Up to the Arctic and back down the Dempster

 July 22^nd – Goodbye Whitehorse

We woke up next to a small lake near a quarry.  The night previous we had tried to go to a territorial campsite in Whitehorse but alas it was fully booked so we looked at our favourite app, iOverlander and shared a sweet spot with some Quebecers.

As some may or may not know Kendra and I had a goal to visit every legislature in Canada and even though we had been to Whitehorse before we had not done the Yukon Legislature so we had to stop in.  Fun facts we learned: #1 Canada was pretty belittling to the territories, acting like they were too stupid to govern themselves.  #2 The Yukon territory is known as “the Yukon”.  They officially changed their name in 2003 from Yukon Territory to The Yukon.  #3 There are more moose than people in the Yukon.

From there we jumped on the Klondike highway towards Mayo, YT.  One of Paul’s co-workers had recommended checking out Keno City, YT (just outside of Mayo) so we drove the highway until we hit the territorial campsite close to Mayo where we relaxed and sat with a drink in our hands and our feet in Five Mile Lake.

 

July 23^rd – Hello Keno City

After a quick breakfast, we drove to Keno City then the farrowing 11 kms up to the Signpost lookout to look out at the various mountains in the area.  This was an amazing lookout that offered great short hikes to mountain summits within the area.  We choose to do Monument Hill (trust us, it’s a MOUNTAIN), which offered views for days.  It was a pretty short completely uphill 2km walk but so worth it.  If anyone is wondering if they should visit Keno, YT, it gets a big thumbs up from us. Please note that Keno City is literally The End of the Road for the Silver Trail so you will have to drive back on the same bumpy (but paved) road you took to get there. 

After sitting and enjoying the views we headed down to Keno City and learned some local history then headed forward towards the Dempster Highway. A fun fact that we learned in Mayo when we did a quick stop for some snacks and drinks was that the government liquor store was located in the building that housed numerous government organizations… how convenient for those Government employees, other provinces may need to take note.

 As the Dempster had been the highway and part of the trip that we were most concerned about we decided to start it that evening. By the time we turned off the highway it was already 7pm. So, we only went as far as the trailhead of Grizzly Lake, the most famous hike in Tombstone Territorial Park, a hike Paul was dead set to tackle the following day. Unfortunately, there was one thing standing in our way from a good dinner and good sleep, you guessed it MOSQUITOS!!!

The second Paul opened the van to start cooking dinner the mosquitos from miles around must have smelled their own dinner cooking in the evening sun, US!  Paul, the hero of the day, cooked while being eaten alive by mosquitos while Kendra sat in the van installing a newly purchased mosquito net that we can use when we sleep.  Another fun fact is that we had been searching for mosquito nets in every location we stopped at after the Nisga’a/Nass Valley incident, yet everywhere was sold out, except Whitehorse, so we picked a double-wide two-person camping/sleeping mosquito net.  One of the best $26.99 we have ever spent!

That night we used it and it was good!

 

July 24^th – We need a shower!!!

Even with the mosquito net neither of us slept well.  Paul was fearful of what the next few days would bring on the Dempster and Kendra was fearful of the hike that was ahead of us. One of these fears would be quelled by the end of the day. 

We ate and packed some water and Rupert’s backpack for our hike.  There were lots of people doing this hike so we were confident we would get to the viewpoint without any issues. 

The hike started gradually with a muddy forest section with our good friends, the mosquitos, then it got progressively steeper.  We had planned to only go 3kms on the trail to a viewpoint, but as there was no sign that we arrived at the viewpoint we ended up hiking until our legs were starting to shake and our water bottles were (almost) empty.  At the end of it we had reached Grizzley ridge and were looking down on Grizzly Lake and Monolith Mountain.  It was beautiful, definitely worth it as we write this, but at the time we were DONE. Rupert was also done so he was placed in his backpack and Paul carried him down the mountain (Kendra pulled her own weight by helping Paul carry down the nearly empty water bottles).  By the time we got back to the van one thing was obvious, we needed snacks and a shower. The snacks/food situation was easily solved but we had travelled too many days without a shower and the physical exertion from the hike had meant we needed to travel the next section of the Dempster with the windows down. 

