The Dempster, Day 1

After our meeting with Sergio we pressed on. Soon the road started up into more mountains and we knew we were in for an amazing drive. The sun struggled through the clowds and blowing snow for most of the day, but eventually came through in the afternoon. The trees got smaller and smaller as we progressed, and the tree line dropped lower and lower. Any rise at all and the trees would disappear, only the occasional shrub.

 

  

 

We stopped for lunch at what must be a summer camp grounds, the boys hut provided a perfect shelter from the constant wind. We cooked up some curry and had it on tortilla shells, delicious! The temperature had dropped to 25 below, and the wind chill was making things a bit more difficult. We decided it was time to cover the grill of the Jeep so we took out a bit of welding blanket we'd taken for this purpose, cut out two headlight holes, and secured it under the hood.

 On we went. The mountains didn't end. We drove through valleys, along streams, cliffs, and avalanch areas. The peaks were pure white, and made an erie backdrop as they all but disappeared into the overcast sky.

Again we climbed into the mountains, only this time there was no protection from surrounding peeks and the wind howled across the road. Snow drifts cut across the road and would explode in the rear view mirrors as we drove through them. We passed the snow plow stopped on the side of the road, men working on it in the bitter cold. On we forged.

Gas light. Shoot. We drove on through the worst of it, but eventually we had to stop. We donned our parkas, ski pants, and goggles and managed to fill up in record time. After that we were out of the  mountains and into the hills, where a forest of stubby snow covered trees grew, no higher than six feet tall.

With Pete fast asleep in the passenger seat, we crested another hill and arrived at Eagle Plains, a small service station, hotel, bar, lodge, etc built by the government for 3.5 million dollars back in '79. Not sure if we would camp or not, we went inside to inquire. Straight into the bar we walked, saw the Canada vs. Russia hockey game on tv, and promptly ordered a beer and dinner and watched the game. Needless to say we got ourselves a hotel room that night and had a fitful sleep!