To Tombstone Mountain, Dempster Highway

From Moose Creek we travel north west still on the Klondike all the way to Klondike Crossing, which is the junction with the Dempster Highway, We filled up with fuel at Klondike Crossing which is an unmanned pay-at-pump station in the middle of nowhere. A chap turned up in his pick up also to fuel up, and we learned that he was from Inuvit, some 770km away and was driving home - about 8 hours on gravel. I asked him if there was anywhere along the Dempster that we could get fresh water, and he simply said “yes, the springs”.

We stop at Grizzly Lake trail head for an out and back walk through the woody forest. We feel as though we are being watched but don’t come across anything other than a squirrel noisily telling us to go away, and lots of birds and butterflies. It’s uphill for most of the way, and we get hot and sweaty and stop several times to swig at our water bottle. After 2km we turn back, following the rivulet all the way back down.

The verges on our drive change from dandelions to wild lupins, and there are thousands of them lining our route. The road is wet, slippery, gravelly, stony and bumpy and it takes us some time to reach the Tombstone Mountain Territorial Park limits. We pass a lake which has a huge beaver’s lodge and dam and clock it as a stopping point on our return journey.

We finally reach Tombstone Mountain campsite and Interactive Park where we choose our site and park up. We decide to go for a walk down to Beaver Pond, which has two huge beaver lodges in it, and a vast dam stretching several metres long, and 8ft high. It is truly a magnificent piece of eco engineering. We go off the path to the pond edges and stake out for an hour or so, hoping to see a beaver. There is much activity on the water with geese, ducks and lots of water birds. After about an hour, we spot an owl flying by and he lands in a tree on the opposite side of the pond. He is a Northern Hawk Owl, and is beautiful. We watch him for a few minutes, and then return to the campsite where we cook a stir fry and watch the sun.

We retire at 11.30pm, and it is still daylight.

Miles:

Sunset: 12.05pm

Northern Hawk Owl: 1

Squirrel: 1