Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon, CanadaSunshine on the Dempster
A morning walk in the sunshine
It was cold inside the camper – but
the sun is shining and when sitting out of the wind we could actually have
coffee outside in the sunshine!!!! Then Mandy wanted to go for a walk and so we
did – she actually walked all the way up on the little hill and she doesn’t
mind the leash at all anymore – from which we had some super nice views on the
valley – this is such an amazing spot – we really like it.
And the truck won’t start
The plan was to drive a bit before
breakfast and so Paul went to start up the truck, so Gine can start the
converter and the Truck did not start on try 1 nor on try 2. So what is going
on??? It’s not that cold – so Paul thought it could be that it is too cold so
he did the “warming up” part a few times, then he thought if he may has air in
the system – whatever he did – a half hour later the truck did start up!!! We
are so happy, it wouldn’t be that great to be stuck 400 km into the Dempster
highway. As per Paul this drains the battery, so we will stop with the truck
running at the Arctic Circle and turn it off at Eagle Plains to fill up the gas
and by then all should be fine right???
That is what we did – we parked the
truck near the Arctic Circle sign -this time dirty and then continued on.
Late breakfast at Eagle Plains
By now it is 12 NWT time and 11 Yukon
time – that is called a super late breakfast… as this is nearly lunch – our
phones are still on NWT time. After breakfast see there Paul was right the
truck started up with no issue….
Next thing we fill up gas: today the
Visa card reader is not working all the time, so it could be we have to pay in
cash – so we limit the gas-fill up to 190 $ - that is one of our most expensive
fill ups (as here the gas also costs a bit more). Before we leave Paul
straightened out one of the jack-holders so that we it won’t open. And then we
continue on in our journey on a nice sunny day.
Did I mention that they have Canadian
flags and one was hanging upside down???
Nice views along the Dempster
I don’t know through how much forest
we drove – but we also drove towards the Oglivie mountains it was super nice to
see – we did stop at one time as we were not sure if that is the pullout for
the fossils – guess not. At one time we stopped at a “sideroad” where they had
like a “wooden constructed” road – Gine walked it all along and it goes to a
big open square also wooden platform with a like huge pump – and we wondered
what this is (later we saw another one along the road).
Here they also have like
“cotton-ball-flowers” – that is how Gine calls them, they look like white
cotton balls and they feel super soft and when looking it up later in our
“Yukon-flower-booklet” Gine was not that wrong as it is called:
- Scheuchzer’s Cottongrass: it is actually not a grass, the white hairs help the seeds disperse in the wind and is has been used from stuffing pillows to dressing wounds – the Yukon has 9 different varieties
Also along the road are those super
cool grasses with their pinkish hue – Gine loves them a lot and they are:
- Foxtail Barley: they can cause physical harm, the awns are barbed and will their way into the eyes, nose, gums and throats of animals – domestic and wild. The plant is native to the Yukon and it is technicallyj not an invasive plant but behaves in the same way – it follows human disturbance and is particularly aggressive in the dry alkaline soil
And yes once in a while we stop to
enjoy the view.
Coffee at the Ogilvie Ridge point
Today we also drive some areas with
lots of potholes – so Gine said we need to make a coffee break soon, so once we
come to the Ogilvie Ridge view where we can look over to those unique mountains
we stop: enjoy the view – yes Mandy goes for a walk again and have a coffee
break.
Let’s find a cool spot and relax for
the afternoon
Gine said the weather is so great – if
we could find a nice spot at a river or lake with no mosquitos and it’s nice
and warm, let’s have an early day and enjoy the sunshine. She found one on the
iOverlander “the little Bear Lake” – once we turned there was a tree going over
the street so before moving it, let’s check it out, it is a beautiful gorgeous
spot looking amazing only we are a bit concerned that there could be mosquitos,
ok let’s continue on – then we see another turnout – there is already a camper
– we back up and it is a huge gravel pit with a beautiful view – a slight wind
– we said ok, the ioverlander has another spot 3 km down the road, let’s check
that one out and if we don’t like it we come back – we couldn’t find the other
spot so we came back đŸ˜Š set up the camper – chairs out and we relaxed
in the sun and it is barely 3.30 !!! wow – we are so slacking – that is like
vacation.
Wieners over a fire
There was a little stone fire pit and
Gine said, You think we can find enough wood, so we can fry over wieners over a
fire??? Ok and so she goes collecting wood, ok one little tree is too long: saw
out and we cut it in pieces, one huge piece was a bit stubborn so it needed
both of our efforts and both axes to split it (by the way – we didn’t even use
it later). And then we prepared the fire. After more relaxing we made a perfect
fire and had super yummy wieners – they are tasting so much better when made
over the fire.
Shower in the sunshine
As the weather is warm and we still
have water in the blue container, Gine said it’s shower time – now today it’s
not like toughen it up – it is like fun!!!! And then we sit a bit more outside
before we decided to head inside to relax before going to bed….
The best views
When looking outside we had some super
cool campsites along the Dempster Highway – even if you sit inside and you look
outside through the window – the views are spectacular!!! So amazing – what a
wonderful world.
Good morning sunshine
We are getting spoiled!!! We wake up
again to sunshine – a bit windy but warm enough to sit outside in the sun for
coffee. A walk with Mandy and we are ready to hit the road: today we want to go
all the way back to Dawson.
2025-05-22