Farther 2019. Tombstone Territorial Park

I have been to the most wondrous place on earth!  It was a difficult few days, but oh, the wonders I’ve seen!

It was a sunny day in Dawson when I decided to head up the Dempster Highway.  The forecast up north didn’t look good, but I figured I might as well use the good days…and who knows, maybe the forecast will be wrong.

As it is with Canada’s most epic roads, there was very little fanfare at the junction with the North Klondike Highway.  The beginning of the highway slowly introduced the mountains, until Tombstone.  Then the mountains surrounded the road and the trees melted away giving such amazing views.  Also, the fall colours are beginning early this year!

By the time I had my campsite set up, it was getting more overcast.  The sun would occasionally peek through the clouds, lighting up the colours below.  I went for a couple of short hikes.

That evening, after dinner, the clouds began to break up as the sun was low in the sky.  I went out for a drive to enjoy the view and get some pictures.  Apparently the campground is just at the edge of the treeline.  As I drove further north, the trees disappeared completely and the valley opened up with expansive views, coloured in yellow, with the sun shining across.  I was completely blown away.

As I turned around to head back to the campground, it started raining.  As the rain died down again, the sun shone strongly through the clouds and lit up a rainbow!!

I was just so blown away.  So thankful to God for allowing me to experience these wonders…wonders that just seem to get better and better.

Of course, the bad weather in the forecast caught up with me.  The next day it rained.  All day.  It was cold too.  Around 8 degrees Celsius  So it was a bit of a miserable day…especially as the dirt around here gets really mucky when it’s wet…

Ah, but then there was the next day.  I saw the forecast so I was prepared…somewhat.  The rain died off during the night, and the temperature dropped to about -4 Celsius.  The wind picked up as well.  I was still mostly warm in my sleeping bag, but getting up that morning was quite cold.   I put on several layers and went for a drive with the heat on to warm up.  It was still -2 at this point.

There were occasional snow flakes falling, and while there was no snow on the ground, the peaks of the mountains had received a snowfall overnight.  It just added to the awesome beauty from the day before!  The contrast of the cold snowy peaks and the warm fall colours was amazing.  So I drove around taking pictures.  It was very windy and very cold.  I was glad to get back into the warm Jeep after each picture.

The next few days were supposed to be more of the same, and while the scenes were beautiful, the wind and cold were hard to deal with.  The extended forecast suggested it was going to warm up a bit the following week.  I could have toughed it out at Tombstone, but I realized the next day was Sunday and Dawson is only 1.5 hours from Tombstone.  It was also 10 degrees and sunny in Dawson!  So I packed up and I’m back in Dawson for a few days, waiting for the weather to warm up so I can make a quick run up to the Arctic!  (oh, and I’ve also now picked up some thermal long underwear and a warmer coat to deal with the cold a bit better)  This trip just keeps getting more amazing…even as the hard parts become tougher adventures.