The Northwest Territories

---

Sunday July 24, 2011
Nice Weather?

Nice weather is almost a shock to my system. That being said I still got stuck in a flash rain shower for 45 minutes that came out of nowhere in the middle of the afternoon. I ended up riding far longer than planned. Towards the end of the day I rode straight through the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. The only thing is that luckily I was given a corridor between the rain showers for almost 2 and half hours. The rain finally caught up with me for the last 20 minutes. I was trying to get beyond the storm because it looked ugly and I was hoping to camp on some dry ground. Almost worse than getting stuck in the rain is camping in the wilderness where the grass is not cut but very wet. By the time you are in your tent the bottoms of your pants are soaked.

It was almost 10:30 by the time I realized that I was not going to get dry ground. I am so lucky that it gets dark so late around here. I found an old cabin right beside the road that had a small clearing so I pulled in there. I so much wanted a warm super tonight; but at this hour decided against it. I don’t see it as very smart to cook dinner in the same area that you sleep when you are deep in the wilderness. I never know who I am about invite to dinner by sending aromas into the air. I am still undecided if I want the surprise of a bear in my camp. Statistically speaking I should survive the situation and what a rush of adrenalin it would be. I guess I will have to see what is in store for the future.

That being said my night did not end well. My pants were soaked (from wet tall grass) and I had to move my tent into the open (visible from the highway) because the ground and vegetation growth would not permit me to set up the tent right behind the abandon cabin. I also discovered that the small tub of butter that I had bought earlier in the day that appeared to be sealed had melted and drained over all my food. Here I am trying to avoid bear contact by not eating and all my food is covered in butter? And my small hand full of napkins was not about to clean this big of a mess. When I finally got into my tent for the night the mosquitos were so loud that a bear could have walked into camp and it would have been impossible to hear him from deafening noise of mosquitos. Glad I was inside and not outside.

Rode 130 km’s trying to find dry ground today.


Monday July 25, 2011
The Northwest Territories!

I can’t believe how nice the weather is today. Only 60 km’s to the N.W.T. The road was flat (as usual) and I had no wind to fight on my home stretch across the border.
I always knew the day would come that I would enter the Northwest Territories; I just never would have believed that it would ever be by bike.

The highway continues to be flat (in the N.W.T.) but is never straight for very long; the highway is constantly curving one way or another. Entering the N.W.T. the highway seems to be in better shape but with no shoulders so I am defiantly sharing the road with vehicles. That being said traffic remains fairly light. The landscape seems fairly similar to the last 466 km’s that I have just ridden but there does seem to be more coniferous trees and less Poplar trees. I have seen 1 bear run across the road. I am a little disappointed in the lack of wildlife in the last half week; I would have suspected to see more. Even deer seem to be a little scarce which until now have been quite plentiful.

I have camped at Twin Valley Gorge Territorial Park this evening. From what I can see it is actually a very nice and spacious park. The attendant in charge lives in the park and so nicely offered to reopen the showers for the night for me. I rode much longer then I had planned to today. I didn’t realize how far in the territory the park was. I was very hungry and determined to have a picnic table to prepared dinner.

I think it ended up being a good thing that I did so much riding. I can’t see the gorge or waterfalls from the highway but I suspect they are a pretty impressive sight. This highway running through the N.W.T. is known for its waterfalls and since I have ridden so far and am so far north I intend to check them all out. In this particular area there is 2 separate falls in this immediate area so I don’t think I will be doing very much riding tomorrow. I can hear the one set of falls from camp right now.

I rode 135 km’s today (75 km’s into the N.W.T.) which I believe is my new record. This also means that I have ridden over 1,900 km’s since Calgary.


Tuesday July 26, 2011
Twin Falls Gorge to Hay River

I started my day hoping for a light day. I spent the first part of my day riding along the Twin Falls Gorge. I was lucky enough that the trail was hard packed and wide enough to accommodate my bike and trailer. This saved a lot of walking; therefore time. The falls and gorge was pretty impressive as you can see from the photos.

Midafternoon I headed towards Hay River a mere 34 km’s down the road and I should also mention; off my direct route to Yellowknife so I will end up backtracking those 34 km’s. While the day was beautiful weather wise I was forced to fight the wind all the way there; making for a very slow and what felt like a long day.

The highway runs along Hay River but the road builders did very little to provide any views of the river and gorge from highway. I saw my first Bald Eagle of the trip briefly along the highway. I have actually seen many hawks along the Mackenzie Hwy. always flying ahead of me screaming to let me know they are watching me.

Hay River is a fairly run down town like the rest of them. I had no real expectations though; I just want to see as much of the area as possible. That being said I was rather upset to find out that camping in Hay River was going to cost me $28. This is the most expensive camping yet and no free WI-FI. Nothing like wanting a short relaxing day only to have what feels like a long day and then pay through the nose for I don’t know what.

The campground was even at almost the farthest end of Hay River another 7 km’s down the road. After setting up my tent I had to ride the 7 km’s back into town to get dinner and groceries for the next day and then 7 km’s back to the camp so I could get my shower before they closed the showers at 10 pm. Tomorrow I will go looking for Great Slave Lake which is right next to the campground. I guess with all my running around I only rid about 50 km’s today but it felt like a 100 km’s.

---

Photos

My Camp Site
just passed the cabin is the highway

A Long Road
466 km's between Grimshaw and the border. This all you get to look at. Some might say that is a long car ride. It is even longer by bike.

Hello!
Almost 1,900 km's of bike riding to take this photo.