Dempster Highway Winter Photos

May 1, 2011, I made a trip up the Dempster Highway to bring a vehicle home to Inuvik. This was the last week we expected the highway ice bridges to be open according to the yearly averages posted by the Government of the Northwest Territories website, so we weren't sure how good the crossings or the road was going to be. As it turned out, the weather and the road were both pretty good and the ice bridges stayed open for at least another week.

It was summer weather all the way to Dawson City, but at Km 22 on the Dempster, we ran into snow!

Within a few minutes, the snow turned into SNOW and we had a few miles of quite slippery fun driving through about 4 inches of snow on the road.

Km 60 - the snow is not falling as hard, but we are definitely back in winter country.

Tombstone Pass

Visibility in the pass was limited compared to other visits, but the snow on the trees made it beautiful!

Km 94

Km 150

Km 180

Km 210 - Engineer Creek is still frozen.

Km 240

Km 270

Ogilvie Ridge:

Even though it is winter, the pull-out has been plowed, so we could pull off and admire the view.

Caribou on the road:

As we came over the crest of a hill at Km 268, we saw caribou on the road. They stopped to look at us for a few seconds, then continued along their way. Unfortunately, since a forest fire has recently been through this area, the trees are hard to hide behind!

Km 300 on the Eagle Plateau

Km 330 - more evidence of fire activity in this area.

Km 360

Eagle Plains Lodge & Service Station - you can get road information here and there is a gate that closes when the passes are closed due to weather conditions.

Km 378.

Km 390

The View from the Arctic Circle. Actually, the road crosses the Arctic Circle more than once, but this is the first occurrence heading North.

A grizzly bear at Km 416.

Km 420

Km 450

NWT/Yukon Border & Wright Pass:

The mileposts change at the border (Km 466), so the rest of our distances are approximate, based on our odometer.

Km 480 - After we crossed the border into the Northwest Territories, the mountains held back the cloud cover and we emerged into a bright sunny day.

Rat Pass - The Dempster Highway follows a traditional route, used by Gwich'in hunters for many generations.

Km 510

Our first view of the Peel River.

Km 518 - coming towards Fort McPherson

The Mackenzie River Ice Crossing

We didn't take any more pictures heading to Inuvik, I guess we were excited to be getting home! But here is a picture of the ice road at Inuvik on May 12 - the road was still in use even though the entrance was a bit wet.