I found myself pretty tired in the morning. Winnie hasn’t been enjoying the new food I got her and decided she was gonna throw up in my tent last night, of course she decides she’ll do it right after she wanders over to my pillow. So there I am, in the dark, trying find her face after hearing the dreaded heaving sound right behind me, luckly I do and manage to get my hand under her mouth right before she gurts, she filled it full…twice. Aside from a drop or two I managed to get it all in my hands and toss it outside the tent, a lovely introduction to my first night camping, sigh!
In the morning I packed up everything and headed to the Pipe Mountain Coaster in Revelstoke. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to do it since it kept raining on and off, but when the rain stopped they’d have the ride up and going again in 15 minutes, so I managed to do it after all..twice! It wasn’t a very long ride, you’re down the mountain in a few minutes on a one man coaster, oh but what a rush, it was definitely worth checking out.
After the coaster I headed out in the direction of Salmon Arm, on the way I decided to check out The Enchanted Forrest, as the strange gnome statues perked my curiosity. I picked up a ticket and walked on in. It felt like it would have been a great place to bring a young child as it was primarily fairy tale themed, not quite my cup of tea though, on the bright side getting to watch Winnie sniffing the backsides of every animal statue was pretty amusing. I did a quick walk through the park before hopping back into my car and continuing my journey.
I headed out past Salmon Arm into Tappen where I stopped in to say hello to Jenn’s grandparents, they happily invited me in and even offered to let me stay the night. We spent the evening sharing our stories as Winnie played about, what a wonderful way to end my second night on the road.
What a day! I woke up bright and early to accompany Dave and Lynne on their daily dog walk they do every morning with the neighborhood. Winnie was ecstatic, she was running around jumping, prancing, and having the time of her life playing with all the other dogs. Upon getting back to the house I started working on my website for my blog that I hope to have finalized soon, then I can finally start posting my stories for all to see! Both Dave and Lynne were wonderful company and I was thankful for their kind hospitality and love.
I got back on the road around 2:30pm heading to Williams Lake. Once again the scenery had me stopping a lot and a 4 hour drive took me nearly twice as long, but oh was it worth it. The wildlife was incredible, I saw a great many deer, birds and horses. I have yet to see a bear yet but I did drive past quite a few of the bear proof garbage cans that were pretty banged up, reminding me that I was in fact in bear country.
I finally made it to Williams Lake and headed into the Stampede Campground. The lady on the phone had mentioned it would be busy, being that it was stampede weekend and their busiest time of the year, but there’d be room for me to camp. When I got there it was packed, and I mean ridiculously packed. Since the office was closed, I drove around looking for anything available, planning on camping and paying in the morning but I was having no luck. At one point I found myself in the wrong neighborhood, it turns out I had driven into the riders only section with a bunch rowdy drunk cowboys, to make matters worse I hit a dead end in their camp and had to do a seven point turn to get back out. I was friendly but I could get the obvious vibe that I was intruding on their territory and some of them seemed pretty annoyed about it. I said a quick friendly goodbye and moved on.
I found myself sitting on the top of a hill overlooking the event feeling rather defeated, the decently priced motels had horrible reviews and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I found a campground online an hour out towards Prince George and gave them a call, the man seemed friendly at first but when I mentioned I had a dog he said that if the dog got off leash and scared his goats he’d shoot it, so ya, kinda sketchy. I started driving out towards Prince George not knowing what I was gonna do, I wanted to do the majority of my driving during the day to appreciate all the scenery and I really didn’t wanna stay at the campsite with the dog threat. Regardless if the man was kidding or not, I got a bad vibe from it. I found myself saying a prayer hoping that something would work itself out. Well, that prayer was certainly answered when I came across a motel/campground that hadn’t shown up on my gps until the last moment. I walked in and called, sure enough a tired woman answered the phone and told me that there was room, not only that but I had a beautiful lake view, something I’m eager to see in the morning when it’s bright out. So ends day 3, it’s turning out to be quite the adventure after all!
What an interesting morning. I woke up and took a look outside my tent, a calm little lake greeted me. I proceeded to make some breakfast and start packing up my tent, as I was doing this the owner of the park came up and said hello. I payed her what I owed her and we started chatting a little bit, she mentioned that the campground was supposed to be fully filled up but due to a few no shows I was able to get in, funny enough she was so tired on the phone when she answered it the night before that she had completely forgot about me and it was her husband that reminded her.
I finished my packing and got back on the road heading north towards Prince George, I felt different though, I felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off me and the hunger to explore and embrace new adventures grew deeper, stronger and more emotional. I arrived in Prince George pretty quickly and decided I’d find a good off leash dog park to take Winnie to, she was happy to stretch her legs. Sometimes you gotta just stop and smell the flowers, all the dew on her nose was testament to just how much smelling she did!