We arrived to Eagle Plains (population 9) just after 8pm.  We decided to stay at the campground there as they had showers.  Although the showers left a lot to be desired (due to black mold, lack of water pressure and general dirt) it felt like the best shower money could buy. *The campsite costs $30 or it would have cost $10/person/shower, so paying the price and spending the night was justified.

Eagle Plains has a bar that has an interesting history.  The bar, (which originated in Whitehorse) had changed hands a few times in highs stakes poker games and was shipped up to Eagle Plains at some point in the 1970s.  The bar itself was full of the heads of big game and pictures of the Mad Trapper of Rat River taken after his death.  It’s an odd feeling to be greeted by a picture of a smiling dead person as you enter the bar, but it is acceptable to be greeted by smiling moose and deer, so we guess it’s okay.

10/10 would recommend! *Eagle Plains is 367 kms up the Dempster highway so be prepared to pay $10 for a beer when you visit (that’s for a 355ml can)

 

July 25^th – Into the Arctic

We woke up excited, today we were to cross the Arctic Circle, enter the NWT, take a couple ferries and enter Inuvik, so that is exactly what we did.

Stopping at the Arctic Circle rest area was a highlight, knowing we were close to our Northern terminus and it was fun to take a bunch of silly pictures. We were also prepared with our Official Documentation from the Yukon Government that we crossed the Arctic Circle (thanks to the Eagle Plains “hotel/bar/shower facilities/gas station/campground/mechanic shop” for having these printed off and available- don’t forget to grab yours when you venture this way).

The Peel River ferry crossing was also a…memory.  A bit rough, a bit worrisome that we would get stuck but Bearry the Van did great. We did get to watch a semi-truck attempt to get on the ferry, get stuck, then asked to back up and get a bit of a running start to not get hung up on the ferry ramps, and then asked not to go on “this ferry”.  Maybe the next time they make landfall they will be able to accommodate his truck and trailer. The Mackenzie River crossing further up the Dempster was uneventful but it truly was amazing to see the Arctic Red River and the Mackenzie River combining into one navigational route.

Before we knew it, we were turning the corner into Inuvik a “cool” city with modern amenities.  It was definitely not what we expected when we entered a city with everything we needed, including paved roads (the Dempster is 880 kms long with one paved section [Inuvik] the rest is all gravel similar to a forestry road).

We stayed at the Happy Valley Territorial Campground which has probably been the worst campground we have stayed at, lots of negative aspects but not that interesting thing to say about it.

We went to sleep giddy about the next day, tomorrow we would see the Arctic Ocean!

 

July 26^th – The End of the Northern Section of our trip

The newest portion of the Dempster highway is Highway 10 in the Northwest Territories, a highway completed in November 2017 meaning this is only the 3^rd summer this highway to the Arctic Ocean has been open to the public (the Northwest Territories was closed to visitors for the last two years due to COVID).

The road was rough, probably the most difficult section of the Dempster, but that could not stop our excitement.  As we pulled into the community of Tuktoyaktuk it was hard not to speed to the Arctic Ocean sign.

Our first stop at the tourist information center provided us with a lot of good information about the area, a must-stop for any traveller going to the area.  They also sold camping permits for the municipal camping “area”; calling it a campground may be a bit of a stretch, but we appreciate the effort.  Although the price was a bit steep ($60 +tax- no services except porta-pottys), we could pass out going to sleep (and waking up) beside the Arctic Ocean. 

We claimed our spot (Campsite #1, since we are #1, we’re also very humble) and Paul put on his swim trunks because he was ready to go and wanted to submerge himself in the Arctic Ocean.  Kendra decided to put her toe in the water since that’s the minimum requirement for the “official paperwork”.

