Here is we are camping in back of the church at Tsiigehtchic which over looks the great Mckenzie River. Little Anthony, one of the kids in the village joins us for several meals. The Gw'chin, the local aboriginal people, have lived here for as long as anyone can remember, came here to hunt and fish and then moved on with the season. Now it is a village of perhaps 200 people who live here year round.

Anthony dad, Russel, helps run the ferry which you can see in the far distance. This one just one of the three ferry crossing we have used so far. A bridge can not be built here because of the freezing and thawing of the river is too mighty it has knocked down bridges that have been built before.

This is what the tundra looks close to the Artic Circle.

This is a shot of the village church which we camped in back of because it was cooler and had less mesquitos. What a view.

Since we did the Dempster from Inuvik to Dawson City this summer (2006) I thought I'd write some notes about the trip for other cyclists. If you have additional notes, please add your comments to this page.

• Resources
  • The Milepost is essential. Copy or rip out the section about the Dempster and you'll know where every pullout and campground is.
  • Alys and Pete's book Alaska Bicycle Touring Guide is getting mighty old, but it's the only place you can find out where water is available. That's something that matters to a cyclist and not to most other travelers.
  • Journals from other riders who did the Dempster: Jeff Kruys (2006), Murray Snyder (2006), Mike Vermuelen (1996)
• Things you'll need
  • Mosquito headnet (or full body suit) and repellent. Mostly we liked the headnet instead of repellent.
  • Bear Cache/Cannister (or see our note on using garbage cans as a cache)
  • Eye protection - lots of dust and things flying.