Day 10: Fort McPherson CG to Inuvik

After a lovely evening at the campground outside of Fort McPherson, we awoke to quite a bit of rain. I walked down to the tourist information area and spoke with Robert, who sort of runs the show here, about the forecast--it was not good! Rain, rain, rain. Despite this upsetting forecast, I really enjoyed talking with him. He was born and raised here and had so many stories to tell. He is now 80, and in his youth he would run a dog sled to Dawson City, which took about 6-8 weeks, and he would trap and hunt caribou along the way. He is intensely proud of this country and his heritage. Knowing that we weren't going to ride in the current downpour, he was kind enough to give us some dry firewood and suggested we set up camp in the cooking shelter while we waited for the weather to change. The area was screened in, reducing the mosquito count to 1,000 per square meter. The bugs up here, I am convinced, could kill a grown man in 3 days. They also can make a Porkchop go crazy in 3 minutes. Here is a photo of me and Mark in the shelter, waiting for a break in the weather.

Late in the afternoon, we did get a little break in the weather and decided to make the final push for Inuvik. Shortly after pulling out on to the road, Adam had a mishap, crashing after getting onto a portion of the road that he described as being not unlike mashed potatoes! He and Mark were slipping and sliding and covered with mud by the time they got the bike upright. Everyone was still smiling.

We had just a little bit of dry road along the way, but for the most part things were quite muddy. The mighty Mackenzie River gets in the way of the route north, so we had to take a ferry to get to the other side.

We were called up to the bridge to visit with Joe, the captain, who hails from Newfoundland, to learn about how he made the ferry magic happen. He was clearly delusional after too much time in the Arctic, as he referred to me as "good looking". Here he is, busy at work.

After the ferry ride, the rain really started to come down. Fortunately, there was enough gravel on this portion of the road so that it stayed grippy enough to travel at slower speeds. The visibility was poor. After taking a few hours to travel 120 kilometers, we made it to Inuvik, the end of the Dempster Highway!

As we entered town, with every intention of camping at the Happy Valley Campground, complete with a laundromat and 24-hour security, it started to pour, so we decided to splurge and stay at a hotel instead. Our muddy gear and tired bodies appreciated the hot showers, laundry and comfy beds! Total distance today: 131 miles Distance from Boise to Inuvik: 3,321 miles Team membership: 4, and holding steady and happy!