New Territories (NWT)

 

9/1/25:  Labor Day.  KM 160 - KM 479.

“Live A Good Story” - Bumper Sticker in Nevada

We departed our spot promptly at 0900 and continued our trek to the Arctic.  The road conditions were okay for gravel.  It started sprinkling rain and it continued for hours.  We passed Engineer Creek which is hot spring fed and is always orange due to all the iron and sulphur in it.  There was also a spring close to the road that really stunk and was an off blue color.  In our first half hour of travel, Katy said she was going to “will” seeing a grizzly today.  I also talked to a trucker at a rest stop who told me the road is really bad from KM 270 to KM 370.  After that he said it’s smooth sailing and in the Northwest Territories, it’s a highway.  

At KM 266, I spotted a big bear about 300 yards off the road in the open.  We pulled over to check him out.  It was a big boar interior Grizzly eating berries before hibernation.  He only looked up at us a few times.  A Yukon DOT employee stopped to see if we were okay and we told her everything was good and mentioned the bear.  She pulled over and we let her use our binos.  She was really nice and warned us about the upcoming road.  The Grizz eventually tired of our presence and sauntered over the hill and out of sight.  Two trips to AK and this was our first Grizz!  Another summer checklist win.  

The warnings about the road were correct, this next stretch was so rough.  60 miles with a top speed of 20.  We also had to stop to inflate our rear driver side tire which sprung a leak.  I never realized how hard it would be to plug a 10ply tire, I wasn’t successful. I have a better idea for next time.  Luckily we only had to stop twice.  Air it up to 75psi and refill at 45.  We rolled into Eagle Plains Hotel and Services at 48psi.  They patched the tire for $63CAD and the diesel was $2.49/liter.  The fill up was $179.  

The consensus was to press on until 6pm or so.  Our next big milestone was at KM 405.  The Arctic Circle, 66.33* north!  We didn’t do it in Alaska last year because of road conditions, another check off the list.  We took some pictures and chatted with some other travelers and took off.  There were quite a few rigs parked there, some of them are traveling from Alaska to Argentina…what a trek.  

At KM 465, we crossed into the Northwest Territories (NWT).  We stopped and took some pictures again and opened the trailer to check on things.  The bathroom door was on the floor as two of the three hinges broke.  It’s a heavy door for a travel trailer.  I put the door on the bed and we continued on.  The wind up here in the Arctic with the rolling hills and few trees is no joke.  The NWT border is high up on a pass and the wind had to be gusting to 50.  We drove another 13ish KM and parked in a lower area.  We did some “repairs” and are compiling quite a collection of screws.  Our new bathroom door is our shower curtain with some gorilla clips.  It’s now about 10:30pm local time and the high winds have made it down the hill.  It is clearing up, maybe it’s high pressure moving in.  The sunset is also stunning, we both went out into the wind to check it out.  Lots of photos…you know me…. The landscape and fall colors did not disappoint again today.