After a quick dip, we opened some bubbly and enjoyed a relaxing evening eating some dry fish, some beluga muktuk and watching the waves crash upon the shore.

 

July 27^th – Turning the compass around

We woke up knowing that today we would be changing the general direction of travel, we had spent the last three weeks travelling north, but we had come to the end of the northern section of the trip, today, we started heading south.

Before we left the campground Paul had convinced Kendra put her bathing suit on and submerge herself in the Arctic Ocean so Paul once again put on his bathing suit and together, we did a polar dip!

After completing the dip and preparing breakfast we were approached by the local law enforcement.  This is only the second time we have had to engage with the RCMP.  The first was at 11 am in Stewart going through a check stop to make sure we hadn’t consumed any alcohol at that point in time on a Monday morning. This time there has been some vandalism at the local church and they were wondering if we had heard anything.  We had an extremely pleasant conversation with the RCMP officer and he was on his merry way (although we forgot to ask about the Tuktoyaktuk RCMP hats- but don’t make the same mistake we did when you visit the Arctic Ocean)

We spent the morning exploring Tuktoyaktuk and buying some cheap beef jerky.  We purchased 2 bags of it but we were stuffed after eating half a bag.  We purchased some awesome souvenirs, got one last certificate saying we drove from Inuvik to Tuk, then headed back to Inuvik for the night.

We decided to spend the night at Jak Territorial campground in Inuvik, which was WAY better than Happy Valley, we also decided to celebrate the end of our Northern route by heading to Alestine’s a local must-go restaurant in Inuvik.  They were packed so the owner asked if we would be willing to sit at a communal table, we obliged and it was the best decision we could have made.  We, along with 4 others, sat at the communal table where we ended up spending a couple hours swapping stories and laughing.  Unfortunately, we never asked each other’s names, but we had a woman who was a para-legal for an insurance company from Mississauga who had ditched her tour company to try some local cuisine, two geologists, one from Victoria BC and one from Whitehorse YK doing some surveying in the area who arrived in the area by helicopter and a man from Omaha NE (USA) who had BIKED (yes, a two-wheeled human-powered pedal bike) from Whitehorse to Inuvik and had 4 more days ahead of him until he reached Tuktoyaktuk.

After a great night out (and closing down the restaurant) we ventured back to the van to learn Rupert had chewed his way through the mosquito netting, climbing onto the pantry storage area of our van and ATE THE 1.5 BAGS OF BEEF JERKY (Costco Sized Bags)!!! (Remember these are bags that half of a bag filled up Kendra and I) and Rupert then proceeded to throw up all over our bed.

Further to our luck, Paul got to take Rupert outside every few hours to defecate a very dark pudding texture.  It was a great night…this is just a friendly reminder that we truly are humble people.

July 28^th – A Day of driving

We left Inuvik pretty early and made our way down the Dempster towards Eagle Plains.  One stop we did make was at the Western Arctic Visitors Information centre as they have “Dempster mail” there where they ask if anyone would be so kind to drive packages from Inuvik to spots (or people) traveling up the Dempster.  Sadly, there was nothing to take so we drove towards the Yukon. *You can also get some more “official paperwork” about crossing the Arctic Circle at this visitor information centre, only this time it is from the NWT government.

For reasons that are hard to explain this was a great day with optimism for the road ahead and a great lunch spot it Tsiigehtchic watching the ferry move people (and three wide loads) from one side of the Mackenzie or Arctic Red River to the other.

Our campsite was a free, and quiet spot just off the highway that was a perfect spot to have a night relaxing while watching Schitt’s Creek.

 

July 29^th – The return to Tombstone

  We left the campsite and drove the ~350 kms back to Tombstone Territorial Park.  Although the hike to the Grizzly Ridge was strenuous, the area was beautiful so we wanted to do another hike.  After stopping in visitor information, we selected the Goldensides hike, a roughly 6 km return hike that was supposed to be pretty easy.  Thankfully it was and we enjoyed amazing views of the Goldensides Mountain.

