July 9 to 15, 2017 ; BC / NWT border to Yellowknife, NWT

Sunday ;  BC / NWT border to Fort Liard to Blackstone Territorial Park

Welcome to "North Of 60".  Well ... we certainly are "off the beaten path" !

Bo was sick overnight and today with intestinal distress / diarrhea.  That actually gave us an opportunity to witness the phenomenon of "Land Of The Midnight Sun".  When
I walked Bo shortly after 11 PM last night, the northwest sky had sunset glow.  When we awoke to deal with his illness around 1:30 AM it was dusk.  At 2 AM the northeast sky begin to glow with dawn.

Today was cloudy, very warm, and humid.  The mosquitoes and horseflies were ... horrendous !  Wildlife viewed were ; a female Black Bear and her cub, a Great Gray Owl, and a Ruffed Grouse.

This morning we left our overnight boondocking spot beside the "Welcome To Spectacular Northwest Territories" sign and headed north into NWT on Hwy. 7 / the Liard Highway, a gravel road !  After about an hour or so we reached the small community of Fort Liard.  We stopped in their municipal campground hoping to refill our freshwater tank, but there was no water.  So ... I helped myself to some of the free firewood.  There was a sign advising that water was available at the water treatment plant in town, so we headed there.  The water there was not free, and the process of obtaining water seemed too complicated for me, so ... we unwisely did not refill our freshwater tank.  We would regret that later !

The little Dene store selling Native arts and crafts was not open.  Nothing in the little village was open !  The Tourist Information Centre, the fuel station, the library ... everything was closed.  We left town and continued northbound on Liard Highway.  When we got hungry we stopped on the side of the road and had lunch.  After lunch we continued northbound on Liard Highway.  Just before reaching our destination for today we stopped at Upper Blackstone River day use / picnic area and I tried fishing in the Upper Blackstone River.  BUT ... within fifteen minutes I decided the water was running much too fast for effective fishing, and I gave up.  Most of the rivers up here are still flowing deep and fast.  As if it were still early spring !  Maybe up here this is early
spring ?

Well ... this is strange !  As I am typing this at 8:40 PM, the clouds have broken, the sun is shining, and ... there is violent thunder nearby !  Emma is beside me on the dinette seat, and she is worried.

We arrived at our destination for today, Blackstone Territorial Park, late in the afternoon.  Our first stop within the small campground was the sani-dump station to refill our freshwater tank.  HMPH !  No water available !  We registered and paid for a site, then parked and got settled into our site.  Nice view !  Behind our site is the large Liard River, and the Nahanni Mountains beyond the river.  I lit a campfire, Joanne wrapped potatoes in foil, I set them on the grill to bake, then we went for a long walk with Bo, hoping that might make him feel better.  It didn't !  His intestinal distress continues.  Shouldn't have eaten that cat food the "next door neighbours" left in their campsite when they left yesterday morning, Bo !

UH-OH !  It has just begun to rain heavily.  I guess that would explain the violent thunder.  Despite the fact that the sky behind us, over the Liard River, looks clear.

After our walk I removed the potatoes from the grate over the open fire, then grilled a marinated steak over the fire.  Caesar Salad, barbecued steak and baked potatoes was our meal in celebration of having made it to the Northwest Territories !

Well !  That didn't last long, did it ? ! ?  The rain has stopped ... after about five
minutes !  The heavy thunder continues, so ... ? !

A few minutes after I typed that, after I had turned off and put away my computer ... the torrential downpour began.  And after a few minutes of exceptionally heavy rain ... the hail began ! ! !  In an aluminum roofed camper, it was deafening !  I wonder how pock marked the camper roof is ?

Monday ;  Blackstone Territorial Park to Fort Simpson, NWT

Sunny and warm.  Joanne wonders ... why is the Northwest Territories more "third world" than Mexico ?  I wonder ... why did Pope John Paul II visit the campground where we are at tonight, and conduct a mass here, in 1987 ? ? ?  Did God tell him to "spread the word" at the place He had most forsaken ? ? ?  HA HA HA !

