Pussycat

September 28-29

Monday morning, we woke up at 7 am. The sun wasn’t up yet. Funny. When we arrived in the Arctic, we fell asleep in the sunlight; on our departure, we awoke in the dark. We wanted to get an early start, but by the time Kurt dumped the trailer tanks, loaded some last minute items and I ran over to say goodbye to our RCMP neighbors, it was closer to noon. And of course, we had to say goodbye to the Hanthorns (Dan and Heather had already left for work). The hugs were going all around, and Ezra called out, “Lynn, don’t forget about me!” The snow was falling, as we climbed into the van, and the Hanthorn kids followed us out, shouting, “Goodbye, goodbye!”

We crossed the ferry with no trouble, and even though there was a fair bit of snow, the weather was amazingly calm through the mountain pass and gorge. The roads were frozen and the driving conditions had dramatically improved since my trip to Dawson.

We had to use chains twice on the hills, the first time only because a transpotr truck had stopped in front of us. When we stopped at the Arctic Circle for a photo op, Kurt heard a hissing sound. One of our trailer tires had a leak. We made it to Eagle Plains, 40 km away and Kurt had the tire repaired at the tire shop, while I fed the kids some hot stew from the hotel cafe. We didn’t even have to wait. By the time we ate, our trailer was ready to roll again. The Eagle Plains Hotel motto is “an oasis in the wilderness,” and it is very aptly named, simple as it is.

We also hit some heavy snowfall a couple of times, but there was no wind and it quickly let up. Several times in succession, Evangeline asked, not as a question, but more like a conversation “is the road nice, Daddy? The road. It’s nice?” By God’s grace and Paul’s chains, we reached the end of the Dempster (which Ezra calls the “Dumpster”). Paul said in any season, the Dempster can be a pussycat, but it can also be a tiger. We are thankful that the Dempster only gave us a few cat scratches.

Seeing the winter scenery along the Dempster Highway was an experience not to be missed. It was beautiful. It was also a wonderful perk to drive on the snow because there was NO DUST! Any McPherson resident I spoke to about the Dempster, said they prefer driving the Dempster in the wintertime, including the Aussies! The roads are smoother, there’s no dust and no one has to wait for a ferry (because of the ice road). Even more poignant, with as much fuss as we Southerners make over the dangers of the Dempster, the people who actually live it and experience in their daily lives, barely give it any mention at all. The only time Northerners pay it lip service, it seems, is when they’re ‘counselling’ a Southerner.

But I digress.

We reached Dawson and parked at Mel’s. Mel worked with Kurt at Johnson Point and had invited us to stay in his yard. Tuesday morning, Mel gave us a tour of the house he is building, right among the gold dredge tailings. We hit the road, stopping at Five Finger Rapids, so Bronwyn, Keegan, Mackenzie, Josiah, and Diana could hike, and then continued to Whitehorse. We went to my favorite bookstore (again) and then had a celebratory dinner for the completion of Kurt's Arctic work. And we are now going to have a much needed early night. Good night.