Tell me about Tuktoyaktuk!

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

[/SPOILER]

Fuzz can you tell me more about these? I assume the second photo is the inside of the first one.

Is this essentially a full size walk in fridge?

Sorry, I called it an ice house, but it wasn't a fridge, this was a traditional sod house. You can see the sod coming off the roof and scattered around. We didn't go in the actual ice freezer, from here:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...ouse-1.5417534

[CroFlames]

I'd probably climb a hill and then spread my arms out and yell I'm on top of the world like Leo.

[pylon]

Edumicate me on this highway. This sounds like an amazing trip for a Adventure Bike.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by pylon

Edumicate me on this highway. This sounds like an amazing trip for a Adventure Bike.

Oh it 100% is

(Not my pic)

Spoiler!

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by pylon

Edumicate me on this highway. This sounds like an amazing trip for a Adventure Bike.

Its long, dirty, dusty, muddy and rough. The paved road ends around Tombstone, then it's ~800km of the coolest planet Earth has to offer. Like, every 15 minutes the entire terrain changes, it's wild. On a bike though? Oof, gotta really want it.

Here's a small selection from that drive. I can't overstate how incredible it is. I've been all over the world, and this is still at or near the top trip of my life.

Spoiler!

[Leondros]

Amazing photos - definitely adding this part of the world to my bucket list.

[FlamesAddiction]

What are the bugs like up there? Mosquitos and black flies in particular.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

What are the bugs like up there? Mosquitos and black flies in particular.

Think the worst you have ever seen. Then imagine way worse.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

What are the bugs like up there? Mosquitos and black flies in particular.

It's like Manitoba and Northern Ontario combined

[Wormius]

How is the road? No flat tires?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

What are the bugs like up there? Mosquitos and black flies in particular.

We had basically zero issues until near Inuvik, the mosquitoes were horrible there. When we went on the delta the black flies were intolerable on land. Like, 5 minutes and you are praying for death. Fortunately we were mostly on the boat. We were there June/July, I hear late August can get bad.

[Reggie Dunlop]

I knew a husky from Tuktoyaktuk.

[btimbit]

Uh that reminds me, the guy that owned one of the hotels in Inuvik had a pet wolf.

God I wish I still had those pics

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

How is the road? No flat tires?

Oh, it's rough! We helped a German couple who had gotten a flat near Eagle Plains, fortunately they weren't far and they have an auto shop there so I helped him get his spare on. I had thought we lucked out, but near the end of the trip around the aptly named "Destruction Bay" our luck ran out. Jacking up a motorhome with glacier wind blasting at you isn't all that much fun! But a minor inconvenience.

[Reggie Dunlop]

They have lakes full of Huskies.

[pseudoreality]

I've been to Tuk a number of times for work, traveling both by air and by winter road. I haven't driven the way on the new all-season road yet, but I've done a little cruise down the highway from Inuvik to check it out.

I'm not sure what your accommodation is like, but if you are expected to cook your own food I highly recommend packing food. The quality of food locally available can be questionable. I always pack my own food when traveling around the north. Sometimes you have to pay extra for the air cargo, but it's worth it and change it to your employer. I remember the last time I was in Sachs Harbour I flew in with a heavy-duty mechanic that tried to buy his groceries locally. I felt bad for him. All the food the store ordered was rotten on arrival. Things will be better in Tuk with the all-season road now, but still, not the highest quality food gets shipped north.

I recommend you be polite and patient with the people that live there and show a genuine interest in their culture and way of life. People work a little slower, but that's okay. Have a coffee, enjoy some conversation and secondhand smoke before you start your day.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

They have lakes full of Huskies.

They just jump right into your boat!

[pylon]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Oh it 100% is

(Not my pic)

Spoiler!

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Its long, dirty, dusty, muddy and rough. The paved road ends around Tombstone, then it's ~800km of the coolest planet Earth has to offer. Like, every 15 minutes the entire terrain changes, it's wild. On a bike though? Oof, gotta really want it.

Here's a small selection from that drive. I can't overstate how incredible it is. I've been all over the world, and this is still at or near the top trip of my life.

Spoiler!

I've been kicking around the idea of a 1 month Adventure Bike excursion up north for a decade now. This is likely gonna be the one I do.

I did a relatively big one through the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Washington back in 2015 on a Sport Tourer, and it was pretty awesome. One of the best vacations of my life, and I ripped it off in 17 days. But all the roads that were really beckoning my name were the dirt ones.

And to answer the bolded part Fuzz, yeah, long bike and tent trips take a lot out of you, but they are so incredibly worth the sore ass, shivers and wrists. Met some of the most amazing people along the way.

My favorite story was when I was in a little campground outside Cody Wyoming, and in the middle of the night, I hear "Hey buddy. Hey... buddy.... your bike tipped over." I poke my head out of the tent and there's this big fat hells angel biker guy in his gaunch and boots with a flashlight. The smell of the leaking gas woke him up. I put it on the center stand in pretty loose gravel, and I guess a wind gust got it.

So there I am at like 2 in the morning, in my gaunch too with this grizzled old biker trying to right side my overloaded Honda VFR. We were both laughing pretty hard at the end of it. /coolstorybro

Bikes are such an incredible way to travel, but it takes work. By the end of it you'll never want to set up a tent ever again.

[Fuzz]

Speaking of tents, the campgrounds are also incredible. Which just reminded me, the bugs in Eagle Plains were also awful.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Bugs as big as huskies!