http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , Canada , Northwest Territories en-us Fri, 04 Dec 09 09:56:45 +0000 Fri, 04 Dec 09 09:56:45 +0000 The Dempster Highway is a sort of potholed gravel track that starts just south of Dawson City and ends up in Inuvik in the Northwest territories crossing the Arctic Circle on the way. It is built on permafrost and when the road heats up the permafrost melts and the whole road sinks and becomes a small lake. It kills cars.The highway is constantly being reworked and nowadays is built up on a lar http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Tuktoyaktuk/blog-438601.html although it was very muddy and wet i would highly recommend this run into the northwest territories. gas is ridiculously overpriced but still worth the trip. a gallon of milk is 11.50. all the waterfalls were kind of a bonus i didn't know about. the weather is not helping me decide where to go next one day 86 followed by one night at 30. don't want to get caught in any deep mountain snow u http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/blog-434053.html Another beautiful day High in the late 20's Finally it feels like summer on my tripWe all had a lazy morning drinking coffee working on pictures see Nigel's flickr site for more northern lightshttpwww.flickr.comphotosnigelfearon and click on Julie in Yellowknife. Waiting to hear from Nigel's friend to go rock climbing. Unfortunately we never heard during the day from Nigel's fri http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-432701.html As I said on my previous post Nigel Mel and I with Otis of course decided we should go for a hike after lunch It is such a beautiful day Sunny and warm The first trail we were going to go on was Prosperous Trail but to get to it you have to pay to go into the park and all of us didn't bring any money. After consulting the hiker's book we decided to go to Ranney HillBug spray on d http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-432411.html My last weekend in Yellowknife On Friday Nigel and Mel invited their friends Michael Bianca and Shannon over for games pictionary eventually. Shannon brought her dog Otis a Boston Terrier over as well so the 2 Otis's could meet and play together What a riot Shannon's last day at work was on Friday...she's on her last 3 weeks before her baby is due. Her husband is away so she ca http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-432229.html How did Yellowknife get it's name The yellow knife is based on a copper powder knife used in the mining industry. The dynamite suppliers used a copper knife to open the powder cases. If they used a steel knife it might cause a spark The yellow knife is a symbol for Yellowknife...to symbolize gold mining. There are still 2 active gold mines in the cityDid you know Yellowknife is one of the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-431755.html Just back from a hike around Frame Lake...the lake that Yellowknife is built around and you thought it was Slave Lake. Beautiful. You can tell fall is in the air The leaves are falling off the trees and turning a bright yellow I'm still waiting for summer.Some facts about Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories and has a population of approximately 2 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-431694.html This past weekend Nigel Mel and their friends who are now my friends Eric AnnieClaude and Otis and myself went on a canoe and camping trip to Hidden Lake on the Ingram Trail. 45 minutes from Yellowknife. And it was a trip never to forget WOWFriday Mel and I spent most of the day getting ready getting supplies packing shopping and getting excited. Nigel did some shopping and a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-430820.html After a night of celebrating Christine's birthday Mel's friend at 2 local pubs...the Black Knight and Twist headed home for a night of sleep and not getting up to pack up for another driving day Today was some relaxing and a tour of Old Yellowknife Mel gave us Otis came as well a walking tour of Old Yellowknife where people first settled Beautiful I love the houseboats on the water. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-429977.html Up early this morning to get ready for the last of the drive to YellowknifeAfter a walk around Manning before getting back in the car around 930 amAfter getting gas we set out for the drive and before you know it we were crossing into the Northwest Territories and the 60th parallel And the bugs were there at the border to greet us Thank goodness Mel told me to gas up everytime I saw http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-429753.html There are so many things that I will remember about the Great Northern Arts Festival. The art was varied and impressive. We were able to watch the native artists working on beadworkyarn painting and stenciling. There were carving tents to watch the stone antler and bone carvers. We were able to see several pieces in differnet stages of the creative process. Friday night we attended the ArtC http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Inuvik/blog-420827.html We made it back to Fairbanks for a couple days to recoup. We wanted to get to the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik so we drove like crazy to get here.... We went almost 400 miles the first day from Fairbanks to Tok over the Top of the world Highway To Dawson City. Took the ferry across the river and spent a night in Dawson. We got on the Dempster highway unsure of what to expect. Aft http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Inuvik/blog-419570.html Hi everyone happy new year.Sorry for not writing in so long. Things have been a little bit crazy. Over Christmas holidays Dakotah and I travelled back to Kamloops for two weeks of visiting. We had fantastic visits with our friends and Family making trips out to Salmon arm ice fishing Clearwater for Church one Sunday and New years eve. But this trip also ended up being a trip of discovery. As I http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-366721.html The winter is actually here now. It snowed about 20 centimeters yesterday. I finally figured out how the people here say there is lots of snow here. They really dont get many snow falls but it never melts so there is accumulation. The walk to work was cold today minus 18 and I have not bought a proper jacket yet so I have improvised. My scarf gets wrapped up over my head and I wrap a long piece http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-340122.html Well My week. I went out to Edmonton Monday night for a Job interview Tuesday Morning. I spent some great time with my friend Sue. It was fantastic to meet her wonderful little boy. The interview went well and Sue and I did some shopping in the Big City. I flew Canadian North Airlines What a fantastic service. You get a real meal and when they serve drinks you they give you a whole can of pop. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-330591.html What a good day. Mary and I went out to her cabin on River Lake. I let Mary know that I wanted to get out of town this Saturday. She let me know that she had to get out to bale out her boat and invited me to come along. Dakotah and Mary's daughter have become good friends so Dakotah hung out with her while Mary and I and the dogs went out the Ingram trail one of the two roads out of Yellowknife. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-328331.html Light rain. Fog. Nippy.LocationYellowknifeTemperature5 CComfort level8 CDew point4 CBarometer1000 millibarsHumidity93Visibility5 kmWind41 kmh from 240 Southwest by westLast updateTue 800 AM MDTLight rain. Fog. Nippy. is not how I would describe the weather here today. It is miserable. It feels like the temperature and moisture of a Vancouver Rain Storm in December. But add to tha http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-326942.html We finally got out and took some pictures of the wobbly roads. They built ON the BOG and disrupted the permafrost. Itrsquos a really weird experience driving on these roads the pictures really don't do it justice. It feels a lot like you are driving on a roller coaster. Like that kids elephant ride at the PNE. We canrsquot believe that the road has sunk so much in places and the concrete does http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-326106.html This week Its funny that the main thing I have the urge to talk about is my walks to work in the morning. It was rainy and cold here almost all week. It warmed up to 4 degrees Celsius this afternoon. There are digital signs up on the street that tell you temperature. Yay. The school board sign also shows the day of the week in English French and one of the Native languages here. I havenrsquot f http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-325438.html Talitha is Doing really good with her DrivingYellowknife is a real music town... There seems to be more facilities for live music here than in Kamloops. I went out on Saturday night and watched some performers. I love live music I miss the live music that I got to sing and dance to every sunday. We have a mandalyn at our house. I hope the girls learn to play it. That would be great http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Northwest-Territories/Yellowknife/blog-323635.html