, I lit a campfire to cook chicken over the fire. While waiting for the fire to be ready to cook on, I found a lovely batch of mushrooms growing low on an aspen tree. Joanne pulled out my Mushroom Hunter book and identified them as edible and delectable, wild Oyster Mushrooms. WOO-HOO ! She cleaned them, I grilled them over the open fire, we ate them with our grilled chicken and sautéed vegetable medley ... they were GREAT !
Now ... since this is Saturday evening ... the end of my weekly journal entry ... you'll all have to wait an entire week to find out whether or not we got sick or died from eating poisonous mushrooms. HA HA HA !
DSK
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