We spent the night in the territorial campground near the trailhead cleaning the van out (as it was full of dust from the long days on the Dempster highway) and relaxing with a good book.

The nice thing about Yukon territorial campgrounds is there is free firewood so we enjoyed a nice warm fire until dusk hit the valley around 12 am.

 

July 30^th – Our final certificate

We left Tombstone oddly glum about the end of our Dempster time, we had spent 7 nights on the Dempster and had become used to its gravel roads, dusty air, and amazing views.  We felt that way until we did another 30 kms and remembered that we were ready to drive on pavement again.

The last 70 kms of the Dempster flew by and as we entered pavement, we could not stop thinking about the last 1760 kms of gravel road (880 kms one way) from the Klondike highway to Tuktoyaktuk.  It had been an adventure and we were so glad we had done it. We couldn’t imagine doing it any faster and recommend anyone who has good tires to drive the whole thing (we had 10ply tires 0 flats!).

We travelled on the smooth pavement to Dawson City, a city reminiscent of the days of the goldrush.  We found a camping spot at the territorial campground and walked into the city to explore; however, some of the most entertaining things to do in Dawson is watching tourists take their big motorhomes on the ferry between Dawson City and West Dawson.  We sat and watched as a motorhome from New Jersey damage its front end and a campervan with a heavy rear-end/hitch-mounted box weighing it down got stuck returning to Dawson City.  It was amazing to see all the old white men up out of their cars to “help” the situation by telling the people running the ferry what should be done.  Most of their ideas didn’t work, so we may have cracked into a bottle while we waited to see what would happen next. *We had walked from the campground to Dawson City and were walk-on passengers, so there’s no reason to be judgemental. Don’t worry Mom, we’re making good life choices!

Dawson City was great, we went from store to store looking at the interesting things to buy.

The best decision we had was to sit on a patio order some drinks and people watch for a couple hours and decompress from our Dempster adventure.

Our favourite moment of the day was going into the NWT Dempster Highway Visitors Information Center in Dawson City, we didn’t know it existed when we started the Dempster, but that may be been for the best.  When we went in the woman in charge of the centre asked us if we had plans to go up the Dempster.  After telling her we had and sharing some stories she printed off a certificate stating we had completed the Dempster.  She read every line of the certificate which such excitement and pride it gave us goosebumps.  It was awesome.

Throughout our time on the Dempster, we received many certificates, one for crossing the Arctic Circle, another for getting to Tuktoyaktuk and one for dipping our toe (or body) into the ocean, but this one, with the enthusiasm, offered and the exuberance that truly highlighted the spirit of our adventure, was by far our favourite! 

Why? Part 2

 Another “why” we’ve been asked is “Why live in a mini van?”. We initially bought Bearry, our van in 2018, to become weekend warriors for car camping. The Dodge Grand Caravan was a definite upgrade from tenting with our Honda Civic. Kendra had dreams of grandeur of what Paul could create for a camping set-up and Paul had dreams (maybe nightmares) of how everything would actually work and who would build it.  Eventually, Paul convinced Kendra that we may want to look at buying a camper van kit. Kendra found a kit company located in Quebec but her frugality took over and that dream was dashed. Somehow a kit from that Quebec company became available a few hours away in November of 2020 that was made for Bearry’s specifications, and the rest is history.

Now living in 30 square feet will definitely test us, but we figured that having a Dodge Grand Caravan will be economical in gas costs (we filled up at $209.9/L at the start of our trip in Prince Rupert, which feels significantly cheaper than the $2.169 in Prince George or $2.139 in Quesnel when we left) and hopefully relatively easy to find parts and certified repair people along the way, if needed. 

There will be a few bumps in the road, but we’ll figure it out or at least be able to find someone to figure it out. Kendra has been reading a book called Road Fever about two men in the late 1980’s driving the same road we will, and their GMC Sierra (the first truck Kendra ever drove) is being serviced and maintained along their record setting trip, although they are sponsored by GMC. We aren’t setting any records, but knowing that service was available in the 80’s has our hopes high if the going gets tough.

