DETOUR !!!

2014 Northwest Territory Fires, Mackenzie Highway

Our original plan for this trip was to leave Glacier National Park, travel to the Banff/Jasper area, then to revisit Wood Buffalo National Park and travel onto Yellowknife, even further north and east in the Northwest Territory.  As you know from our last post, we were held up in Banff due to the busy, long Heritage Weekend.

We left Jasper on August 5, looking forward to another stay at the Northwest Territory's Wood Buffalo National Park, north and east of the Bow Valley.  As we traveled, the rugged Rocky Mountains lost their edge by late morning.  By mid-day, we were into rolling hills.  By early afternoon, we hit the Great Plains around Grande Prairie.

We camped in the Queen Elizabeth provincial campground, which was nice but extremely mosquito infested.  In spite of the nearly 90 degree temperatures, we started a fire in hopes that it would drive the mosquitoes away.  It did little to help, and we dove for the camper early that evening.

By mid-day on Wednesday, the road grew from hazy to a significant smokey fog.  By the time we hit the 60th Parallel Visitor's Center, the road was blanketed in smoke so thick that we could hardly see a football field ahead of us.  The attendant at the visitor's center confirmed our worst fears... there were not one but 236 fires blazing across the northern section of the Northwest Territories, south and west of the Great Slave Lake... our destination.  All of the fires had been set by lightening and many roads had been shut down.  It is one of the worst fire seasons on record, burning close to 3 million hectares of land.

We learned that the road to Yellowknife was closed.  We were told that we could only enter Wood Buffalo National Park by a convoy that would escort folks to and from Fort Smith once a day.  As David and I stood outside the visitor's center, coughing and wincing from the smoke-filled air, we knew that we had to make a drastic change in plans.  We decided to abandon Wood Buffalo and head due west, hoping to outrun the fires.

Boreal Forest Burn, Northwest Territory 2014

While we were disappointed in our change of plans, it was simply a detour for us.  We knew that these dear folks and the wildlife surrounding us were battling for their lives.  Unable to determine whether the sky was heavy with clouds or smoke, we prayed for rain.  By the time we stopped at the Sambaa Deh Falls Provincial Park, it had begun to drizzle.  Thankfully, it rained all night.

Tonight I write this from Fort Nelson on the Alaskan Highway.  The skies are clear and blue, and the Rocky Mountains are in sight.  It feels right to be here.  Although we have traveled over 550 miles more than we would have had we left straight for here from Jasper, life is good.  Tomorrow we head towards Muncho Lake, one of our favorite spots on the Alaskan Highway.

Our plans are a bit in limbo this evening.  We hope to make the Dempster Highway during the height of fall color the first week  in September.  Now with a week or more to spare from our original timetable, we wonder what path we should take.  Do we take the Alaska Highway all the way to Tok, Alaska, then travel over the Top of the World Highway back to Dawson City before we go on to the Dempster?  We'll sleep on it tonight and see which direction God points us!

Good night and God bless, dear friends.