Weather: - 22 and clear
Sunrise – 15 days to go

We’ve had to cancel our trip to Whitehorse. Parts of the Dempster have been closed on and off over the last few days and we decided that there was nothing we needed to buy in Whitehorse bad enough to warrant risking the trip right now. Plus we will get to relax a little more. I think we have done enough traveling for a few months.

The trouble with trap lines…
We did drive 125 kilometers down the Dempster today. The objective was to set out a trap line of rabbit snares. I wanted the meat for a rabbit stew, and the furs to get a set of mitts made. So, late this morning we set out down the highway for a trip. At a couple of locations I stopped and walked a short way into the bush to check out tracks that I had seen from the road. I quickly discovered why there were no human tracks to be seen. After the first few steps I sank to my knees, after a few more I was down to my waist – I could barely walk. At one site I pressed on and made my way a little further into the bush. Within 100 metres I was completely exhausted. I was breathing hard and my heart was beating far beyond what it should have been. It was clear that I would be setting no snares this day. I need my snowshoes, and badly. Unfortunately they are in a truck somewhere in the South.

This is our last night in the hotel. Starting tomorrow, we will be in our house. We don’t have much there, but I guess it will be home. We have internet service there; that will be our only entertainment until the furniture arrives.

We went down the Dempster far enough to get to Tsiigehtchic. It’s the second time visiting this community for both of us. We took a few pictures which are posted below.

I'll end this entry with some of the pictures we took today. Some of them are reasonably bright, while others are a little darker. Once the sunlight comes out next month, I will be taking many many more pictures and posting them to this blog. Until then, these will have to do!



Here's a pretty neat picture. The trees are heavy with snow and the half moon is bright in the sky.



A similar picture, but zoomed in on the moon a little.

This was a female moose we spotted on the way down the highway. You probably can't tell from this picture, but she's a big girl!


Another random picture of the sights along the Dempster Highway. there's lots of snow, even the locals are amazed at how much snow there is this year. It's a pretty picture-friendly landscape!


This is a picture of the ice crossing at the Mackenzie River. I know it doesn't look like much in this picture, but it's pretty amazing to be driving a vehicle across the third largest river in North America.


This is a picture of part of the Hamlet of Tsiigehtchic. It's a pretty small place.


Another part of Tsiigehtchic. The church is perhaps the most predominant building in the community.


This is the sign welcoming visitors to Tsiigehtchic.

Cheers!