2009 Summer Motorcycle Trip: Day 11 – June 30

Crossed the Arctic Circle... also crossed from Yukon to NWT And jumped forward 1 hour in time to Mountain time instead of Pacific time. Late start again... had issues with one of the saddlebag combination locks self changing the combination. Tried to fix it... but after 999 tries... I gave up and started the ride. LOL
Met a family on bicycles on the road headed south. They had flown to Inuvik from Scotland. Sean, Ingrid and little Kate (about 7 years old) on bikes (Kate was with Dad on a bike for 2)... headed for Christmas in Mexico and South America eventually. It was a tough ride for them.. all the gravel was thick and hard to pedal. Even hard for me to ride. It was 371 kms I think, and took longer than yesterday. Intense concentration to watch for rocks, gravel ridges and washboard, plus the soft sections the grader leaves behind. Many bad sections with thick gravel in ridges. Bike wandered and tempted to go down a couple times, but no credit to gravity, it did not. At times the speed was in the 30 km range.. and mostly in the 75 km range with lots in the 60 range... and a top speed burst to 108 max. Thankfully the last 10 kms were paved into Inuvik... I was almost done with the gravel. No way could I do the entire Dempster in 1 day.... though many have done it. (my return was done in 1 day) This road would be hell in rain and mud. Bad enough with the rooster tails of dust every vehicle puts up.
Lots of great scenery. Hope my photos do justice.
Camped out in downtown Inuvik campground.... sleeping on a raised wooden platform with my tent.. Tomorrow is Canada Day... hope there is something going on.