Sometimes it truly feels like a small world. There I was sitting in my car after Winnie’s walk looking at maps figuring out what I wanted to do next when a woman comes up to the window, “Are you Jonathan Melnick, and is that Winnie?” she says. Turns out it was the Jenn’s sister Aleisha’s cousin who I had seen at a wedding a few months ago, what are the chances?! We chatted a bit while the dogs played about before saying our goodbyes as I headed off to another campground.
I arrived in Salmon Valley Campground around 4:30 pm and decided I would take it easy for the rest of the day, focusing primarily on getting this blog up and running. Well, mission success! Hopefully now I can get these stories out faster for those who would be eager to hear them, and just like that day four comes to a close, goodnight!
Last night Winnie got to experience her first thunderstorm, let’s just say she isn’t a fan. It rained torrentially throughout the night, my tent managed to hold up pretty good though. To be so close to nature and hear the rain beating down so violently upon my tent was actually quite nice, in it’s own way it was genuinely peaceful.
After waking up and getting everything packed and ready to go I headed into the site office, the owner had hyped up the coffee the day before and I was eager to try it. I do love my coffee, there was a time I put my coffee maker in my bedroom just out of reach of my bed so I’d have to get up to pour myself a cup as that sweet aroma welcomed me with open arms, best alarm clock I ever had! Upon greeting the owner again she gave me a cup on the house and encouraged me on my journeys. Salmon Valley Campground certainly was a great choice for a place to spend the night.
I was back on the road again, this time heading toward Dawson Creek. I decided I would take my time, really take in the scenery and try to take more pictures for all the see, there is so much beauty everywhere you look it’s hard to pick a spot sometimes, if I stopped at every scenic spot on the way to my destination I’d need more than 3 months, perhaps 3 years to travel across Canada. I pulled out my drone more often and worked on getting some pretty cool aerial shots I feel people will enjoy.
On the way to Dawson Creek I passed through a town called Chetwynd, it was unlike any place I’d ever seen before. The entire town was full of incredibly detailed and eccentric wooden carvings from the moment you enter to the moment you leave.
At last I arrived in Dawson Creek and found a place to camp, I met some fellow adventures that were heading up to Alaska and we shared our travel stories with one another, Winnie had a blast too as she got to run around and play with their dogs. I decided since that since it was Canada Day I’d go see the towns fireworks. The show definitely had that small town vibe to it, not the wildest show of fireworks I’d ever seen but I was glad I went regardless.
As I drove back to camp I realized just how much longer it stays bright out, the horizon still had it’s fiery glow at 11:30 pm! I have noticed how it’s getting colder the further north I go more often now, while I knew it would, it’s another thing all together when it becomes tangible, at least I have a toasty sleeping bag to brave the territories with because I plan on seeing them soon!
I woke to a windy but beautiful sunny morning. I got my tent packed up I let Winnie do some wandering around the campground, there was plenty of open space for her to roam without worry, I didn’t know it yet but this would come to haunt me. I grabbed some breakfast, chowed down and got on the road. I don’t know what she ate that morning but she got into something that didn’t go well with her system. There I was happy as could be with the windows down enjoying the drive when I hear the sound nobody wants to hear with a dog in their car, I look over and Winnie has just had explosive diarrhea, she got it on her bed, her blanket, her stuffed animal, my seat, the window, heck the bugger even got some on the roof! I immediately pulled over, luckily there was a fast moving river there so I took her stuff and cleaned it as best I could, I managed to get the rest of it cleaned up in the car as well. Winnie had seen my happy morning and literally took a dump on it. Some days it’s easy to love my dog, other days it doesn’t come as easily, this morning was definitely a struggle, I love my dog, I love my dog, I love my dog.
I was pretty salty about Winnie’s mess for a while but soon I found my happiness returning, the scenery had once again revitalized me. I arrived in Alberta and took in the landscape, there was a ton of farmland, a lot more than I had expected, fields as far as the eye could see with animals scattered about them grazing, I even saw some bison which was a first.
I ventured off northeast in the direction of Manning, while on the way I decided I would take a last minute detour to the town of Peace River, an excursion that ended up being quite fruitful. The town itself dipped down into a valley with a river running though the center of it, the view alone made it worth the venture. While I was there I grabbed some dinner at a local restaurant called Karen’s Home Style Cooking. One of the things I love to do is find the small town restaurants and try them out, I can always go to a Tim Hortons or something of the sort almost anywhere but it’s the small town restaurants that often end up being the real gems. Karen didn’t disappoint, the burger and soup she made me was delicious.
After dinner I got back on the road heading north to Manning, once I got there I started looking around for a place to camp, none of them really did it for me, instead I decided I’d drive another 2 hours north to High Level. On the way up I saw the remnants of a fire that had torn through, the trees still bore the ashen scars from the flames consuming kiss.
As I finish writing this it’s almost 1am and it’s still partially bright out, pretty soon endless sunlight will be part of my life, Northwest Territories here I come!