For the second night in a row we were awakened frequently by Bo.  He is still ill !  Poor baby Bo.  Late this afternoon we bought some medication in Fort Simpson that will hopefully help him.  As a result of being awakened so often during the night, Joanne was feeling poorly today.  And ... < whispering > ... she was REALLY cranky !

After showering in the campground's shower building we departed Blackstone Territorial Park rather late this morning.  We continued heading northeast on the Liard Highway, so named because it follows the Liard River, more or less.  When we stopped to have lunch at a roadside rest area, we discovered teensy little wild strawberries.  While Joanne prepared sandwiches for lunch I harvested little tiny wild strawberries, smaller than raspberries, but sweet tasting nevertheless.  They were very good mixed into vanilla yoghurt.

Eventually we reached the end of the Liard Highway when it reached the Mackenzie Highway, which more or less follows the Mackenzie River.  Our choice was to turn right off the gravel Liard Highway onto the gravel Mackenzie Highway or ... turn left onto the PAVED road to Fort Simpson, about 60 km. / 37½ miles away.  We needed diesel fuel, and medication for Bo, so ... we turned left !  About 45 km. later we had to cross the huge, fast flowing Liard River on a small ferry.  During the winter there is an ice road across the river.  During spring thaw, and fall freeze up, Fort Simpson is accessible only by helicopter !  The fee to be picked up by helicopter at the Liard River and flown 15 km. to the town of Fort Simpson is ... wait for it ... $265 ! ! !

When we arrived in town we went to the Northern Store to buy medication for Bo, and some rather expensive groceries !  And I refilled Lanoire with diesel fuel !  A hundred and twenty bucks to fill the tank !  And it wasn't really that low on fuel !  We drove to the Fort Simpson Territorial Park campground on the edge of town and found that there was no water refill there.  The campground attendant directed us to the Visitor Information Centre to refill our freshwater tank.  We drove back into town and refilled our freshwater tank at the water spigot on the side of the Visitor Information Centre building, then went inside to collect travel planning information.  When I discovered the availability of Wi-Fi inside the building I decided to get my laptop computer and get caught up on online work ; retrieve e-mail, retrieve some investment data, and post my blog entry.

We returned to the campground and selected a site.  I started a campfire while Joanne prepared foil packets of meat loaf and vegetables for me to cook over the open fire.  She also prepared a mixture of cooked ground beef and rice to feed Bo to help resolve his intestinal distress.  Supper was great !  The late evening weather was very pleasant.  While I am sitting at the picnic table working on this journal entry at 9:45 PM ... sun still fairly high in the sky ... Joanne is sitting beside the campfire giving herself a manicure.

Tuesday ;  Fort Simpson to Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park, NWT

Sunny and very warm, nice weather !  The horrendous horseflies persist.  And their bites hurt !  Bo continues to be ill, for the third day.  Time to seek veterinary help.

This morning we departed the Fort Simpson Territorial Park campground, drove around the 1987 papal visit site, and drove back into town to the Visitor Information Centre.  While I refilled the camper's freshwater tank Joanne went inside to find a veterinarian.  The nearest veterinarian is in Yellowknife, more than 625 km. / almost 400 miles away.  We phoned and made an appointment for Friday.  In the meantime, the veterinarian suggested an alternative to the Imodium clone medication we have been administering to Bo.  We drove to the Northern Store and bought Pepto-Bismol.  HMPH !  Our bill included a charge of twenty-five cents for the little bag that they put the tiny bottle in.  That kind of Northern Store rip-off is consistent with yesterday's experience.  The diesel fuel pump indicated my purchase was $120.00.  The register inside the store indicated $120.79.  No explanation could be given.  I asked to see a manager.  The "manager" was as unable to explain as was the counter clerk.  I advised the manager how it would be resolved.  He would hand me seventy-nine cents, and do it with a smile ... and
I would be on my way ! ! !  He handed me seventy-nine cents, but there was no smile !

We left Fort Simpson and drove back to the Liard River ferry crossing, crossed the river, and continued on the paved Fort Simpson access road back to the Mackenzie Highway.  We had lunch in a roadside rest area, then drove east on the gravel Mackenzie Highway to Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park.  We got settled into a campsite, then went for a hike to see the falls.  By the way ... how do we know we're still in Canada ?  Easy !  Our campsite is littered with Export A cigarette butts and Molson's beer bottle caps ! ! !

