Road to Tuktoyaktuk!

Glad I could help. There's more where that came from if anyone's got questions. I feel weird just lobbing information into threads.

 

Trust me, the peeps in these threads by canuckian fvck like us...welcome the asshattery. Feel free to post pertinent shit at ye own peril

 

Actually that reminds me.

Holy shit the mosquitos. I stopped to put on some heated gear (in July...welcome to the Arctic) about halfway between Inuvik and Tuk. I was good for about 30 seconds, and then a swarm of mosquitos descended upon me. I ran across the road, they followed. I ended up running a wide arc back to the bike so I could get on and haul ass.

Mosquito net for a hat... highly recommended.

 

What a cool idea for a trip! I can't go this time around, but I for sure want to make this trip someday.

 

we’re doing it in 2021 from the east Coast of the US. Going to use about a month or so of time, we have 4 or 5vehicles going.


And yes it’s basically just to do it, obviously the fun of the trip is the experience as you go. Something to do and fuck it, it’s only a little bit of money. Only live once.

 

I did this trip in 2014. Left from Northern Ontario, spent 65 days on the road. I was in a 2009 reg cab Tacoma that needed a bunch of work so I ditched it and took a 2014 F-150 reg cab 5.0 with Fox suspension. I put about 22500km during the trip. I have GPS points for great spots to camp along the way. When I went the HWY to Tuk was not completed yet so I flew up for an afternoon.

When in Yukon I did the North Canol road and the Nahanni Range road. The North Canol is very much an epic must do while up there if you can spare an extra two days. IIRC this was the only place I used my extra fuel. A lot of the old stuff available online talking about there being no gas available in the North isn't quite accurate. Just top up when passing stations. On the Dempster HWY there is the one gas station in the middle at Eagle Plains, the card payment gas station at the start of the Dempster killed my credit card (dumb shits at CIBC, had called them 2x about my travels..) so I had to go back to cell service to get that resolved.

I also suggest taking the route along the Northern shore of Lk Superior, very much worth it and I can point you to two different spots to setup camp for the night.

I have pre, during and post trip threads on expedition portal. I can answer questions that anybody going has to the best of my abilities. I spent a fair amount of time just putting around back roads looking for cool camping spots. The more time you can spare for this trip the better as there are some beautiful spots that are hard to leave once you arrive!

 

What some people don't realize about this saying is that it really applies to the parts of the trip you can't plan, but that happen along the way.

I never would have been hanging out on a beach with 2 Germans and 2 belgians drinking beer and eating fresh salmon if I had avoided an entire trip based on my preconceived notions of one aspect of one destination along the way.

 

I only saw a small portion of the Cassiar HWY due to the route I took and my total lack of planning (which was also an awesome aspect of the trip). I missed out on this HWY because I took the Northern Passage ferry route, which was great, but if doing it again I would take the Cassiar HWY.

The Dempster conditions are constantly changing, I found myself in less than ideal conditions several times, it can go from perfectly smooth 100KM/h gravel to a sloppy rutted shit show nearly instantly, be cautious.

Agreed about the large trucks, if you see one coming towards you slow down, pull over as much as you safely can and be patient, their fuck level for you is the largest ZERO possible.

As for wanting to go back, I daydream about it frequently!

 

Exactly! That’s what adventure is all about!

 

I may make this trip in 2020, late August which is a nice time of year in the Yukon with minimal bugs. I’m thinking of taking a ferry boat back from Skagway to Vancouver Island. If I miss my window of opportunity this year, I’ll plan for 2021 for sure. This is an epic trip, there are lots of off road trails in the Yukon, especially around Dawson City. I used to live in the Yukon and I drove the Dempster the year after it was built, in 1980. I went back and drove to Tombstone Park in 2016. Nothing can describe the grand beauty of the big mountain ranges and sweeping valleys of the central Yukon. There is a fascinating history up there as well, and if you really want to appreciate where you are, I’d suggest reading a bit about it. A good start is the story of the “Lost Patrol”. I’m a songwriter and musician and if you go to iTunes, look up the band Same Latitude As Rome, and in our 2019 CD release, we recorded “The Lost Patrol” that tells this story.

 

How is everyones' feeling for this trip? Still a go? I'm asking because I am planning to go but I need some advance planning.

 

I have every intention on going assuming life and the world allows.

 

Yeah, I know those communities up there, and the last thing they want are southern visitors but hopefully that will change in 2021. However, it might not change that much without a vaccine. The only province I know at the moment that allows entry without mandatory 14 day quarantine is BC. Ontario is completely ineffective in getting its infections numbers down, so going anywhere with Ontario plates on your vehicle isn’t going invite others to be friendly.

 

This thing could change quick or could be a while.

 

As openings roll out more and more, it will depend on numbers. There's no knowing how it will go.

 

yeah i'm also still game to go onto this trip. i'm building the truck slowly and getting things organized but it's still a year out. So who actually knows what will happen with the pandemic. I cna't imagine the world to still be on fire by then

 

We were gonna try to make the trip this August-Sept, of course that’s not gonna happen. We have high hopes for next year, however we’re gonna leave it up in the air for obvious reason. Certainly wouldn’t want to create any additional burden on the already struggling indigenous communities.

 

Yeah, we were going to go this year, too. I’m planning on taking the Alaska Ferries up the coast from Prince Rupert. Pretty scenic, but a bit expensive. You guys planning to go, make sure you allow lots of time for a few off road side trips along the way, especially in the Dawson area. It probably has the best wheeling in Canada, and it would be a shame just to eat dust all the way up the Dempster Highway and not experience the Yukon backcountry. There are a couple of sources of good maps that show trails, Backcountry Maps, and the NTS maps that you can download onto an app for free. After some of you guys go up there, most of you will probably want to move there, haha. Pretty cool. Probably the coolest place in Canada.

 

Yeah, that's kind of what I would think. Vaccine or no, I cant really see everything still being in flames by next year..

 

Following this page as would love to do this trip not. Outline seems pretty simple on what to bring and know how to use, only thing is I'm not all that experienced in remote driving and what not. Done lots of camping and am pretty handy just don't have the years or resources to do stuff like this yet. Truck will have simple 2 inch lift 31's duratracks, front bumper/skid, sliders by the time though.