Builds Ozzi, 2000 HZJ78 in Canada - travel/maintenance/build

[janyyc]

Beautiful transformation! I bet that 3rd door is coming in handy. Sometimes, I wish I had side access like this in my troopy.

I wasn't initially convinced about the third door, but it's proved to be extremely useful, and very well-executed. I'm happy my Troopy has it.

What size tire are you running? the Ko2s look great on it.

Thanks - 235/85R16 KO2's. I initially had 265/75R16's and they were a bit wide for a flare-less Troopy - stones were chipping the paint at the edge of the wheel well. I think the skinnies look great on these 70 series!

The camping pictures are awesome! You're making me want to visit Canada even more!

Thank you - you are welcome to visit anytime, but especially in the summer!

 

[janyyc]

Despite a busy schedule, I try to ensure my dad and I complete one “big” trip a year. This year it was to the Yukon in Canada’s North. Many people think of the Yukon as part of the Alaska Highway, and perhaps also as the gateway to the Dempster Highway and the Arctic Ocean. Having been to Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik before (always in winter, however), and even driven the Mackenzie River ice highway between Inuvik and Tuk before the Dempster was extended, I was not in a hurry to return. Firstly, it’s a very big destination for all types of “overlanders”, who must begin their pan-American trip at the Arctic Ocean, either at Tuk or Prudhoe Bay (the latter is much less attractive and doesn’t allow you to actually “dip your feet” in the ocean). More importantly, while the road does cross some beautiful landscapes and end at a unique destination, there are very few opportunities to escape off of the main road - spurs, wild camps, mountain roads. Lastly, the road is infamous for its poor and gravelly conditions, and its tendency to smash windshields. Busy with tourist and commercial traffic, messy and dirty, not really wild - all that to say, the Dempster isn’t really on my list, especially during peak tourist season (July/August).

However, the Yukon Territory is enormous and offers plenty of other areas of exploration, and one that has long been on my wish-list is the Canol Road. Finished in 1944, the road and pipeline it serviced were abandoned after only nine months in use. More details here: Canol Road - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canol_Road The road is considered a “highway” in the Yukon (Highway 6) and is “maintained” as far as the Northwest Territories border, a total length of 449 km (279 mi). It can be considered split into two sections - South Canol Road between the Alaska Highway and Highway 4 at Ross River (230 km), and North Canol Road, from Ross River to the territorial border. Another ~23km of the road are passable on the NWT side, after which point the remainder of the old road is practically impassable (nb: there have been some attempts to drive the NWT portion, none of them ending in success, and crossing even by foot or bike is a challenging endeavour due to the river crossings).

As always, time was of the essence, so my dad set out from Calgary alone in late July and did the ~2250km (~1400mi) drive to Whitehorse in five days.

Second night’s camp near the BC border:

Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, BC:

Third night’s camp on the gravel banks of the Muskwa River in Fort Nelson, BC:

Welcome to Yukon sign - for both my dad and me this was the last Canadian province/territory to visit, most of them we know quite extensively.

 

[janyyc]

In the meantime, I set out from Europe, and connected through Vancouver flying directly into Whitehorse. Quite a nice airport and a very charming city - the nicest out of the Canadian Northern capitals for sure. To celebrate our reunion, we had a beer and burger at the local brewery, and then left town, following a track to find a magical campsite overlooking Fish Lake. We had a campfire, a beer, and many laughs, and revelled in the incredible view.

One thing that immediately struck me - and that I now miss enormously - was the late hour of the sunsets. Every day of our trip the days were getting noticeably shorter, but on this first night the picture below was taken at 22:15!

After a good nights’ sleep, we woke to a beautiful day, had a shower, and climbed the track to its end at a VOR for the airport.

 

[janyyc]

Case in point for Dempster Highway windshield stories - @coldtaco Builds - AK HJ-75 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/ak-hj-75.930702/post-15139451

 

[coldtaco]

was a little bummed about the lack of hunting tracks or other off shoots from the Dempster

 

[janyyc]

was a little bummed about the lack of hunting tracks or other off shoots from the Dempster

That's exactly what I meant... it's just the road... and (some) camping sites are gravel pits... (Not to belittle your trip, it's still an epic adventure without a doubt!). Plus, Tuk is not exactly picturesque...

