Here are some of the preparation that happen before the trip.

Here we go, I decided some time in December to do the Deh Cho. I was thinking about this trip for a while.  Only bad thing about this trip is that Michèle will not be with me.

Why this trip ?
Why not !  It is not to far from Cold Lake (so to speak).

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Denis and I am military, happily married, with 2 boys of 20 and 18 years old.
My 'rig' is a 1996, class 'C' of 24'' from Triple E.

I have never done a blog before, so I have to decide what I am going to talk about !!!  I think I will try to describe the sight I see and the  'experience' I will have during my trip. Also I will try to add a little humour to my text.  Boys being Boys.  I will also keep some statistics on things like $$$, the road, the people... and of course on me...

   The purpose of this purchase is to allow me to carry my generator and gas and other thing I do not want inside the motorhome.

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24 May 2006

It is decided! I will be leaving Monday the 29 at around 7 am.  Let me tell you I just can't wait.  If my voyage is only half as interesting as the stuff I seen/read on the web, it will be fun.  The motorhome is slowly emptying of the unneeded stuff to be replace by the needed stuff, like the spare tire... I can't believe the stuff I need, or thing I need.  Lets just say thing are going well.

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25 May 2006

Today I only fine tune my blog,  everything is written in sand.  Things can change and will more that likely change as time moves on.  What ? it is a voyage not a job.
Here are some of the goals I set for myself and the blog.
 
For the blog:
    -   I will maintain my blog everyday, even if I can't update my site for a few days.
    -     I will write everything that goes true my mind... and not change it later.
    -     If I talk about $$$ it is only to compare our price with the one here... and yes, I will talk about $$$ for the gas, mile per gallons etc... ( I'm a guy         and I like that kind of stuff

My goals:
    -   Not to rush to do things (control time and not time controlling me).
    -   To walk about 10 Km per day and / or bike 25 to 30 KM per day.
    -   Take a day 'off' every 4 or 5 days.
    -   When I get up in the morning, to put on my 'kids' eyes and look at things as if it were the first time.
    -   To take my time in museum, on the road, just plain enjoy the moment.

 Way ! Got work to do !!

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29 May 2006

Up at 630 am.  It rains with a beautiful +8 C
My bike will travel inside for the first day.
Off I go at 730 am.
The rain stops around 9 am  and some sun is coming true, 

Ah yes ! I have an other goal to ass, not to go faster then 90 km with the motorhome.  I also have to modified one of my goal, when driving, only put one 'kid's' eye because I have a hard time keeping my eyes on the road.

Chocolate, the roads a great in Alberta !

I fuel up in Slave Lake for the cost of $100 for 95 litres at $1.049.  The lake is named 'Slave' not because the native were slave but because the name of the Dene tribe is 'Slavey'.  The early settlers gave it the name Slave.

Great weather to travel.  It got a little worst in the afternoon when the wind picked up, right on my face !  Well ! if the is my biggest problem, I can live with it.

I arrive in Peace River at 4 pm.


I decide to stop for the night and to go see 'Twelve Foot Davis' on my bike.  By the time I got to the bridge and look behind me... some big, black clouds are coming.  Well, I went back to the motorhome.

Only a 4 km bike ride on day one, so much for goals...  OK, I will have a beer as a punishment and forget about it.
Today I drove 614 km.

I am camping at the Lions Park on the West side of the river.  The town is on the East side of the river.  The camper are mostly oil rig workers.  All the camping are full.


Well ! the rain never came.  If it does not rain tomorrow I will go to town and see the statue of Davis and maybe the museum.  If it rains, will see it on the way back.


 

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30 May 2006

Up at 830 am. Bad news, I bought some black socks so dirt and stain would not show up after a wash. Well, they are in Cold Lake...Dam ! And I drove past 2 Wall-Mart.  Oh well, next town.  I left the campground at 1030 and went to downtown Peace River.  I bikes the bike path that follows the river's edge, very nice.

I have lunch by the ''Twelve Foot Davis'' statue.  According to what I have read about him, he was one of the few good guys, he was likes by all, Native and white alike.  He worked very hard all his life and lived til 1900 at a ripe old age on 80.  At 70 he was still packing a 200lbs load on his back to the Fort of the north.   The Native named him ''the Wolf''.  He was a nice and generous man.



I visited the Peace River Museum. Nice museum, the lady that works there was super nice.

I leave Peace River at   1130 after have toped up the gas. $1.089 for a total of $80.00 for a distance of 252 km traveled.  So far my average is 27.5L / 100km.  Not too bad but not very accurate until I have more km traveled.

My next stop is Grimshaw, 21 km away.  Pfiou ! it is far ...  I camp at the Elks RV park with all services for a big $15... WOW !