We walked through the campground and back to the highway.  The highway bridge is over the Sambaa Deh Falls on the Trout River.  I have been eagerly anticipating fishing here in the deep pools at the base of the falls, after reading about it.  The campground attendant advised me that to access the "fishing hole" one must rappel down the cliff face into the Trout River Gorge !  Yeah ... right !  Do I look like the kind of guy who rappels down vertical cliff faces into deep gorges ? ! ?

We viewed and photographed the falls.  Quite spectacular !  We returned to our campsite, and I lit a campfire to prepare dinner.  I grilled chicken thighs over the fire.  Excellent !  Bo seemed a little more perky this evening.  And he hasn't had a bout of diarrhea in ... < checking my watch > ... over seven hours !  That's a huge improvement over the last two days when he had to go every two hours !  Wish us luck !

I am typing this at 9:30 PM at the picnic table beside the campfire in our site.  The sun is at about the same level in the sky that it would be at around 4 PM at home.  Last night it didn't even darken to a dusk level !  Land of the midnight sun ! ! !

Wednesday ;  Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park to Chan Lake Territorial Park, NWT

Sunny and very warm.  The weather is much warmer than I had expected for this far north.  Bo seems to be improving.  That's a great relief for us !

This morning we departed Sambaa Deh campground and continued east on the gravel Mackenzie Highway.  We found out later in the day that a well maintained gravel road is much better than a poorly maintained asphalt road !  As we drove. every time we crossed a bridge over a creek or river that looked the least bit promising, we stopped and I fished briefly.  Red Knife River, Wallace Creek, Axe Handle Creek, and at the end of the day, Chan Lake, all produced nothing !  HMPH !  I can't catch fish in the Northwest Territories.

Late in the afternoon we reached the eastern end of the Mackenzie Highway, and we turned north on Hwy. 3 heading towards Yellowknife.  Our destination for today was Fort Providence, and the Territorial Park there.  When we arrived at the small Native ... sorry, First Nations ... village of Fort Providence, we tried unsuccessfully to refill with diesel fuel at two unattended, self-serve "cardlock" type service stations.  Couldn't get them to work !  We went into the Northern Store to buy a loaf of bread.  The store was being rearranged, and nothing was on the shelves, everything was on the floors, mostly in boxes.  We briefly considered buying a loaf of packaged bread, but thought better of it, and left without buying.  The Northern Store chain of grocery stores in northern Canada fails to impress us, and that includes the one we shopped at in Churchill, Manitoba almost two years ago when we were up there to view polar bears.  Each Northern Store that we shop at seems worse than the one before !

With a touch of disgust we left the village of Fort Providence and drove a short distance to Fort Providence Territorial Park, our campground destination for tonight.  It was about as impressive as the Northern Store !  We decided not to stay.  We considered both the village and campground of Fort Providence to be "write-offs".  We returned to the highway and refilled with diesel at a Shell station on the highway, then continued north on Hwy. 3 towards Yellowknife.

After about another hour on the road we stopped to boondock overnight at Chan Lake Territorial Park, a day use / picnic area park without a campground.  I fished for about an hour in beautiful Chan Lake while Joanne prepared supper.

Thursday ;  Chan Lake Territorial Park to Yellowknife, NWT

Mostly sunny and warm, a bit cool in the evening.

We have reached Yellowknife, our primary destination on this trip.  We travelled 2792 km. / 1745 miles from home to here.  That's further than home to Yuma, Arizona ! 
I have driven for eleven days in a row, and I'm tired !  And despite travelling a great distance on the gravel of the Liard Highway and Mackenzie Highway, the worst road conditions of the trip were the final 200 km. / 125 miles of "paved" road to Yellowknife today.

We slept a bit late this morning and didn't leave Chan Lake until about 11 AM.  We continued northbound on Hwy. 3 and just a few miles after leaving Chan Lake we encountered our first Wood Bison of the day.  A solitary male lying down beside the road.  We stopped and took pictures.  A short while later we came across a herd of Wood Bison, mostly cows with calves, but including a few males who were "protecting" the herd as they crossed the highway.  Joanne was not able to count the entire herd, as some had already crossed the road and gone into the forest, but she did count
twenty-seven that crossed the road in front of us.  WOW !  That seemed to make the entire trip so far worthwhile.  Later another large herd crossed the highway in front of us, but by the time we reached them they were all across and into the forest.  Our last Wood Bison encounter was another lone male standing beside the road.

