Bucket List: What's next?
From the Arctic Ocean to the River Lot in France to Galapagos in the Pacific at last—with a few stops in between
It’s time to update the bucket list and begin planning the next big adventure.
There is so much to do and see in this wonderful world of ours, but here are the priorities—at least at this point in time.
Drive north on the Dempster Highway
From Dawson City in the Yukon to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories and on to Tuk on the Arctic Ocean, that would be one truly epic road trip.
Current thinking has us flying into Calgary, Edmonton or Whitehorse where we would beg, borrow or rent a truck camper or camper van for the drive north.
The famed all-gravel Dempster Highway runs 740 km (460 miles) from just east of Dawson City to Inuvik. Since 2017, one can drive all the way to the Arctic Ocean on the all-gravel Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway, a further 174 km (108 miles).
The Dempster Highway website promises incredible scenery, wide open spaces and remote beauty. We believe it! Click here to read more.
If you visit YouTube and search for Dempster Highway, you’ll find videos created by folks who have experienced the road north.
Road to the Arctic Ocean, Driving the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk
An introduction to the Dempster produced by NWT Tourism
There is so much to see and do along the Dempster one could spend an entire summer taking it all in. Alas, we may be able to swing only three weeks. Just getting to Whitehorse from our home near Toronto requires a significant road trip by itself. Canada is a big land, the distances are mighty.
Once in the Yukon, a stop we would love to make is Lake Laberge just north of Whitehorse. That’s where in a small off-grid cabin in the wilderness we might find Gurdeep Pandher to ask him to show us how to dance Bhangra, a traditional dance of the Punjab.
See Muskox up close and personal
I was lucky enough to live and work in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, 30-odd years ago. I did visit Tuk in the dead of winter, driving the ice road from Inuvik to the Arctic Ocean. A few years earlier, on Baffin Island, I ran a marathon and then an ultramarathon between Arctic Bay and Nanisivik.
But I never got see Muskox which have lived in the Arctic for close to two million years. Yes, two million. They crossed over to Canada from Siberia about 90,000 years ago when the Bering Sea was dry land.
The Muskox is known for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males during the seasonal rut, from which its name derives. This musky odor has the effect of attracting females during mating season.
Today there are naturally occurring populations of Muskox only in Greenland (about 20,000) and northern Canada. Most of Canada’s 85,000 or so Muskox are found on the Arctic islands, especially Banks and Victoria islands. The mainland population of about 14,000 is located in the areas north of Great Bear Lake, around Queen Maud Gulf, and in northeastern Keewatin.
Which means the logistics and costs of seeing a Muskox in the wild are extreme.
For research, I studied these sites among others:
The best bet may be Ivvavik National Park, located in the far north of Yukon, and nearby Herschel Island. Rafting on the Firth River to the Arctic Ocean may be just the ticket.
Kayak among the Narwahl in the Arctic
During my time living in Canada’s North, neither did I get to see Narwahls, often called the Unicorns of the Sea by virtue of the single long tusk that males grow.
National Geographic has posted an excellent introduction with incredible images. Click here.
Unfortunately, as for the Muskox, the logistics and costs of seeing Narwahl in the wild are truly extreme. If you can swing 27 big ones, Arctic Kingdom based Iqaluit, Nunavat, has your ticket. Click here to read more.
For its base, Arctic Kingdom uses Pond Inlet, a small, predominantly Inuit community located on the northern tip of Baffin Island. On a flight from Iqaluit to Nanisivik to run an ultramarathon in 1980, we made a brief stopover in Pond Inlet when fog forced our aircraft to divert, but Narwahls were not on my radar then.
Be mesmerized by Northern Lights
I was amazed by Northern Lights, aka Aurora Borealis, when I lived in Yellowknife, in Canada’s North, way back when, but Mrs. K has never seen nature’s spectacular light show as it can only be viewed in the North.