At 130 pm I decide to go and visit the ''Lake Cardinal Pioneer Village''  It is a village of the 20's and 40's.  I also discover that Mackenzie was the first to travel to the Pacific ocean, that is 12 years before Lewis and Clark (Americans) but the Americans say they were the first, GO BUSH GO ! I'm getting side tracked here.  Back to the village, it is all volunteer work, including restoration.  They do beautiful work.



When I get back I take my bike and went to the '‘Mile Zero Antique Truck Museum'' but it was closed, my guess is that on a Tuesday at 3 pm, they close early.  I take pictures of the ''Mile Zero''  of the Mackenzie Highway



When I get back to the campground there are some mean looking clouds...I am next to the library and go in to check if I can get the Internet.  No luck, they close in 10 minutes, no time to get the laptop and get back.  It rains, it's windy, it's sunny, and it (can't remember the work) rains ice.

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31 May 2006

Sunny day !
it is 730 and I empty my grey and black water. On my way to La Crête and Fort Vermilion. Very nice road, I take the ferry at Tompkin's Landing.



The ferry is free and only runs during daylight hours. which means about 22 hours a day. 


The ferry allows a saving of 90 km for the traffic going south from La Crête or Fort Vermilion. 


I arrived at the ''Heritage Village'', well, it is closed... a detour of 150 km for no reason. I am not impressed...oh well !
On my way to High Level and to the NWT.  In High Level the gas is at $1.089 and I take $125.50 worth of it. My average is 25.5 L / 100 km.  Driving 90 km sure makes a differences.  Ah! guess what ?  I am now the proud owner of 24 pairs of black socks. 12 in Cold Lake and 12 with me.  High Level info centre has a small museum, very nice, well laid out.  High Level is on the 58 parallel and guess what? it has more frost free days then Edmonton, H.L. 110 days, Ed. 104. It also have about 2000 hrs of sunshine per year, no wonder it is farming country.  At 4 pm I decide to continue to the NWT and spend the night at the 60th Parallel Park.  The road is very nice but from time to time I wonder what is on the road... Caterpillar...



Lots of caterpillar... enough caterpillar that  when I stop the motorhome stinks like rotten meat because there is so much caterpillar meat on the mud flap. 


The info centre is OK, not very big.




The campground is OK (10 sites), shower at $3, site at $16.  Lots of deer flies.  Slow night, updating my blog. BTW, for my goals of walking/biking, I think about it, I will make up for it (I think).

Last night it was daylight until 11 pm. WOW ! 



Up at 745, breaky, brush my teeth, find myself to be handsome and smart....OK..OK..OK ! I am getting carried away here.
On the road to Hay River.  Very nice road so far.

 

I stop at the Louise, Alexandra and Escarpment falls.  Man it is pretty and wild.  I stop at Louise falls because it is centrally located.  Back pack, water, camera and off I go to the falls.
Louise Falls are 14 meter high



Really nice  and with a very good lookout, a spiral staircase to get to the base of the falls. 



It is very impressive with the Gorge and the river.  I follow the trail that joins Alexandra and Louise falls (6 Km return). The lady at the campground mentions that bears are in the area, let me tell you that my Bear Bell is ''belling away''.  The trail is well done and maintained.. the trails has many lookout and some information stations relating the importance of the falls to the Native. 



The stations explains the roles and social status of each individual in a tribe.  It also mention why the native would leave the winter ground of Alberta and move up to the Great Slave Lake for the summer.  The gathering on the shore of the lake could have as many as 1000 person present, mostly Dene tribes.  It was a time for trading, learning , settle disputes, and celebrations.  It was the high time for the tribes of the North-West. 
As I keep walking, it is weird to hear the noise of the fall diminish and the other fall getting louder.  When I see the Alexandra falls... chocolate it is gorgeous. and big.

To see the gorge, the river the falls. WOW!  Alexandra falls tumble 35 meters (Niagara falls are what ? 45 meters!)



The ''Twin Falls Gorge Park'' is very well done.  You can go right to the edge of the falls, no fence or guard rails. I guess they think that if you fall, you were too close , your fault dumb ass!



Back at the motorhome time for lunch before I go to Escarpment Falls.  Pretty little falls. 



After the Falls, I take the road North. Enterprise is 6 km to the north and my destination is Hay River, 38 km further.  I blink and I missed Enterprise, population 88. 

Stopped at he info centre in Hay River. got lots of info.  I decided to stop at the truck wash to get some of the caterpillar of the motorhome.  Man my motorhome stinks. Finally I got most of the goo off.

Fuel top up for $90.  74 litres at $1.214, not bad, I expected $1.50.  My average is 24L/100km.  I slowed down to 85 km and not using air conditioning make a difference.

I camp at the Hay River Territorial pack at $20 per night with electricity and free showers.  My site is about 50 meters from the beach





I spent the rest of the day and evening updating my blog and also making a English version of the blog for my Anglophone friends.  Not to complain but I never realize it would take 1 hours a night to up date the blog, and I have not had a busy day yet.  WOW !  It is OK during the updates I have a beer.... a scotch...dam I'm goof looking and intelligent..... I'm drunk.....Oh well :-)

Enough delirium.... what are people going to think, too all, see you later!