Stay tuned for a new post, mostly written by Paul about our most recent adventures!

Yukon Bound

 July 17^th – This trip just got international!

We woke up in a beautiful spot just off Highway 37 with minimal mosquitos. It has been truly amazing to see how many free campgrounds there are around Northern BC.  For anyone wanting to do a camping road trip you have to download the app iOverlander, it can help you find the best spots! 

We drove north to Stewart which is a border town with “the friendliest ghost town in Alaska” meaning we could officially cross a border and make this an international trip. We had recently been to Stewart (this time last year, but the border was closed due to COVID restrictions) and spent a lot of time within the community so we decided to drive straight to the border and then up the gravel roads to the Salmon Glacier.  Unfortunately, due to low clouds, we were not able to see the glacier in all its glory but based on what we saw as we drove up it is well worth the drive.

Fish Creek, a location in Hyder known for bears was a disappointment.  The US Government makes tourists, like us, pay $5 USD to walk along a boardwalk when no bears were present and we had to purchase it before we entered the US (due to lack of cell service in Hyder).  If we could have purchased the passes at Fish Creek, we would have decided against it, since the salmon run hadn’t begun yet.

The highlight of Hyder was the Glacier Inn, a must-do.  Even if you do not drink, the Glacier Inn is a cool place to visit with money lining the walls.  The money is placed during the “good times" so that you can still buy yourself a drink if the bad times ever hit. We asked, and yes people definitely take the money back from time to time. 

The Glacier Inn is also known as the location to be Hyderized.  By requesting to by Hyderized you are presented with a shot of colourless alcohol, poured from a bottle in a brown paper bag, that you are “not allowed to sip, not allowed to smell, and you must drink in its entirety then place the cup upside down on the bar”. This shot is Everclear and after drinking it they will light the remnants of the shots so it displays a blue flame right on the bar.

We spent a couple hours chatting up the bartender about life in Hyder and Alaska and taking in our surroundings.  We would have stayed longer but we had to cross a border and driving from the bar smelling of booze probably wouldn’t be a good look for us.

Kendra decided to be the person to drive across the border.  Now the Stewart border is known for junior border guards who take their job very seriously, but we were prepared.  We had filled in the Arrivecan app, had our passports, and Rupert’s paperwork showing he was vaccinated for Rabies (it also shows he was vaccinated for Coronavirus which I wasn’t expecting).
Unfortunately Kendra, after stopping at the stop sign proceeded to drive to the window/border waiting area; which according to the border guards we were not supposed to do.  We were supposed to wait at the stop sign.  Paul also annoyed the border guards as he got out of the vehicle to go into the office, he was told in a stern voice to “Return to the vehicle”. Bryan (the border guard) took his job very seriously and asked us a lot of questions.  When we didn’t mention the disappointing glacier view or the boardwalk at Fish Creek he seemed a bit suspicious of why we went to Hyder, but we were not about to admit we only went there to drink.

Anyways, they had no reason to detain us so they let us back into the country. We headed to a small campground just outside of Stewart and relaxed for the rest of the night.

 

July 18^th – Heading North

Paul wanted to get some kilometres behind us so after a shower in Stewart and a few attempts at some different moderate hikes around Stewart we left for destinations north.  Unfortunately, all the trails around Stewart were overgrown or blocked by a “small waterfall” which turned out to be a rushing creek☹.

The landscape of highway 37 is described as rugged and beautiful by Tourist Information.  This is an apt description, most of the highway is paved, with mountains surrounding us in various locations. 

 

The highlight of the day was eating greasy burgers from Bell 2, it had been a while since we had had a greasy meal and Paul was craving one, and Paul at least go the greasiest most delicious burger, 10/10 would buy again.  Kendra got a savoury pie, also good, but not as good as the burger.

