The Northwest Territories Welcomes with Heavy, Scary Fog

Inuvik is actually in the First Nations territory of the Northwest Territories.   From the Eagle Plains motel, the drive is another 240 miles, with 2 ferry crossings and one gas station at Fort McPherson.

Sunday morning dawned with a mix of rain and no rain but with gloomy skies.   At least the flowers at the motel entrance were cheerful.   I decided to drive to the Arctic Circle and test the road, but leaving the hotel, it was sloppy mud, quickly coating the back of my car with a thick layer of mud.














Along the way, I noticed that the spruce trees had changed.   Notice how their limbs are very, very short.   Almost like a human pulling his/her arms into his/her body as protection against the elements.

 Then around a corner and off at the top of another bend in the highway was...the sign marking the Arctic Circle!   JoeTx and I had made it across the Arctic Circle!    Yee-haw!

And the Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You....even from the Arctic Circle!!!

 
The roads were sloopy mud, but they were drivable and it looked like the rain might stop, so I decided to push on to at least the border of the Northwest Territories.  

So, onward we go ...and up ahead I see a heavy fog bank coming rapidly my way.  OMG, now what?...but eventually I'm rewarded with ...the Northwest Territories!  ...

Yes, yes, I know.   I was looking a little grim, eh?    Well you'd be too.   That fog was so thick I could - literally - see no more than 10 feet ahead of me.   I figured that if I hung around awhile and chilled out a bit, the sun would start to burn it off.   And you can see in this photo that it was a little better. 




So...off I went again...into the Arctic tundra and my first of 2 ferry rides.   This one was across the Pelly River.   Note the small First Nations village in the land clearing?   I like the photo on the right...

And soon I'll be at the very end of the road, in Inuvik and at the waters of the Arctic Ocean!