We can only experience full Auroral activity in high latitudes (far north or far south) because of the magnetic fields near the north and south poles. The solar wind particles needed for an Aurora event are pulled into the earth's atmosphere by these magnetic fields.
Churchill, Manitoba, on Hudson Bay, is one of the best spots on the planet to see the Northern Lights as Churchill lies directly beneath the Auroral Oval in the Northern Hemisphere. Which means auroral activity occurs on more than 300 nights a year. Aurora high season in Churchill is February and March. Which happens to coincide with deep winter when temperature can drop to 40 below zero Celsius. Or 40 below in Fahrenheit.
So, we’ll bundle up and go. Best bet might be by train. We live less than an hour from Union Station in Toronto. Add four days and we could be in Churchill.
Lots of useful information about visiting Churchill can be found on a website maintained by an intrepid family that loves to travel.
The possibility of catching the Churchill Trifecta needs further research. That would be polar bears, beluga whales AND Northern Lights, possibly in late August.
Visit Haida Gwaii: Galapagos of the North
As much as I yearn to visit the Arctic again, a remote archipelago off British Columbia’s northernmost coast has been calling my name for many years now. It’s Haida Gwaii, formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands, often dubbed Galapagos of the North because of the diverse plant and animal life.
If you’re not familiar with Haida Gwaii, click here for an excellent introduction on CNN. Or watch this excellent personal account posted on YouTube by a visitor:
The idea of camping on the beach, listening to the sound of the Pacific Ocean surf, foraging for clams, maybe fishing for salmon or halibut, it’s mighty appealing.
Or explore the islands in comfort and style aboard a converted tug or schooner with Maple Leaf Adventures.
The chance to see Baleen whales (Humpback, Fin), Killer whales (Orca), Pacific White Sided Dolphin, Dall’s Porpoise, Black Bear, Black Tail Deer, Bald eagle, Sea Stars, Anemones, and Moon Snail in their native habitat is truly appealing.
Galápagos at last!
When the Summer Olympics were coming to Los Angeles in 1986, I was living and working in nearby Newport Beach. Like everyone else in Southern California, we were afraid of being overwhelmed by the influx of tourists and made plans to be away.
My plan was to charter a boat in the Galápagos Islands for a month and invite family and friends to join me for a week at a time. I sent off a substantial deposit but as the time approached I realized my total costs would approach $20,000 so I backed out.
Instead, I chartered in the British Virgin Islands for a month and we all had a ball for much less than Galápagos.
But the remote islands in the Pacific that inspired Darwin in his theories on evolution have remained on my bucket list.
The Galápagos Islands are situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 km from the South American continent The 19 islands and surrounding marine reserve have been called a unique “living museum and showcase of evolution.” Located at the confluence of three ocean currents, the Galápagos are a “melting pot” of marine species. Ongoing seismic and volcanic activity reflects the processes that formed the islands. These processes, together with the extreme isolation of the islands, led to the development of unusual animal life—such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise and the many types of finch—that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection following his visit in 1835.
Cruise the River Lot aboard a Penichette
One of the most memorable and most enjoyable trips Mrs. K and I have experienced was when we chartered our own penichette (a narrow canal boat designed for cruising in comfort in sheltered waters) and cruised on Canal du Midi in Southwestern France.
Leisurely cruising through the postcard-perfect French countryside, stopping for fresh croissants and paté in tiny villages, occasionally eating out in equally tiny restaurants, that was something else!
We enjoyed it so much we vowed to return to cruise the River Lot. That was almost 40 years ago and we still have not done it!
Meanwhile, the Dordorgne region that’s home to black truffles, ruby red cahors wine and out-of-this-world foie gras awaits. There is a penichette with our name on it at the dock at Locaboat Holidays, I am certain.
After our time on the River Lot, we could visit Lyon to dine in style at La Mère Brazier as well a explore the birthplace of Camembert, my favourite French cheese.
What are we waiting for?