Don’t mess with the elk!

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Teresa

The picture of the elk was taken seconds before he charged the truck. My window was down. We were trying to get past the line of tourists parked outside of Jasper, AB. It was rutting season. As we tried to sneak past, this bull was not having it. He started to charged, kicked up a bunch of gravel, but luckily stopped before he rammed the truck. My takeaway – don’t mess with a bull elk when he’s trying to get some.

In general though, Alberta and the National Parks around Jasper and Banff are well worth the visit. When I think about Canada, I tend to focus on the coasts (BC, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes). I was honestly blown away with what Alberta has to offer in terms of outdoors activities. Keep your distance from the animals though.

The Alaska Highway – the road the war built

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Teresa

We hopped on the Alaska Highway in Yukon and drove it into British Colombia. The Alaska Highway was built during World War II to connect the contiguous US to Alaska. On the highway George and I experienced our first deep freeze of the tent, saw plenty of wildlife, toured through a signpost forest, and took a dip in some hot springs.

: Hiding from the wind while heating up lunch

: It was that cold

: Brrrr

Inuvik – the end of the road

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Teresa

We were not quite sure what to expect in Inuvik. We found some very welcoming people and an igloo church. We stopped in at the visitors center. After a little bit of conversation with the woman working at the vistor center about the cologne G was wearing, I saw a twinkle in her eye that ended with us trading one of G’s cologne for a whole Arctic Char. She was also kind enough to welcome us into her home for a dinner of homemade char chowder and fresh bannock. We talked a lot about the people and politics of northern Canada.

Driving the Dempster

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Teresa

G had his heart set on getting to the Arctic Circle. I wasn’t as convinced about hundreds of miles of dirt roads. Originally we planned to drive the Dalton highway up to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, but listened to several recommendations to take Yukon’s Dempster instead. It was the perfect time of year to do the drive. The fall colors in Tombstone Park were beautiful beyond words. We camped on a panoramic lookout point along the highway that night. Luckily, there were ample rock fire rings to choose from. After a beautiful sunset, G went to work cutting down a dead tree. We had ourselves a big fire and some lentils (G’s mother’s recipe – mmm). After some fun with giant marshmallows the sky was unexpectedly awash with the northern lights. Incredible.