DRIVING THE DEMPSTER HIGHWAY to INUVIK July 7-17, 2015

THE DREADED DEMPSTER  WASN'T SO BAD 

The information below was taken from public information about the Dempster Highway.  The one and only road that connects the Yukon Territory with the small cities beyon the Arctic Circle line in Canada's Northwest Territory. The information explain the Arctic and the indigenous people in clear, understandable explanations.  The two major episode stories The Mad Trapper, and The Lost Patrol are told over and over again in the area. 

The Dempster Highway

The Dempster Highway travels through mountains that have never seen a glacier... across rolling tundra where the great Porcupine Caribou Herd winters... along the trails used by native people and the Northwest Mounted Police... through the land of the Gwich'in People to the land of the Inuvialuit... until it reaches Inuvik - gateway to the Western Arctic. The Dempster is the only public highway in North America that crosses the Arctic Circle: beyond this point is a world that many have never seen.

Road to the ARCTIC CIRCLE  and Beyond

460 miles from the beginning point of the Dempster Highway lies INUVIK; the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one. Most destinations are reached by air although, in winter, an ice road connects Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Inuvik is the gateway to the Western Arctic; a land within reach, yet beyond belief. Two Yukon destinations are accessible from Inuvik. Herschel Island Territorial park is many things; an ancient meeting place for Inuvialuit travelling along the coast; an abandoned whaling station; and an excellent location to see Arctic wildlife.           (We checked on flying -too expensive and Herschel Island, too uncertain as a tourist could be stranded there more than a week- decided Inuvik was quite an accomplishment)

Northern Yukon National Park encompasses 10,000 square kilometres in the northern corner of the Yukon. The park is dedicated to wilderness preservation and the perpetuation of aboriginal lifestyles

Our Home Then

The Dempster Highway passes through a land of extremes. Yet, far from being an uninhabited wasteland, it has been home to humans since the end of the last ice age. Archaeologists have identified over 90 prehistoric sites along the Dempster. On the evidence of stone tool fragments found near Rock River and the North Fork Pass, prehistoric use of this area spans thousands of years. Bison and caribou were hunted by these early peoples and possibly, at the end of the ice age, mammoth and horse as well. Patterns of land use indicate a history of hunting that has continued virtually unchanged to the present day.

The first contact with Euro-Canadians was made in 1839 with Robert Bell of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In the early 1800s, three Athapaskan-speaking groups occupied the land: the Hän, centered around the Yukon River, the Tetlit Gwich’in on the upper Peel River and the Dagoo Gwich’in on the upper Porcupine River. Geographical and cultural boundaries were relatively fluid although there was a strong association with commonly used land. These people were great travellers, moving throughout the area along well-established trade and hunting routes. You are travelling one of them today.

 The Lost Patrol - One of Yukon’s greatest tragedies

Frances Fitzgerald first came to the Yukon as a 29 year-old North-West Mounted Police corporal with Inspector John Moodie’s 1897/98 exploration party. Moodie, Fitzgerald and three special constables were looking for an all-Canadian wagon road route from Edmonton, Alberta to the Klondike Gold Fields. The trip was long and arduous and not to be recommended - although many stampeders tried.

In 1903, after a post was established at Fort McPherson on the Peel River, Sergeant Fitzgerald organized a patrol to Herschel Island and established a post there. Annual patrols to Fort McPherson and on to Herschel Island started the next year and Fitzgerald traveled on the second patrol in 1905.

On December 10th, 1910, North-West Mounted Police Inspector Frances Fitzgerald and three companions departed Fort McPherson for Dawson City - a distance of 465 miles. They never arrived. A search party, led by Corporal Dempster and guided by Charley Stewart, found their bodies in March 1911. An investigation determined that Fitzgerald’s party perished due to a shortage of supplies, bad weather, sparse game and the lack of an experienced guide.

After this tragedy, the Mounties put rest cabins and supply caches along the route from Dawson to Fort McPherson and between Fort McPherson and Herschel Island. All subsequent patrols were led by an experienced native guide and hunter.

 

 The Arctic Circle

You have reached the Arctic Circle, an imaginary line around our planet at 66° 33’ north latitude. It marks the southern limits of the Arctic, Land of the Midnight Sun. The “line” is actually the edge of a band of 24-hour sunlight that stretches from the North Pole to here at midnight on June 21, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Six months later, on the shortest day, it is the edge of a huge shadow that blankets the Arctic. On June 21, you would not see the sun set here: on December 21, you would not see it rise.

Defined by the Sun

The main physical characteristics of the Arctic are the extreme differences between the seasons, and the low levels of solar energy. Because of the Earth’s curve, sunlight strikes the Arctic at a different angle than nearer the equator and the energy within those rays is spread over a larger area. This lowers the amount of available heat. Solar energy is also lost when rays bounce off of the atmosphere and still more is absorbed by the greater distance it must travel through the atmosphere. When the ground is covered with snow and ice – a highly reflective surface – up to 80% of the solar energy is reflected back into space. If it were not for warmth redistributed from other part of the Earth by air movements and ocean currents, Arctic winters would be even colder than they are now. By summer, however, as much solar energy is received in one 24-hour sunlight period as is received at the equator during its 12-hour day. Plant growth is greatly enhanced during the brief arctic summer.

