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| Dempster in Autumn's Glory |
We left Inuvik, hoping for sunshine, but found none. At least the roads weren’t so dusty after all the rain. We spied an Arctic Fox, then later a Red Fox hiding in the bush.
We arrived in Fort McPherson and decided to spend the night at the campground near the Peel River crossing. Fort McPherson began as trading post in 1850 by the Hudson Bay Company. The town is now mostly indigenous and has a population of about 650. We drove around town, visiting the Anglican church Again, it rained most of the night.
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| Fort McPherson's Anglican Church |
The next morning, we continued our drive through rain and/or heavy clouds. The Yukon/Northwest Territory border was socked in, covered in fog yet again.
We were at a crawl in the truck, trying not to over drive the road, when we spotted a brown bear off in the ditch. We must have startled him as he grazed tubers on the roadside. He began to run. I stopped the truck, not wanting to frighten him further. He crossed the road in front of us and dashed uphill. Although the camera struggled to focus in the dense fog, I did manage to take this photo of what I affectionately call my spirit bear.
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| Brown bear in fog |
We camped at Rock River for the night. We had to pass on our favorite campsite because it was so muddy and opted for a lesser-used site covered in moss and grasses that was better (and cleaner) for Sam.
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| Trying to un-muddy Sam |
The next morning, the clouds began to break. We decided to drive back to the Arctic Circle, hoping to find more wildlife along the way. What we found instead was the Arctic Circle blanketed in Autumn’s glory. Amazing!
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| Dempster's Arctic Circle in Fall Foliage |
A large group of Chinese tourists were at the Circle. They arrived in a dozen vehicles, popped a bottle of champagne, and took dozens of group photos, sometimes holding a Chinese flag.
On the way back to camp that evening, we drove back to the border, hoping to find caribou. Instead we spied two brown bears grazing tubers along the roadside. To say the least, we were thrilled. Brown bears are largely solitary animals. To find two foraging together was amazing.
We must have watched the pair for several hours. They seemed completely oblivious to us, even though they were grazing only about fifty feet from us. Other vehicles would stop and join us, take a few photos, then head on their way. The bears never seemed to notice.
It is such a privilege to observe how these creatures forage and interact. At one point, one of the bears must have spied a tasty morsel in the bush. He would raise on his hind legs, then bury himself back in the bush, chasing his prey. We could follow him by the frantically swaying alders in his path. I’m not sure he was ever successful in his hunt.
After a while, we drove back to the border. It was still blanketed in fog. We again saw no caribou. One of the elders in Fort McPherson had told us that the younger men had hunted too early, running the caribou back over the mountain. He was obviously disappointed. If the caribou did not return along the Dempster road, it would be much more difficult for the rest of the clan to hunt their winter stores.
Less than thirty minutes had passed between when we were at the border and when we arrived back at the spot where our two bears were grazing. They were gone. Vanished. Without a trace. David scanned the horizon with his binoculars but saw no sign of them. We felt a small miracle had occurred for us to have seen them and that we were truly blessed to have witnessed it.
We now head south. Our time on the Dempster is drawing to a close. Just a few more precious days.
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