We pulled into Sawmill Point Rec site for the night and sat watching the sunset on Dease Lake.

 

July 19^th – 20^th – Boy Oh Boya

 

We left Sawmill Point relatively early and headed to Jade city for some free coffee and to look at all their Jade sculptures and trinkets.  We even bought ourselves a little Christmas ornament. *Random but fun fact about the GoGoGauthiers- we used to buy cookbooks on our travels but began running out of storage space so we have now begun purchasing Christmas ornaments so we can reminisce about our trips as we set up our Christmas tree.

 Highway 37 is known as the Stewart Cassiar highway, we had been to Stewart so we decided to go to Cassiar which was just off the highway north of Jade City.  Cassiar is a ghost town that is mostly closed to the public.  Cassiar was closed in the early 90s, and the community existed as a location for the Asbestos mine workers to live.  We did a little drive around but started to feel a bit uncomfortable when looking at the ground and seeing asbestos.

We did decide to do some “house hunting” to find a really cool retro house to explore.

After leaving Cassiar we drove straight to Tā Ch'ilā Provincial Park, better known as Boya Lake.  This lake is gorgeous and with few mosquitos and a lakeside camping spot it solidified our decision to say for two nights.

We spent the next two days relaxing, canoeing around the lake, reading and playing games.  It was great.  Boy oh Boya you’ve got to come to Boya Lake.

  

   

 

July 21^st – Yukon bound

After a quick breakfast, we left Boya Lake and headed to the Yukon (then back across the BC border, then back into the Yukon because of the highway route).  We were in desperate need of groceries, among other things like a mosquito net.  We also hadn’t been in a cell service area for about 5 days and knew our families may be getting worried.

 

After a long 5-6 hours of driving, we reached Whitehorse, did our grocery shopping and went to visitor information which informed us that there was a farmers market occurring at that moment so we walked Rupert to the park and bought some local food, grabbed some meals for some food trucks and had a beer in their beer gardens.  YES, it is a farmers’ market with a beer garden!  And YES, the whole place is dog friendly.

Kendra and I had been to Whitehorse for Spring Break a few years ago (March 2017) and loved it, and in the summertime, Whitehorse is also amazing.  Don’t be surprised if this is the community Kendra and I settle in after this adventure, it is honestly one of our favourite Canadian cities.

Camping in Whitehorse area is difficult as there are so many campers, all the campgrounds were booked (on a Thursday) and camp Walmart, camp Canadian Tire and camp Superstore did not seem appealing so we looked on iOverlander to find a little spot near a lake past a quarry, it was a beautiful spot that we shared with a couple from Quebec. 

 Definitely, a great spot to sleep. We will hang around Whitehorse for a short amount of time and then make our way north towards Tuktoyaktuk!  

Why?

 Why?

This question has been asked to us numerous times and each time it seems like we give a bit of a different answer.

At this point in time (16 days into minivanlife) our “why” for this adventure is simple:  Life is short.

The past few years have not been easy on us, or most of you for that matter. COVID, car accidents, cancer, terminal illnesses, the list of things is never ending. These unknowns are a driving force behind us. Life is too unpredictable and too short to wait until retirement to start living life and travelling. 

At our jobs we were seeing colleagues retire and hearing about their dreams and plans, only to read their obituary a few years later. It started wearing on us that we were stuck in a loop of working during the week, then relaxing on the weekend so we could return to work on Monday.  We were becoming stuck in work environments that were no longer providing the fulfilment or excitement we were looking for. Co-workers left, higher ups changed, and we were both becoming more dissatisfied with our lives and wondering where we were going.

That’s why we decided to quit our jobs, sell everything, and hit the road.

Our time on Haida Gwaii

 July 11^th – Normal Everyday stuff

What you may not be aware of is that we choose to go to Haida Gwaii for a specific reason.  Part of this reason was to explore a new area but the larger reason was to rest, relax and decompress after leaving our jobs and selling our house.  Unfortunately, this would not be the day to relax.  Kendra had a doctor’s appointment so we had to run to Masset for cell service.  We were also out of food. 

