When you’re about to drive more than 800 km (500 miles) of gravel road with your expedition Jeep to reach the Arctic Ocean, let’s just say it smells like pure adventure! A road to the ends of the earth, the Dempster Highway connects the town of Dawson City to Inuvik over 734 km (456 miles). It crosses two Canadian provinces, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, and even passes through the Arctic Circle! Beyond Inuvik, a new road built in 2017 allows you to drive an additional 140 km (90 miles) to reach the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean! Our wildest dream. So, are you ready for a road trip on the Dempster Highway with a Jeep?
Saturday, July 9, 2022
A legendary route for all travelers, the Dempster Highway is both admired and feared. Since we started our journey across Canada, we have heard a lot about this road. The main thing being that we’ll be completely on our own. On the Dempster, there’s no mobile service. No towing, no emergency services. Very few gas stations. Trucks speeding past. Extreme dust conditions causing terrible visibility. A bumpy road where anything can happen. Stories of travelers’ misadventures haunt our minds. So, when we leave the pavement behind for more than 800 kilometers of gravel, we are filled with both excitement and caution. Jeepy, we’re counting on you, don’t let us down! 🤘
The first few kilometers are nerve-wracking. When a truck approaches, we pull over. When a car comes, we slow down. If no one’s around, we drive in the middle. The Dempster’s shoulders are known to be steep, ending up in the ditch is not an option. We drive with headlights and fog lights on. We have deflated the tires, remembering that last summer, before setting off on our Pan-American road trip, a tiny rock destroyed our Jeep on a much less rough road than this one. Little by little, we settle into the drive and start to admire the scenery.
After 80 kilometers, we pull over for our first night on the Dempster. As expected, the mosquitoes show up, but the situation is manageable. We pitch the tent and sleep by the river, lulled by the sound of the water.
Sunday, July 10
Jeepy speeds along the road in a cloud of dust. There’s hardly anyone, just a few cars from time to time, a few (very brave) cyclists, and a caribou around a bend. The vastness and beauty of the landscapes unfolding with each kilometer leave us speechless.
By late afternoon, after about 300 kilometers, we make a stop at Eagle Plains to refuel. Aside from the gas station, there’s a campground and a motel. The motel dates back to the road’s construction in 1978, and not much has changed since, certainly not the carpet on the floor. Yet the price for a room is $225, with an extra charge… for the second person! Insane. Shower? $10 per person! No thanks. We drive a few more kilometers to find a “room with a view” by the river. Apparently, a pack of wolves has also made this place their home. We enjoy a wonderfully warm outdoor shower, what a treat!
At midnight, despite the fatigue and swarms of mosquitoes, we step outside to witness the midnight sun. A magical and emotional moment… the first of many on this road.
Monday, July 11
Today is a big day: after nearly two months of travel from Montreal and over 400 km on the Dempster, we have breakfast at the Arctic Circle! It feels unreal. PS: It’s 19°C that day on the Arctic Circle. Not so bad! We meet up again Juliette and Simon, Quebecers we met yesterday at Eagle Plains, whom we will cross paths a few more times along the road! Cheers, friends!
A few kilometers later, we cross another milestone on the road: we leave the Yukon and enter a new Canadian province: the Northwest Territories. A wild place where few travelers venture.
In this remote province, the tundra reigns supreme: a desert-like and inhospitable landscape swept by glacial winds. Hard to imagine what it must be like in the heart of winter! Definitely not a good place to break down. The road winds through this endless expanse. We scan the horizon which stretches as far as the eye can see, hoping to spot a grizzly, a moose, a caribou, any sign of life. But no luck.
After several hours of driving, we stop at Fort McPherson for a picnic and to refuel: on the Dempster, never skip a gas stop! This small town of 900 people has a few houses, a grocery store, and a gas station. With its old buildings and dusty roads, it’s not exactly welcoming. Imagine what it’s like in winter! Two short, free, on-demand ferries take us across the Mackenzie River and then the Peel River.
Then it’s back on the road for more long hours. An endless straight line of 150 km leads us to Inuvik, where, surprise, the road is paved! What a joy to drive on smooth asphalt. It’s like taking off ski boots after a day on the slopes 😂 Inuvik is the largest Canadian settlement north of the Arctic Circle. The average annual temperature? -8°C 😲 With 3,500 residents, there’s a church, a bank, a grocery store, and even an aquatic center, where we take a nearly warm shower. At least we’re no longer dusty!