 

[coldtaco]

Tuk looks like every other arctic village, whether in AK or northern Canada. Tuk does seem to have a lot of nice shallow water around the area

 

[janyyc]

Tuk looks like every other arctic village, whether in AK or northern Canada. Tuk does seem to have a lot of nice shallow water around the area

Most definitely true (I definitely haven't seen nearly as much as you, but have travelled a bit in the region), but someone I think people expect more given the effort to get there by land.... and the "Arctic Ocean" sounds romantic.

 

[janyyc]

After the pleasant descent back to civilization, we took the easy and luxurious option of breakfast in town. Freshly baked bagels, some barista-made coffee and pastries, were followed by a walk down Main Street, into a bookstore with some fantastic local literature (building of the Canol Road), and into the post office to send a postcard, complete with a wonderful pictorial cancellation.

After stopping at the very-well-stocked and reasonably-priced Superstore and the provincial liquor store, we headed out of town and towards Johnsons Crossing, where we would start our Canol Road adventure. At the very beginning, there was an information board, and some trucks had been staged for tourists’ viewing pleasure - just a little taste of what was to come.

First stretch of the road, 226km to Ross River:

Open for the season - despite the fact the road is classified as a highway, it is only open during the summer months.

Fireweed is the flower of the Yukon, and with good reason - there is a lot of it about, illuminating ditches, hills, and scarred land with its luminescent purple flowers.

 

[janyyc]

Making good progress, we stopped at the official campsites on this portion of the route. They were very well-maintained, and some even had decorative planters at their entrance! We encountered very little traffic, maybe 5 cars total in our time driving the southern Canol over two days.

We didn’t stop early, since the main attractions would only begin on the northern portion of the route. Of course all of the campgrounds were by water, but that didn’t necessarily mean swarms of bugs: it was very location specific, at one it would be bug-free, and at the next it would be unbearable.

We passed by two of our presumed campsites and decided to press on, since they were both already occupied. However, at the third we found a beautiful spot, and met the other campers, locals waiting for August 1 (and therefore hunting season), positioned far away. Our lake was still and beautiful, and the landscape was a perfect combination of open space, shrubs, and trees.

 

[janyyc]

Hors d'oeuvres with some local "beer worth freezin' for":

A very nice steak for dinner:

The neighbours' dog came sniffing after our steak

A beautiful sunset to crown the day:

 

[janyyc]

The second night after coming from Europe, with the 9-hour time difference, still meant a relatively early wakeup for me, but no matter - the sun is always ahead of you...

Breakfast was some of the Whitehorse bagels, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, Perrier, and good coffee. Excellent! As an aside, that Primus two-cooker stove is awesome. Easy to clean post-meal, practical, small.

We only had a short distance of the South Canol remaining, and enjoyed one spectacular section high above the river. The final stretch of this road was more alpine, with beautiful views, forests, and canyons.

The only permanently-settled place on the entirety of the route is Ross River, where there is a single gas station (with above-ground tank), a single grocery store (with post office inside), a church, an RCMP post, a cell phone tower, and most importantly, the ferry to begin the Northern Canol road...

Dena General Store, with the gas station just around the corner:

Surprisingly, there were a few Toyota's around in Ross River - a pickup and an 80 series.

The gas station is obviously a big draw, and a great meeting place. We spoke with someone who was just coming from the North Canol, and was in awe of what he had seen. Just as we were leaving, we saw a convoy of MaxTrax toting, Rotopax carrying 4Runners, Gladiators, and the like roll in. "Oh no", we thought. "There goes our peace and quiet". Luckily, to fit their "expeditionary" image, they had only completed the South Canol and were heading back to civilization. Phew...

