After completing laundry, grocery shopping and picking up three months of pills in Whitehorse,

we headed North up Highway #2 (Klondike) and stopped at a random spot well off the road near a stream about ten kilometres South of Twin Lakes Territorial Park (TP). Yukon had free reign and had fun chasing Squirrels, Birds and his Chuck-it. Our goal for our Lower Dempster return is to hopefully see Fall colours on the tundra.

Off early, we made it to Tombstone TP but forgot that Monday was a holiday (Discovery Day); all the campsites were taken but Cindy negotiated a vacant group site for the night. Upon setting up, I noticed that a Dempster rock thrown by a speeding vehicle had shattered the outside dining room windowpane on the passenger side,  a ricochet off the awning upright; hopefully the inside pane will stay together until I get it replaced. We moved to a prime site next to the river for the rest of our stay. After one nice day of 25C/77F, it has turned cold and wet again; I am definitely missing out on a warm Summer this year. This campground surrounded by mountains is wonderful with firewood included in the Cdn$20 fee. On our first morning there was fresh snow on some of the mountain tops. It has turned cold, wet and windy - good for a scenic ride where we saw a Wolf and Fox. On the morning of August Twentieth, the water in our pail was frozen with the temperature at -2C/28F. 

We decided to leave early and head North towards the foothills of Eagle Plains where we settled into Little Bear Lake (pond size) at kilometre 234.2 and backed into a single unit campsite. We had cold weather but there was lots of firewood to keep us warm. Other than a quiet Beaver and a token Squirrel to keep Yukon entertained, we had a wonderful three days of relaxation, mainly playing games and sitting around our campfire. A couple of people on bicycles from Canmore Alberta dropped in one evening to get water and had an early dinner around our campfire before setting off towards Eagle Plains.

We found a Random Quarry about twenty kilometres North of Tombstone TP that was high above the Dempster and was surrounded by Tundra carpet up to the mountains. A family of Whitehorse hunters was just packing up and left us a two day supply of decent firewood. On our first morning, a mother Ptarmigan with six big youngsters woke us up at 06:00 - it is worth listening to their loud call somewhere on the Internet. On our second day Yukon had a bad night and needed to eat grass numerous times; it was no sleep for all of us. Because Yukon was still gagging in the morning, we packed up and headed towards Whitehorse which has the closest Vet.

So ends our shortened visit in the Lower Dempster; colour changes have started but need a couple of more frosts. Stay tuned for the Yukon Exit Blog.

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