We happen to arrive in Inuvik during the Great Northern Arts Festival, the world’s longest polar festival (ten days). We take the opportunity to enjoy the evening’s entertainment: a show about the Arctic sports of the indigenous peoples… Oh wait, it’s canceled. The person who was supposed to lead the show didn’t show up 😅 Well, it’s 9 p.m. Should we go to bed? Nope! On a whim, we decide to drive to Tuktoyaktuk. Why not, after all? Here, the day never ends, so we won’t be driving at night! Off we go for over two hours on a rough road, with a thick fog setting in.
We arrive in Tuktoyaktuk (pronounced Tuk-tu-yaaq-tuuq), or just “Tuk,” at midnight. Despite the late hour, the village is lively: a baseball game is going strong and kids are riding their bikes in the street. Everyone makes the most of these long summer days. Here, we are far from the picturesque little fishing village. Everything is raw, authentic, and unfiltered. This Inuvialuit (Inuit) hamlet is home to 900 people. In the Inuvialuit language, Tuktoyaktuk means “resembling a caribou.”
Tuk has been only welcoming travelers since 2017, when the final section of road was built. Given the journey it takes to get here, visitors are still rare. Before the road was built, Tuk was only accessible by car in winter thanks to the ice road. For now, the village relies mainly on fishing (especially beluga), hunting, and trapping. We learn at the tourist office, a temporary bungalow while a real building is being constructed, that the music group Metallica once played a concert here a few years ago! Pretty cool.
It was 37°C (98°F) just a few days ago. But we’re too late: today, a thick fog has fallen over the village, and it’s freezing cold! We settle in and spend a quiet night facing the Arctic Ocean.
Tuesday, July 12
We wake up early, facing the Arctic Ocean. Wow! That alone gives us chills. And not just because of the weather! Well, okay, a little from that too. No miracle this morning: the fog is still thick, and the wind is icy. But we’re overjoyed to pose in front of the famous sign and immortalize this magical moment. We are facing the Arctic Ocean, and we got here by car! 😎✌️ We drove the entire Dempster Highway with our Jeep, starting from Montreal!
Braving the cold and wind, we take a walk around the hamlet. The main attraction is the schooner Our Lady of Lourdes. For over 20 years (in the 1930s and 40s), it served as a supply ship for Catholic missions between Tuk and the neighboring province of Nunavut. We were also told to try the local food at Grandma’s Kitchen (the only restaurant), but we’re greeted with hot dogs, pizza, and burgers at sky-high prices. The only local dish? Beluga. It hurts our hearts to eat whale, so we pass and prefer to stroll through the streets to soak up the authentic atmosphere.
But it’s impossible to leave Tuk without having dipped our hands in the Arctic Ocean. We would have loved to swim in it, but today, that’s guaranteed hypothermia! No regrets though, as we’ll get our revenge when we swim in the Southern Ocean near Ushuaia at the end of our Pan-American road trip, and again in Alaska’s Arctic Ocean at the end of the Dalton Highway on our way back!
We leave Tuk in the afternoon to return to Inuvik, hoping to find some warmth and less wind. But first, we refuel the Jeep, running out of gas out here is not an option! Fuel is insanely expensive, so we empty one of our reserve tanks.
No luck with the warmth; it’s just as cold in Inuvik. Besides, the evening concert, part of the festival, has been moved indoors to the hockey stadium. We attend the concert of a local group: the Beluga Boys.
Wednesday, July 13
Now that we’ve reached the ends of the earth… it’s time to go back! A long drive awaits us as we retrace our steps down the Dempster Highway. Fog, rain, sun, dust, wildlife, endless scenery, and breathtaking landscapes: today we cover more than 500 km (300 miles), quite a feat considering we average 80 km/h. In the late afternoon, a dark cloud looms on the horizon. We can feel a storm coming! Worse still: a real hailstorm hits us! Fortunately, it passes in 5 minutes.
For our last night on the Dempster Highway, we bivouac in a riverbed. It’s cool, and this coolness has a big advantage: no mosquitoes (or almost)!
Thursday, July 14
The final kilometers of the Dempster Highway. We stop for a short hike in Tombstone Territorial Park to stretch our legs after days on the road.
The end of an adventure! Suddenly, the dusty gravel gives way to smooth pavement. Wow! Back to civilization. It feels like returning from another world. So many emotions knowing this long-awaited journey is coming to an end. We did it! We drove the entire Dempster Highway in our expedition Jeep and dipped a hand into the Arctic Ocean. Pure happiness! We are proud and beyond thrilled with what we have accomplished. And Jeepy definitely needs a good wash! 😆
Mission accomplished in Canada. Now, it’s time to move on to the next part of our journey, which promises to be just as incredible. In one word: Alaska.
