3000 Miles Travel Bug

We got a campsite at the Happy Valley Campground in Inuvik; it's a territorial campground that has hot showers and a laundromat, which improved our quality of life greatly. Getting a pizza and beverage at our favorite restaurant in Inuvik (The Backroom) was also a big morale booster.

We were the third to find the Boot Lake Pin Trade cache, which is now the most northerly cache in the Northwest Territories. On this trip, we've been to the most northerly cache in both Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories.

We reached the end of the Dempster Highway in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Just before the end, the road turns from packed gravel (which is VERY dusty this time of year) to regular asphalt pavement: what a change!

The ferry rides over the Peel and Arctic Red Rivers were fun. The Peel River ferry is a cable ferry; the ferry is powered, but it is guided by a thick wire rope that keeps it from being pushed downstream. The Arctic Red River ferry is not guided, and connects the two ends of the Dempster Highway and the village of Tsiigèhtchic by running in a wye configuration.

First Nations peoples have subsistence fishing and hunting areas throughout this area; as you drive along the Dempster, you'll see many small family camps that are signalled by white canvas wall tents that are suspended by wooden platforms and frames.

We spent the night at the Rock River Campground. The mosquitos put up quite a fight; we hadn't experienced many mosquitos on this trip up to then, but we had our hands full there. We wound up scurrying over to the screened kitchen shelter to get away from them and enjoy our meal. The campground is in a valley, and the campsites have trees, both of which calm the wind necessary to keep the mosquitos at bay.

We packed up quickly and hit the road about noon. We crossed into Northwest Territories at Wright Pass, and stopped at the Peel River overlook to find this cache.

This cache was a short hike across the tundra from Yukon Circle, and is a much bigger container.

The landscape this far north is truly amazing. Plants and animals are adapted to the relatively low amount of precipitation that falls here, and the wind that sweeps across the land.

The drive up the Dempster Highway was as magnificent as it gets. The weather was great, providing tremendous visibility as we drove through the Ogilvie Mountains and onto the Eagle Plains. We stopped at the Eagle Plains logistics center for fuel and a leg-stretch, before heading north on the Dempster Highway.

We were finally back at the Arctic Circle! Caches are few and far, far between up this far north.

I've had my eye on this cache (and its nearest neighbor) since we started geocaching in the summer of 2004. It was nice to finally be able to log a find!