September 14th

B - reporting

We were up reasonably early and quite* excited about heading north to the Arctic! After a quick wander round town, half of which is now closed for the season, we grabbed coffee and muffins and headed north! Then, came back into town to buy gas. Then, headed North!!

The Dempster Highway turnoff is about 40 km out of Dawson City, and even though it was quite overcast everything was new and interesting. The highway is gravel, so G decreased the tire pressure and we set off. We had booked a hotel (well, the only hotel) halfway along the highway so we knew we could take our time and not worry about accommodation.

It was  a lovely drive, despite the clouds. Quite hilly, even mountain-y, with a lot of snow on the mountains but none on the road. The road was not at all busy, and we stopped many times to take in the vistas and photos. We lunched at Two Moose Lake**, were we didn't see moose but did see two beavers busily swimming around.

We arrived at the Eagle Plains Hotel about 7pm. Surprisingly, it was not on a plain, but on top of a mountain pass, with snow-covered roof and muddy parking lot. You have to leave your shoes in the vestibule, fair enough as by now everyone was pretty mud-encrusted. The room was warm, and we had a late beer o'clock and then tuna sarnies in the room.

*well, ridiculously
** cheese sarnies

The Start!

Tombstone Mtn Park

Home in the wilderness