 

[janyyc]

The ferry happened to be closed when we arrived, "for lunch", but it was only a 20-minute wait for it to reopen. Quite literally, the gateway to the Canol - to the right is the renovated suspension bridge that used to hold the pipeline over the river.

The road at the beginning was in superb shape, and the only obstacle we encountered was a herd of - apparently wild - horses, stopped literally between a rock and a hard place - in a slide area, with the river to the right, and loose gravel to the left. They didn't budge, even with gentle prodding. Finally, I drove as far as I could to the right, and going only a few km/h, nudged them gently out of the way. They were stoic and unperturbed.

The road was good enough that for a few stretches I was comfortably driving 80 km/h, and I was thinking that the Northern Canol was much ado about nothing... It didn't help that there were a few hunting cabins and a long stretch of fire-scorched forest, to the point I was wondering whether we'd find a nice campsite for the night... Luckily, I needn't have worried about any of this.

The campsite came into view a few minutes after the forests became lush and green, and was a great spot near a silent lake.

There were a few felled trees near camp - we used one log to level the Troopy, and sawed and split the rest for firewood. As the saying goes, "he is twice warmed who cuts his own wood." Half a culvert served as protection from the very occasional drizzle that we had that night.

In my search for firewood, I also came across an onion... Well, after peeling off the unpleasant top layers, why not incorporate it into our dinner?

 

[janyyc]

...and dinner was served. Thai curry with rice and the aforementioned onion.

We headed to the lake for a quick dip.

Luckily the lack of all other noise means the sound of an engine is heard long before the machine itself is seen, so we jumped out of the (anyways frigid) water and quickly clothed ourselves. It was only a touring motorcycle, the Swiss-origin rider was from Ontario, and had just completed the Dempster and a few other routes after having had his bike sent out to Vancouver in June. He travelled fast, as we found out the next day.

After a nice chat, we returned to our camp, and enjoyed the quiet...

...silent, until we heard the distant rumble of a big engine, that is... huh, what could that be? As it came closer and closer, I stood close to the road, ready to capture it... well, would you believe it, a full-size semi with trailer!!



Three more semis would follow - another large load of wood and a front-end loader, both heading north, and a fuel tanker coming south. Our curiosity was piqued, but we were certain all our questions would be answered promptly, just by following the road.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Hors d'oeuvres with some local "beer worth freezin' for":

View attachment 3427321

A very nice steak for dinner:

View attachment 3427324

The neighbours' dog came sniffing after our steak

View attachment 3427327

A beautiful sunset to crown the day:

View attachment 3427328

So only the 76 Series gets the Heinz ketchup?

 

[janyyc]

So only the 76 Series gets the Heinz ketchup?

I made sure to hide the condiments before taking the pictures

 

[janyyc]

The night was quiet, as one would expect, and after starting the fire again in the morning, we made breakfast and took a shower before breaking camp and heading further down the road.

The first unusual location we encountered was a hunting shack from an old school bus, like from the Krakauer book and eponymous movie, shortly after the maintenance compound at Sheldon Lake.

Inside, it looked like nobody had been "home" in many years, the newspapers and magazines were yellowed and dated many years ago.

Stopping to take the sights in, the next location was the Sheldon Lake campground. The entrance was overgrown, and the campground itself had a half-dozen cabins scattered around, all the plywood eaten by porcupines and much of it falling apart. The bugs here were absolutely atrocious, the worst of any place on the trip, and even a quick exit from the car necessitated a few minutes of bug-squashing once back inside. The view, however, was beautiful, and the lake had a dark-coloured sandy beach.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I enjoy reading this thread but just once could you photograph a plate with some beef jerky and
a glazed donut (aka real food)?

 

[janyyc]

Just for you @Gun Runner 5 - spotted in Copenhagen DK

 

[Tennessee Jed]

I'm gonna read this whole thread, but just had to say your photography is gorgeous and really makes me want to go up there. I always hear such depressing stories from Arctic travel, but I knew there had to be a ton of amazing beautiful places...somewhere? And now I see there are. Gorgeous Troopy too.