Now, when you’ve already decided that most of the day will be spent doing normal everyday stuff and not relaxing, a hike or two will not ruin your day so we did a bunch of the hikes around the Northern portion of Naikoon Provincial Park including hiking up Tow Hill.  Luckily it was a sunny day so we decided to sit at the top and be told by countless others that “you can see Alaska from here”.  It was amazing how excited Canadians were to see Alaska from Haida Gwaii.  What was more interesting is just how many people told us this.

The rest of the night was spent doing what we needed to do, which was absolutely nothing, while we listened to the waves crash on the beach.

 

July 12^th – Nothing

We relaxed all day, we read our books, walked along the beach and had a delicious dinner of steak, potatoes and a bottle of Spanish wine we had bought in the Rioja region of Spain (March 2022).  For dessert, Hoeddeok!  It’s amazing what we can cook in the back of the van with the right ingredients.

On a side note, we stayed at Agate beach for three nights, we only saw the BC parks person once, on our last night so we scored some of the best camping we have ever done at a 66% discount!!

July 13^th – “I guess you could go that way if you’re up for an adventure.”

Unfortunately, it was time to leave the dynamic beauty of Agate beach, the only campground we had been to where you camped right on the ocean.  We once again had a taste for exploration. We headed to Port Clements for a short hike to where a Golden Spruce once existed then thought to take a forestry road to Rennell Sound and within two seconds of driving down the forestry road an employee from the Ministry of Forestry was waving us down. 

Kendra was driving, and he proceed to tell her that these were gravel forestry roads, with active logging and hauling and it is a long way to Rennell Sound from this location (NOTE: it was only 60 km).  *(You may notice a trend that strange things only seem to happen when Kendra is driving, which isn’t very often…hmmm.)

After he looked at our tires and told us that we could pop a tire driving down gravel roads he finally said, well, I guess you could go that way if you’re up for an adventure.  Obviously, we were!

The road was not an adventure, it was a typical BC forestry road, we didn’t see any logging trucks, we didn’t see anything except trees, some invasive deer and 2 pickup trucks, but we had made it to Rennell Sound.  It was beautiful, yet slightly eerie and cold.  We decided to just have lunch and make our way to Daajing Giids.

Unbeknownst to us July 13^th, 2022 will be a special day for Daajing Giids, as it is the day the Province of BC recognized the new name for Queen Charlotte City as Daajing Giids, a move to recognize traditional Haida names and a move toward Reconciliation.  This all happened while we were in Daajing Giids, unfortunately, we were unaware.

After the drive to Rennel Sound and back to Queen Charlotte City/Daajing Giids we decided to catch the ferry over to Moresby Island and take in a highly recommended rec site (free campground) called Gray Bay. After a quick ferry ride and some forestry roads, we made it to our campground and WOW! Haida Gwaii does not disappoint, it was just like Agate Beach BUT actually free AND no people within 300m of us.  We knew at that moment we would be spending the next day here as well.

 

July 14^th – “I REALLY like rocks”

We did nothing.  We slept.  We relaxed. We walked along the beach.

We did end up walking Rupert to Secret Cove just a kilometre away from the campground where we found an even nicer beach with sand and ended up sitting there for a couple hours just watching the water.  We had a conversation with the first other person we officially encountered on Moreseby Island; a man (a Terrace-ist) spent an hour telling us how much he liked rocks, how he had travelled all over North America for rocks and traded others from other countries for rocks.  He told us that he is a highly in-demand man that museums call him up asking about his rocks within a rock- from volcanic times, and teachers invite him to enter their classroom to show students his rocks.  In short when he said “I REALLY like rocks” he meant it.  If you find yourself agreeing with this man and you also really like rocks, you will really like Haida Gwaii. There are a lot of rocks to look at and find.  We do not really rock people, we don’t know the names of rocks (and had to Google what an Agate was) but “we” (aka Kendra) did find some cool-looking rocks to keep as a souvenir.

