After crossing the two ferries and fueling up at Fort Macpherson, we stopped for the night at Rock River campground at around 4 pm. Since we stopped pretty early we found ourselves with a few hours to kill after dinner and before bedtime. We were back in Pacific time zone, which meant that the sun went down at about 1030 instead of 1130 as it had been in Inuvik, but that still left us with plenty of time to watch Cars 2 on the laptop in the van.
The Dempster
The next day was a real treat. After not seeing any bears on our way up, we saw two large grizzlies foraging near the road. We watched these amazing animals until they disappeared from view. The leaves have started to change color, and the drive south was much prettier than it had been a week ago on our way north. We pushed on to Tombstone Park Campground in order to give ourselves time for a hike the next day before driving back to Dawson City.
Bear #1
Bear #2
The next morning after our oatmeal (we alternate between oatmeal and granola with yogurt for breakfast. Exciting stuff!) we got on the road at our usual time, around the crack of noon. As usual, we were pretty much the last people to leave the campground.
We drove the 10km to the trailhead for Grizzly Lake and started our hike. It turned out to be quite strenuous. The elevation profile showed the section we hiked to be only 2 miles each way, but with an elevation gain of 1400 meters! Thinking about that, I’m not sure if I believe it, but it was quite steep. Quinn was a trooper, hiking just about the whole thing by himself, and with nary a whine or complaint! We are psyched that he appears to enjoy hiking!
Look at that!
Quinn power!
On the way back to Dawson we had two more treats in store. Witt spotted a mink running across the road, and sometime later we’re pretty sure we saw a lynx, also running across the road in front of us. We weren’t able to identify these animals until we asked at the visitor center in Dawson. A lynx sighting is pretty rare no matter where you are, so we felt pretty fortunate to see that even if we weren’t able to get a photo.