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Sheila, we met at the Fred Henne Park, in the shower room; you offered to rinse my hair, and as I am hearing impaired, I could not hear what you were saying until I put my aid on! You were on your way to Edmonton, if I remember correctly. You gave one of your magazines to us and asked me to write our voyage to the North so here it is.

We had been discussing it for a couple of years, debating to go with a camper or a motorhome. We decided on the latter. Of course, I should mention that Jean and I are outdoorsy people.

We left 100 Mile House, BC on June 12, 1998, but not before having heard all kinds of comments from friends regarding road conditions, as in we should not take a motorhome there!

(Jean with 24 pounder from Blachford Lake, NWT)

We traveled the “DEH CHO connection”, Dawson Creek, Grimshaw, Manning, High Level, Hay River, Fort Liard, Fort Nelson and Fort St. John. We did the whole territory, except Inuvik.

First of all, I should mention that it is highly native influenced. They have eight official languages, a unique government, and their meetings are done in native tongues; you are invited to go to them if you wish.

Arriving at the 60th parallel, we visited Twin Falls. We were taken by the beauty of it. By the way, the mosquitoes were not bad. It is on the Hay River; the formation of rocks and colors are breathtaking.

From there, on to Hay River; the hub of the territory. On the way we passed Enterprise, not much there. In Hay River, we replenished our supply and headed south to Fort Resolution. To me, it is north east. A village of 500 people, 99% Native; very friendly and helpful people. It is on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. What an immense expanse of water, almost like a sea. There is wood, lumber and they have a sawmill.

By that time, Jean said he was ready to go fishing, and I was keen too. So we asked for some information on it; “Oh yes,” they said, “there’s a campground at 24 km. south on the Little Buffalo River. It has just opened up to fishing.” We spent three days at the river fishing for pikes and pickerels. We released the pikes and had a feast of pickerels (excellent fish). By the way, we had our licenses from the 60th parallel.

From there, we went south to Fort Smith on the Slave River. It is a very clean little town. We visited the Northern Light Museum & Exhibition Center, a great display with lots of history about the Slave River. On to Wood Buffalo National Park and the Salt Plains, “a sight to see”. A world wonder. We went back twice, and stayed overnight. It is a day use and picnic area. We were ready to leave if they wanted us to. It is an aftermath of the ice age: 370 square kilometres of salt mud flats. The plains provided salt for indigenous people for hundreds of years; and in the early days the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Roman Catholic Mission harvested up to four tons of salt a year. Very very interesting. One of the highlights of our trip.

On the way back to Hay River, we stopped at Polar Lake; we were told that it was good fishing. We spent a day there and it was not good fishing, so we proceeded to Hay River, more supplies and laundry. It is a busy port on the Great Slave Lake.

On to Kakisa Lake, always thinking of fishing. But we could not get on the water because our boat was too small. So we proceeded to Lady Evelyn Falls, again just beautiful scenery.

Next we went on the northwest side of the Great Slave Lake. We had to cross the Mackenzie River and on to Fort Providence. The river itself is phenomenal. We were going north at all times and the terrain was changing, very rocky. We traveled through the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. We saw many bison and took lots of pictures. On to Edzo and Rae, two small villages and no services. We finally reached Yellowknife, and spent the night at Fred Henne Territorial Park — a nice park, the people were very helpful and they are in attendance 24 hours.

The next day, we left for the Ingraham Trail, another highlight of the territory. A recreational area: eight lakes, canoe trails, hiking and fishing. We stayed at Reid Lake for five days. Territorial Parks are just great and well kept. I had never seen so many people tenting. The Lake had sandy beaches, family facilities and good fishing. This is very very north. You should see Cameron Falls if you go.

Back to Yellowknife and to Fred Henne Park. Spent two days in the city. We visited the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center. We were overwhelmed with the place. It is more than a museum, it is the whole story of the North. Highly educational…also the Information Centre is a great place. The next day, 30th of June, we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary by having dinner at the Explorer Hotel; sampling the fares of the North. I had Arctic Char Mousse, and Muskox filet, well presented. Jean had Bison pate, and the satay plate, which consisted of Bison, woodland Cariboo and lake trout; excellent dinner. While dining, we chatted with the waitress, who had come south; so we said, “Where were you before?” She said “Frobisher Bay.”

On Canada Day, we decided to do something special. We took a fly-in-fishing trip to Blachford Lake. What an experience. Going in we flew in a Beaver aircraft, 20 minutes south of Yellowknife. We stayed in a log cabin with wood stove, and were fed at the cookhouse. We experienced the fishing of our lives! Just fantastic. We stayed there five days; flew back in a Twin Otter aircraft to Yellowknife.

(Rejeanne with 23 pounder from Blachford Lake NWT)

We decided to take the Historical Walking Tour of Yellowknife. We had lunch at the Wildcat Café which had been built in 1930, walked up to the Rock, saw the Pilot Monument, enjoyed the fantastic panoramic view. All those places are in what is called Old Town (Sheila’s favourite place in Yellowknife) and this is overlooking the Great Slave Lake, and the houseboats. There is so much more, I will skip them but, well, don’t miss the Northwest Trading Post with its supply of native crafts — incredible is the word I use to describe it!

We were very impressed with the North; we were not expecting what we saw. Now heading southwest to Fort Providence, across the Mackenzie River, and to Jean Marie River, a town of 75 people, all natives. Very friendly and welcoming. We spent 2 days there to fish (very good fishing).

From there on to the Check Point. This is where the Liard Trail meets with Highway 1, going north towards Fort Simpson. There again we cross the Liard River. It is located at the confluence of the two rivers. We visited the Papal Ground, the monument to the four corners of the world.

More north again to Wrigley; a small settlement on the Mackenzie River, 200 people, they move three times to escape the rising of the river. They moved all their houses even the very old church. To go there, we had to cross another ferry at Ndulee. Now just read this one: we had to back up on to the ferry with the motorhome and the trailer behind!

From there, we came back to the Check Point and took the Liard Trail to Fort Liard. On the way we stopped at Blackstone Park. There we saw the high tech of the north in RV Parks. It is on the Liard River, facing Nahani Butte, breathtaking scenery. We had never experienced an RV park of this nature. All log buildings, gazebo, covered lunchroom and the list goes on. The shower room and restrooms were all stainless steel with flushed toilets and state-of-the-art faucets — totally amazing.

We reached Fort Liard in the early afternoon, visited their Information Centre, bought a few souvenirs, and decided to proceed to Fort Nelson. Well, this stretch of road I would not recommend to anyone: 122 kms. which I believe, took us four hours! But, we made it home in one piece, regardless…and we traveled miles and miles of gravel road. Over all we had a beautiful trip.

Oh, I must not forget to mention the lovely hot and sunny weather and the Midnight Sun. We arrived home on the 21st of July, just in time for our hot summer here in 100 Mile House.