The forest ... such as it is !  The trees became smaller and smaller as we drove further and further north.  There is a line marked on our map, not very far north of where we are, marked "northern limit of tree growth", a.k.a."the tree line" !

We stopped at Mosquito Creek so that I could fish.  I lasted about fifteen minutes.  There's a reason the Dene people named it Mosquito Creek !

We arrived at Fred Henne Territorial Park on the outskirts of Yellowknife about 5 PM.  It had taken us about six hours to drive about 230 km. / 145 miles.  The paved road was so rough that Emma puked !  All over her soft, fluffy, yellow baby blankie !  Poor
Emma !  We checked in then drove to the sani-dump station to dump our waste holding tanks and refill with freshwater before settling into our campsite.  We took Bo for a walk ... he now seems to be constipated ... < sigh > .... then went at 6:30 PM to an "Indigenous Culture" presentation at the campground's amphitheatre.  The presenter was a woman from Inuvik, NWT.  She's a member of the Gwichen tribe, an excellent seamstress, and an expert in Indigenous clothing history.  She told stories and exhibited Indigenous clothing, arts, and crafts.  AND ... had made bannock biscuits and an "herbal" tea made with some wild picked forest ingredients for the audience to eat and drink.  I had two cups of tea and two bannock biscuits.  Slathered with butter and raspberry jam.  And... say goodbye to supper's plan !  HA HA HA !  A member of the audience was a local man, a member of the Dene tribe, host of CBC Radio's Indigenous stories show called Trail's End.  He recorded the woman's presentation for his show, and he also told stories.  We were the only members of the small audience who were not from nearby.  And we comprised two thirds of the "white" audience.  The woman presented us with a lovely gift ; a copy of a book on Indigenous clothing history, published by the Museum Of Civilization in Ottawa.  She was a contributor to the book.  And another woman presented us with a small gift as well ; a small piece of fish scale art, like a picture painted with coloured fish scales, an Indigenous art form.

The presenter woman's two daughters were in the audience.  One was sewing a pair of beaded moose hide slippers.  The other one had just flown in from Calgary, where she now lives, so that she could attend this weekend's music festival.  We chatted with her about the music festival, and told her about attending last year's Edge Of The World music festival in Haida Gwaii.  When we told her about that festival's Saturday night main stage entertainer, Buffy Ste. Marie, she said ... "who ?".   HA HA HA ... we told her to ask her mother, which she did.  Her mother knew !

Friday ;  Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Sunny and warm, a bit windy and chilly in the evening.

First thing this morning Joanne walked Bo and ... HALLELUJAH ! ! !  First thing I did this morning was cancel this afternoon's veterinarian appointment.  Before leaving the campground to run errands in Yellowknife we dumped our grey tank and refilled our freshwater tank at the campground's sani-dump station, conveniently located in front of our campsite.  The sani-dump's proximity to this campsite is why I reserved it online long ago.

First stop in Yellowknife was, of course, Wal-Mart.  While Joanne shopped I went into McDonald's and used their free Wi-Fi to retrieve and send e-mails.  The grocery section of this small Wal-Mart wasn't great, so the next stop was the nearby large supermarket.  By the time we were finished grocery shopping it was time for lunch.  Joanne suggested we alter our plans to have supper at a local restaurant she had chosen, and go there for lunch instead.  Okay !  We headed to Old Town.

We found our way into Old Town and then found Bullock's Bistro, a "hole in the wall" shack with a reputation for outrageously good fish and chips meals.  Well ... the food was outrageously good !  And the prices were outrageously high !  But ... at least the outrageously high prices were mitigated by the outrageously good food.  Which is not always the case in expensive restaurants.  The outrageously high prices, and outrageously good food, were both incongruent with what a "dive" this place was.

