Inuvik is really at the end of the road. In the winter it is possible to drive further north from here on top of the frozen Mackenzie river. If you are a fan of the TV show “Ice Road Truckers” then you may already know that Season 2 featured that route.

During the summertime the only ways to go north from here are either by boat on the Mackenzie River or by airplane. However this year the Canadian government approved funding for building an all-weather road so when it is complete it will be possible to drive all the way to the town of Tuktoyuktuk (“Tuk”) on the Arctic Ocean.

Like the rest of the Dempster Highway, this road will have to be built on top of permafrost and, in order to prevent melting, the construction of the road can only be done in wintertime. They literally have to pile gravel right on top of the existing vegetation to create a road bed that is a minimum of 4-8 feet deep! That’s why it will take until at least 2016 for this road to be completed.

We chose to travel to Tuk by plane and booked a round-trip flight and tour of the town of Tuk. Our pilot, Devon, expertly flew the Cessna 172 on a course along the Mackenzie River. When we arrived in Tuk, our Inuit guide, Eileen, met us at the airport for our tour.

This polar map in the airport brought a unique perspective – From here, we could fly all the way to Russia and not see much of anything but wilderness.

Our pilot referred to this as a “private charter.” That meant we could eat the granola bars we brought in flight!

Flying over the region gave a great perspective on the landscape – at least as much water as land.

The First Nations people here are unique in that they can still practice their original way of life if they choose to. Eileen and her husband, for example, still live in the bush about 50 miles from Tuk during the winter months, deriving a substantial portion of their income from the sale of furs which they hunt, trap and prepare in their bush camp. They do, however, make use of modern conveniences – instead of traveling by boat or dogsled, they hire a float plane to fly them to their camp!

One highlight of the tour was a trip 30 feet down into a cave dug into the permafrost. It serves as a communal freezer with a separate room for each family. Quinn thought it was a fun play fort just for him!

Eileen also showed us some of the furs that she has prepared as well as garments like polar bear pants and wolf fur gloves. We did the requisite stop by the beach so we could dip our fingers in the Arctic Ocean. Quinn was happy just throwing rocks in the water.

Polar bear pants!

Back in Inuvik we relocated from the comfort of our hotel room to Happy Valley campground. The weather had turned warmer (& drier) so it was really wonderful to be back in our van.

For the weekend we were fortunate to be able to enjoy some local sounds from the Annual End of the Road Music Festival. The music was great and there were some cute kids in Native dress dancing along too. Quinn even joined in for the fun.

We also got to swim in the pool at the local rec center. That experience provided a whole new meaning to swimming north of the Arctic Circle. Where else can you go down an indoor water slide this far north? It’ll be interesting to see if Alaska will be able to match the expectations that Quinn has after traveling for the past month or so in Canada, where seemingly every town has a deluxe indoor aquatic center.