In the far north, on days in which the sun rises and sets, it does so at a shallow angle to the horizon. This makes for long periods of dawn and dusk, resulting in summer days that appear to be longer than winter nights. Summer visitors to sub-arctic destinations like Anchorage, Whitehorse, and Yellowknife delight in the experience known as white nights, when it is possible to read at midnight by natural light.

Mad Trapper of Rat River

Complaints to Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Aklavik, NWT in December 1931 started a seven-week series of events that resulted in the wounding of two men and the deaths of two more. The man who became known as the Mad Trapper arrived in the north as early as 1927 and identified himself at different times as Arthur Nelson and Albert Johnson. He kept to himself and was less than friendly to his neighbours who eventually accused him of raiding a trap line. The police investigated the accusation on December 26, 1931 and made two attempts to get Johnson to give himself up. In the last attempt, Johnson fired shots through the walls of his cabin and wounded Constable A. W. King. Dynamite was used to blow Johnson’s cabin apart but he continued to shoot until the posse retreated.

Johnson fled from his cabin site on the Rat River and a fresh group of officers and volunteers took up the chase through extreme weather. Johnson evaded the police by walking on bare ice and also by putting his snowshoes on backwards to confuse them. When the posse caught up to Johnson, gun fire was exchanged and Constable Edgar Millen was killed. The RCMP called for more volunteers and a plane was added to the search. The pilot, Wilfred “Wop” May, located Johnson on the frozen Eagle River on February 17, 1932. Shots were fired from both sides resulting in the wounding of Staff Sergeant H. F. Hersey and the death of the Mad Trapper. The Mad Trapper died on the Eagle River, 50 downstream from the Arctic Circle.

“Canada’s Ultimate Cold Case”

Although the Mad Trapper was caught and killed, it was never proved that he actually raided his neighbour’s trap line and his identity remains a mystery. The pursuit of the Mad Trapper was dramatic and intense. The story was picked up by radio broadcasters who nicknamed Johnson “The Mad Trapper”. North American listeners sat by their radios hoping to pick up the latest installment in the true-life adventure. It became even more interesting when, for the first time, the Canadian government approved the use of a plane in the pursuit of a criminal. The main players in this story were, or became, legendary and this added to the drama of the chase. Johnson’s tremendous feats of strength and endurance were highlighted by the stormy and extremely cold weather. The radio broadcasters claimed that “the Mounties always get their man” and “Wop” May was a famous World War I pilot.

Please enjoy some pictures along the Dempster Dan and I explored.

Our first stop was  70 miles North driving the Dempster Highway to Tombstone National Park

Most of this part was paved.

Grouse on the road

Spectacular park and great camping spot.  Dan was at his birding best.  With the suggestions of a ranger we found a Surf bird , a bird that has a huge travel migration to get to its breeding area in the Arctic.

Dan and I spent  three days in the park on the way up and looked forward to stopping again on our return trip.  We spent time birdwatching, animal watching and soaking in some of the Gwichin culture.

This woman, a member of thr Porcupine Caribou tribe, took us on a night walk through the park.  We started our hike at 7:00pm but had plenty of daylight when we returned at 10:00pm

A family on the night walk.  The man spotted a wolf that we were able to get a glimpse of down below us on the pebbled river bank. 

Somewhere in this photo..

Remember I took these photos about 8:00 pm!

Sign at the beginning after we left Dawson City Yukon Territory

Eagle- the halfway point.  We arrived there, 215miles- the only stop after beginning the Dempster where fuel was available.  We made it.  We bought dinner, and took a night in the campground before the second ferry on the way to Inuvik. 

Campground Back at the campground we saw a couple who couldn't cross on the ferry also- but did not have the travel time to wait-so back down the Dempster they went.

Road- but also airstrip.  Says Be Careful-Watch for planes.

Arriving in Northwest Territory

This large RV pulled by a Peterbuilt truck told us their machine's slide-outs were so mud encrusted they had to stay in Eagle until they could wash it as they couldn't use the inside area.

We arrived at the ferry to find the water was full of logs and too high to cross that day-----so 75 miles back to Eagle we go.  In the morning we could cross. Trucks are intimidating but it is their road!  They need to bring supplies and carry goods.  We just want to drive the road.  But see a wolf ahead? The animal on right side of the road is a wolf.  We are close to the second ferry now. NWT is Canada's Northwest Territory.  Pretty far North. This is our two week old trailer! Jagar flying A Yagur on the road eating a lemmong, in a few moments. Look what is happening with sunise and sunset.  We have plenty of time to arrive in Inuvik. Next is the McPherson Ferry.  In the winter which starts by Sept. the two ferries do not work.  Trucks and cars and snowmobiles ride right on the river.  Ice Road Trucker show is filmed up here.