July 15^th – Our last day on Haida Gwaii

After a lazy morning, we headed to Sandspit for a coffee and a walk along the sandspit.  The only restaurant/coffee place open at the time was at the airport which I guess was extremely busy and chaotic due to all flights to Haida Gwaii having to land there due to fog in Masset; it didn’t seem too chaotic to us but the chatty security screener getting a coffee ahead of us informed us it was a very exciting time at the Sandspit Airport.

We spent the next few hours exploring more of Sandspit, catching up on the world thanks to some free WIFI and shopping in Daajing Giids to prepare for our 7-hour ferry ride back to Prince Rupert.

We decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner and chose Blacktail a restaurant that had all the good reviews and wow did they earn them.  We may have smelled like we hadn’t showered in a week (because we hadn’t) and looked dishevelled, but we ate like royalty.  The salmon tartare was to die for.

Finally, it was time to head to the ferry.  Kendra had never driven onto a “big ferry” before so she took the wheel and parked in the appropriate lane.  Loading started and after half of it was done the BC ferries person directing cars asked Kendra to reverse, in the lane she was parked in so the motorhome in front of us in line could back up and squeeze around the vehicle in front to board.  We had blocked the back window out of the van to prepare the van for us to sleep in so Kendra could only use her rear-view mirror and was a bit nervous about reversing the 8 feet she was asked to do so, but she did it…nervously.

After Kendra reversed the rest of our lane was loaded up, but he didn’t ask us to load. We should point out we paid for a normal height vehicle but our full-sized spare tire and propane tank (which we can remove) make us over-height.  There was room for additional over-height vehicles so we didn’t have to remove our tire and propane tank (and we saved a few bucks), but we were included in the lineup with over-height motorhomes, tow trucks, and trucks pulling fifth wheels.

We then started to notice that everyone who had to go onto the ferry (the last 30 or so vehicles) had to reverse from the terminal building, down the ramp, and into/onto the ferry.  It seems the BC ferries employees were going to keep people who were uncomfortable with reversing until the end so they have the least amount of reversing to do.  Well. The BC ferry person must have realized Kendra was nervous to reverse because we were the last passenger vehicle loaded onto the ferry (a giant transport truck was the last).

Pro-tip about the Northern Adventure with BC Ferries, they have public showers!  $2 for 10 minutes!! What a steal of a deal.

Fun fact, you are not allowed to sleep in your vehicle, so we had to sleep on the hard floor of the ferry and leave Rupert in the car to fend for himself (don’t worry, they allow passengers access to the car deck every 1 ½- 2 hours depending on the conditions to check on their pets).

Another fun fact- we departed Skidegate (Haida Gwaii ferry terminal) at 10:00 pm and somehow arrived early in Prince Rupert around 4:30 am.

 

July 16^th – Back on the road

For those who are not in the know, Rupert’s original name from the SPCA was Rushbrook, named after the Rushbrook docks where he was found scared and soaking wet ☹ (Fun Fact on paper it was actually Rushmoore because someone somewhere wrote his name incorrectly.)

We always thought that it was odd that people named him after a place that was so traumatic for him so we changed it to Rupert (after Prince Rupert [the location of the docks] because that seemed better 😐)

Kendra thought it would be interesting to take Rupert to Rushbrook to see how he would act.  For the record Paul did not think this was a good idea; however, at 4:45am we took Rupert to Rushbrook and he didn’t act any differently, other than exhausted since we don’t think he slept much on the ferry.

After our early morning walk, we found a place for a nap, after the nap, we were excited to…do laundry…  It was that time in our adventure to sit at a laundromat and clean our stuff, but it gave us a chance to write this blog and start heading north.

We are so excited to be heading north once again on highway 37.  Next stop Hyder Alaska, then the Yukon, and after that Tuktoyaktuk!