Really ! when the school was built in 1971, they asked the student of the time what colour they wanted and they picked purple. 

OK!  Some info on Hay River. The Dene chose this spot over 800 years ago for there summer camp.  Later, the Hudson Bay Company and the Churches came to Hay River.  During the second WW.  The Americans came to Hay River and build a runway which served as a base camp for the building of the Canol Pipeline.   In the 60, some mining company, the Coast Guard and the Northern Transportation Company Limited which more fret up to the villages in the arctic.  This gave the nick name of ''Hub Of The North'' to Hay River.  In 63 tragedy struck with a big flood, this forced the town to re-locate the town up-stream.  Today you have the ''Old Town'' by the shore of the lake and the ''New Town'', 6 km further up the river.  Hay River has a population of 3835 souls.  I have to say, the people of Hay River are very friendly.

I bough a small tripod at the cost of $15 and let me tell you, it is very useful and easy to carry in a back pack.

    
 

A picture of me working on my blog... having a little Scotch.


 

Let me tell you, nobody will ever steel a picnic table, they are made of cement.


 

3 June 2006

Up at 730 am. I lied yesterday, the sun does not rise at 4 am but at 2 am.  And between midnight and 2, it's not dark!  I was looking at a map of the world, I notice that the 60th parallel is in the middle of Hudson Bay ! Isn't there esquimos up there ?   Oh well !  let's continue.  on the road by 840 am and take road n.5 for Fort resolution.  Nice road.  I turn onto n.6 to carry on to Fort Resolution.  Let me tell you, there is not much between Hay River and Fort resolution  Trees... Trees.. I even counted them... 153,345,234  and now I am tired of it.



The further away I am from Hay River, the worst the road gets.  Then I hit the gravel road for the next 66km. Not bad, just a few bad spot.  lets go back in time... When me and Michèle were at he RV show in Edmonton, the guy in the info booth for the NWT said that there is not much to see in Fort Resolution.. Well he was right!  It is not worth the detour.  But that is OK... been there, did not get a t shirt.   Fort Resolution is a small Native village of 525 souls.  They must have good job because they all have new trucks , even a hummer!   I was reading that there is 2 saw mills in the area.  All the street names are in Chipewyan. 



Not much to do or see here, lets go to Fort Smith.  but not before I fill up for $60.00 at $1.279 for a total of 46 litres.  I take road n.6 and then turn onto n. 5 to Fort Smith which is about 200km away.   Guess what ? trees..... treesssss.   Big ones..... small ones... burnt ones...........green ones.... I will be dreaming in treesssss !  Chocolate !!!
Then... I am in Wood Buffalo National Park. 



Created in 1922 to protect the Wood buffalo.  It has area of 44,800 Sq km and it is bigger then Switzerland.   When the park was created, only 1500 wood buffalo  were in he new park boundary.  soon after that 6600 were brought up from the south and now the Park stands at 3500 buffalo, they all are Hybrids.  I saw my first buffalo at km 126, man it is big, and ugly... 

 

I was reading that the buffalo have a big head to plow into the snow to get to food the need.

I stopped to see a Karst.  Man! that is one hell of a big hole.  



OK, that is created when a underground river forms a grotto and the roof collapse.  This is the ''hole', 18 meter deep and I do not know how wide.  It will keep on growing in size amazing.

Back at the motorhome.. dam ....I am missing a hub cap...chocolate! Where did I loose it ???  Should I go back ?  I can't remember hitting a big bump! What can I do ? I remove the last 3 hub caps and carry on.  Back on gravel roads, for the next 104 km.  It is raining now, nice job on the motorhome.  



A little stop to see the wet lands. The Park protect the Whooping crane.  Back in 1941 there was only 16 left. Now we have more then 180. 



I took this pictures to show you how ''bad'' Buffalo can be, look at the post...



Many, many km later, I hit the Salt plans.  Following a nice... .Little road for 13 km.  Lucky for me, not traffic... 



Decided to have supper as I wait for the rain to stop... OK I go... rain gear..(can you see the bugs.. ?)<



Gumby boots and bug juices.  Very Nice site well laid out, Nice look out.



Little trail leads to the bottom onto the plans  With the rain coming down, very little salt is visible.  I found some anyway.



The native were the fist one to harvest the salt, its purity is unequal, I tasted it, very nice, made my blood pressure go up right away.   The salt comes from the salt that was de-solved many ears ago and the springs brings back the slat and the evaporation allows the salt to be seen and harvested.  The only problem are the bugs, man...

Arrive in Fort Smith...after 518 km of driving...



I am camping at the Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park . $20 with power and free showers.
It is 7 pm I just got here. Will do nothing, just shower and work on the blog.
Tomorrow, biking to town.. if it rains... motorhoming to town.