I finally reached Dawson City and made some last preparations for the 500 mile journey to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

The start of the Dempster was merely a well graded dirt road. My hopes were high that the horror stories I had heard about the road were greatly exaggerated. However, the rains soon came and the road turned into a big long slick road climbing, descending, and winding around mountains surrounding the Dempster Highway.


Besides the weather you had to watch out for maintenance crews grading the road, coating the road with lym or soaking the road with water to reduce dust.

It was a relief to pass through the rain storm and reach the Artic Circle. The interesting problem with the Dempster is that there are several different weather patterns to deal with. Right after I reached the Artic Circle I drove into a torrential rain storm.

I was greeted in Inuvik by a mix of disbelief and welcome. A native Indian walk up to me and when he found out I rode my bike from New York he said he wanted to take me Beluga hunting. A young Canadian transplant came over and talked my ear off as he hlped me unload the bike and then later took me out drinking.

The road back from Inuvik started just as bad as when I arrived.

Back in Dawson I caught up with George who was riding Alaska on his Harley outfitted with knobby tires.