Yellowknife

 So why Yellowknife?

Because it’s there and we’ve never been in The North before.

Because Dave wanted to attend the Canadian Symposium for Remote Sensing.

Because I have relatives living there that I haven’t seen in years.

Yellowknife is a city of some 22,000 people but it seems like it’s a lot bigger. It is the major hub of NWT and the seat of the territorial government. It has a thriving tourist industry which I was about to explore in between visits with the cousins and while Dave was in sessions.

Old Town

Most of the tourist attractions were in Old Town. It was a quirky part of the city with a few great restaurants, and wonderful views of Great Slave Lake, or The Big Lake as it was known locally.

The best pan-fried whitefish at Bullock's.

The houseboats in Yellowknife Bay are objects of curiosity.  They are year-round homes, off the grid, and a challenge to travel to/from in the shoulder seasons.  One artist depicted the commute with one foot in a canoe, and one on the ice!

Not your typical southern road sign.

Old Town Glassworks

Years ago, an entrepreneur, determined to do something about the lack of recycling in Yellowknife began the Old Town Glassworks.  The business collects glass wine and beer bottles and upcycles them into beautiful drinking glasses and other works of art.  I took a workshop and etched my own souvenir drinking glass.  The story behind the business and the unique equipment used is part of the fun.

June 21st

June 21 was National Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Yellowknife celebrated with an amazing fish fry. The line was long, but it kept moving and the beautiful weather and company made the time pass quickly. The menu was white-fish, straight from the grill, bannock, corn on the cob, and baked beans. It was all so delicious.  While enjoying the lunch, we listened to the Dene Drummers leading the crowd in a dance, followed by performances from a group visiting from Alexander First Nation in Alberta.  

This was also the night of the summer solstice. The sun doesn’t set until 11:39 p.m. and then it remains twilight well into the night. We didn’t stay up for find out if it got dark. If I awoke during the night, it was always light in the window. Sunrise was at 3:45 a.m.  

Tours:

The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is an excellent display of NWT’s landscape and history. There’s so much to learn about the various cultures and the various regions of The North.  One gallery focused on the special constables (local guides) helping the RCMP find their way in the north. The story of the building of the moose skin canoe was the most interesting.  You can find the video of it on NFB:  The Building of the Last Mooseskin Boat. 

The Legislature building is very different from any other provincial legislature I’ve been in.  It is a round building with beautiful artwork which has symbolic significance. It was built in 1992 when the MLAs had had enough of travelling from community to community for their legislative sessions. Transporting the speaker’s chair, the mace and all the other furnishings by dog sled, plane or boat was taking it’s tole. They decided to build it in Yellowknife and one key feature was that it should symbolize transparency of government and have as much light entering as possible with lots of windows.  It is a consensus form of government with no political parties.  Nineteen representatives are elected and out of that number the premier and the speaker are selected by secret ballot.  The premier then chooses a cabinet of five and the rest hold the government to account.  NWT has 11 official languages and all legislative proceedings are translated into all the languages.   

The Fishing

Hanging out near one of the biggest lakes in Canada, and surrounded by many other lakes, fish was on the menu.  First of all, the fish fry on National Indigenous People's Day.  Then Dave and Trevor went out fishing in a canoe one evening and caught a whole mess of fish which were cleaned and fried up for a family fish fry.  Unfortunately, Dave didn't make it out onto The Big Lake.  There will have to be a next time. 

North and south:  fish and farmer sausage
and Penelope's homemade rhubarb pie.
A wonderful feast!

Aside from the family dinner, we spent as much time as possible with these lovely people and their children.  It's been a long time since we'd seen each other and there was a lot of catching up to do.  That was so worth the trip!

Drive Home

All good things must come to an end. 

We didn't get away until well after lunch, but given that it would be light until well after ten, we weren't in any hurry.  It's the same road up and down, and we went back to the same campground, Twin Falls Gorge, as on the trip up a week ago.  "I thought you looked familiar", said the campground host. 

Rainy Good Bye to NWT

The next day we carried on, but went via Fort Vermillion and Red Earth Creek.  It was a rainy drive through the forest. We were able to snag the last camp spot (our size) at Lesser Slave Lake Provincial, pulling in before dark in time to make supper and smell the smoke from all the neighbouring campsite fires.  We were too tired to make our own campfire.  

In the morning Dave threw his line in, but didn't have any luck.  Nevertheless, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work! After a stop for ice cream, we were home in time for supper.  What a wonderful trip.  

Going off in all directions Part 2 - North

Leduc to Yellowknife.  1500 km.  I suppose one could drive that in a very long day, but we’re pulling the RV and really, why rush. It's going to be a three day journey for us.

We left quite early (for us) in the morning, and had time for a spontaneous coffee stop with friends in High Prairie before reaching the campground in Peace River. 

In the morning Dave tried his luck at the trout pond, but it was too windy for fly-fishing. We also went to the look-off overlooking the town of Peace River and the confluence of the Smoky and Peace Rivers.

We continued on with the landscape changing from prairie to endless forest, in some places encountering smoky conditions, until we arrived at the Alberta/Northwest Territories border.  

We've never been this far north.  That deserves a certificate!

Just about 40 minutes later we arrived at the Twin Falls Gorge Campground where we stayed the night.  

After setting up camp and eating supper it was time to explore the falls. 

The Louise Falls were only a short walk from the campground. 
You could hear the roar of the falls as you approached.

What amazed me was the square corner as if it was man-made.

A little bit further along the path was a spiral staircase.

followed by a set of stairs...

..that gave us a closer view of the falls.
One could scramble down a cliff to get closer yet,
but we weren't prepared for that!

I'm always amazed at the tenacious plants that can grow on any bit of soil.  

By then the mosquitoes and bull dogs (horseflies) were getting the better of us, and it was getting a bit late (although the sun wouldn't be setting until about 11:15) to consider a 3 km hike one-way to the other falls.  We returned to the campground and hopped into the truck for the short drive. 

The Alexandra Falls drop 32 m along the Hay River.

We went down the staircase to the river.

And peered over the edge listening to the roar.

The next morning we continued on.  We were sure to pull into Hay River to top up the fuel as towns are few and far between.  The next town was Fort Providence, 180 km away, on the other side of the Mackenzie River.

The 1.1 km bridge over the Mackenzie River, completed in 2012,
finally giving road access to Yellowknife.   

It was a beautiful day for a picnic lunch along side the Mackenzie River. 
We stopped in the campground to find a lovely spot. 

If you want to have a coffee and only have a French press,
grind the coffee at the campsite power post!

As we continued on, we were in a bison sanctuary and before long we encountered them quietly grazing in the ditches along the highway.  Unlike deer or moose which seem to jump out of nowhere, bison are large blobs that are visible from miles away, giving you enough time to slow down and let them cross the highway, if that's on their mind. 

We made one more stop for fuel, going off the highway at Behchoko (formerly known as the communities of Edzo and Rae).  Pulling our big rig into the gas station and blocking half the street added a bit of excitement for the afternoon in the small village.  We met someone who was quite eager to tell us about her people as we fueled up.  The Tłı̨chǫ Government is the governing body for the Dene people in this region and they have ownership of a large tract of land which we were travelling through.  She made us feel very welcome, encouraging us to take another road to find even more beautiful waterfalls.  We declined.  We were on the road to Yellowknife.  After a very rough section of road (we had been warned), we finally made it to Fred Henne Territorial Park, our home for the next few days.