We each had a small bowl of fish chowder ( $10 per small bowl ) made with local Whitefish caught in Great Slave Lake, a few feet from the restaurant, then shared a plate of fish and chips ( $40 ! ), made with pan fried Arctic Char.  OH ... WOW !  First time I've had Arctic Char.  Stupendous !  Seems to be a member of the salmon family. 
I tried to have Arctic Char in Churchill on my 61st birthday / Thanksgiving 2015, but the restaurant we were at in Churchill had run out of Arctic Char.  The pan fried Arctic Char was topped with a cilantro and lime and garlic pesto type sauce.  I'm salivating again as I type this.  The salad was served with a feta cheese and garlic dressing.  EVERYTHING in this tiny restaurant is fresh, home made, including the breads and rolls, even the ketchup !  DAMN ... I'm just about drooling on my shirt as I type this !  HA HA HA !

After lunch we explored around Old Town awhile, including checking out the government wharf, and Yellowknife's houseboats.  I went in search of a Yellowknife icon ... Ragged Ass Road.  Found it !  Not easy !  From Old Town we drove to downtown to the Visitor's Information Centre.  After finding it, and finding a nearby parking spot large enough to accommodate Lanoire & Elsie, we discovered that the Visitor Information Centre was relocated !  AW, **** that !  I wasn't motivated enough to find it AGAIN and find a parking spot AGAIN !

We drove to a laundromat that we had seen earlier in the day.  While Joanne started doing laundry I went off in search of a car wash large enough to accommodate Lanoire & Elsie.  The lower four feet of the truck and camper are coated with a thick layer of caked on gravel road grime.  And apparently it will remain there for some time to
come !  Both of Yellowknife's car washes were not large enough to allow Lanoire & Elsie through the door.  < sigh >  Both car washes had doors that were twelve feet high.  Lanoire & Elsie are twelve feet and three inches tall !  I returned to the laundromat and while I waited for Joanne to finish doing laundry I sharpened knives and tightened eyeglass screws.  And listened to CBC Radio's Trail's End show broadcast of the story we listened to last night at the campground.

On the way back to the campground we did a bit of exploring around the airport, which is very near to the campground.  We found Buffalo Airways, made famous by the TV show Ice Pilots NWT.  I took a photo of one of their famed DC-3's.  We found the Folk On The Rocks music festival site on the shoreline of Long Lake, across the highway from the airport.

We returned to the campground and drove slowly through all of it.  Much larger than we thought it was !  We delayed supper until late in the evening, and all we wanted was a very light supper.

< BURP > ... WOOO ... garlic !  Excuse me !

Saturday ;  Folk On The Rocks music festival, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Sunny and warm.  No bugs at the music festival site.  Mosquitoes in the campground when we returned about 11 PM.  Gee ... this lack of darkness is discombobulating !

We slept late this morning.  Got a late start to the day.  On the way out of the campground we emptied our waste holding tanks and refilled with freshwater.  We drove to Wal-Mart and while Joanne went inside to buy me some Calamine lotion I did some preventive maintenance on the truck.  I had a rough night.  Now ... a few days after all the horsefly bites ... all the insect bites have swollen and are itching me to death.  All night long I kept waking up, needing to scratch itchy bites.  To no avail !  No amount of scratching relieves the itchiness !  Hence the Calamine lotion.  Wish me luck tonight !

We arrived at the music festival site around 12:30 PM.  It's about 3 km. / 2 miles down the highway from the campground.  We found a good parking spot and had lunch in the camper before entering the music festival.  The Folk On The Rocks site was well designed and well set up, with three small stages, a stage in the beer gardens, and a large main stage.  We enjoyed a variety of music throughout the day, wandering from stage to stage.  We had supper in our camper.  And we left about 10:30 PM when the final act of the evening began on the main stage.  It was NOT to our liking.  Joanne has concluded that music festivals always put their best acts on second last.

Yellowknife observations ;  Lots of French Canadians in Yellowknife.  Poutine very popular !  Seems to be lots of LGBTQ community as well.  Cab drivers are all blacks from ... Nigeria ?  Ethiopia ?  Young women's fashions up here are ... well ... downright weird !  All the white girls were getting severely sun burned today.  Guess they don't get to wear skimpy summer clothing much up here.  HA HA HA !

DSK