It’s a funny thing waking up from a deep sleep where the sun hardly sets, I woke up at 5 am and it was so bright out I thought I’d slept until noon, it certainly plays tricks on your mind that’s for sure. I was glad I drove to High Level to camp the night before, I was able to get more done in camp such as giving Winnie’s bed a proper clean in a washing machine, along with having access to wifi again so I could upload my blog. I got back on the road around 11:30 am heading towards the Northwest Territories, the road was a long stretch with occasional patches of charred timber scattered amongst tall and vibrant birch trees. As I drove further north the amount of insects increased exponentially, there were times I thought it might be raining due to so many hitting my windshield at once. While I may have been annoyed at the bugs, for other creatures it was the buffet of a lifetime, I watched as groups of birds darted back and fourth gorging themselves on the endless supply.
I saw it at last, the sign I’d been waiting for, I had arrived at the Northwest Territories.
I continued heading north on the MacKenzie Highway, with so much rain and the slew of mostly tiny little flies I limited how often I stopped. There was one place I was going to brave though no matter the conditions, Alexandra Falls. When I arrived there I took my time viewing the cascading falls from varying vantage points, a light misty vapor rose high into the air as the water thundered over the cliff and plunged into the valley below. Satisfied I ventured back to my vehicle and continued north.
I was starting to worry about my gas, as you go further into the north things like gas stations become increasingly rare and further apart, often hundreds of kilometers from one another. I arrived in a tiny little place called Enterprise planning to fill my tank before a small little gift shop named Winnie’s caught my eye, who would have thought my dog would have a side hustle all the way up north?! Sneaky woodle. I walked in and the owner, a kind lady, welcomed me. We talked for a bit then she instructed me to grab some chalk and write on her building like so many before me had done, well I took her up on it and left my mark on that tiny place in the world.
It was now time to get some gas at last as I was running very low. I pulled up to the gas station and oh no, it couldn’t be, it was closed down! The closest gas station I was able to drive to before my tank ran dry was 30 minutes north in a town called Hay River, while I hadn’t planned on going there I now had no choice and immediately set off in that direction.
I arrived in Hay River just in time and filled my thirsty tank to the brim, I figured since I was there I mine as well stay the night and enjoy my evening exploring the town. I found a great campsite right beside Great Slave Lake and set up my tent, since it was still fairly early I figured I’d take Winnie for a trip to the beach, to say she loved it would be a vast understatement. She started going wild playing about in the sand as I looked out across the water. Shortly after arriving, two women walked up with their dogs, we said our hellos and chatted about as the dogs chased one another back and fourth. This was a big step for Winnie, she has been scared of water for a while now but as the other dogs ran into the water she would barrel in right behind them, starting shallow and slowly going further and further in, I couldn’t help but smile as I was watching my dog get over her fear of water. The three of us walked up and down the beach sharing stories before saying our goodbyes.
I was feeling pretty hungry when I got Winnie back in the car and decided to check out a local restaurant, I ended up going with a place called Boardroom. I sat down and a server named Thomas greeted me, now I have had great servers in the past but Thomas was exceptional, one the friendliest people I have ever met, he shook my hand and encouraged me on my future travels. I ended up eating so much I found myself wishing they had a wheelbarrow service to take me to my car, I would have payed well. With the soothing sound of the lake in the distance, a belly full of food and Winnie snoozing at my feet it’s time to call it a day, it’s been a pretty good one.
Last night was probably the best sleep I’ve gotten this entire trip so far. I slowly crawled out of bed, packed everything up and headed to the camp office where they had coffee on the house, I simply couldn’t pass that up and sipped away while I worked on the blog. It came time to leave and I took one last trip to the beach, as I was walking back to the car I almost got ran over by two energetic little squirrels, one even decided to perch itself on a tree right beside me and pose for the camera, I have a feeling this isn’t their first time doing this, born to be a star I suppose.
I started off towards Yellowknife. I’ve gotten better at traveling after my first week on the road, I’ve been grabbing more maps and while keeping my plans incredibly open I’ve been planning out places to stop a little better than before. One of the places I made sure to stop at was Lady Evelyn Falls, a decent detour but a treasure worth pursuing. A short walk took me to a cliff where the torrent of water rushed over the edge as it raced to the bottom leaving a colorful rainbow that hovered amongst the mist.
I got back on the road and continued north. Despite the ridiculous army of insects I found myself constantly stopping to take pictures or view some of the territorial parks, during one of the stops I came across some of the strangest birds I’ve ever heard, their shouts sounded like someone screaming, I even doubled checked to make sure, it had an eerie rather unnerving sound.
Soon I arrived at a gas station around Fort Providence and figured I mine as well top up the tank, while I was there I noticed they were selling bison burgers and knew I had to try it, I’ll never be able to look at a bison the same way again, it was delicious! I chowed down and since the MacKenzie River was right behind the building I took Winnie for a stroll to stretch her legs.
Back on road and still thinking about how tasty that bison burger was I drove past the biggest bison I’d ever seen in my life, cheeks full he was gorging himself on the various greens beside the road, I quickly snapped some photos and went on my merry way.
The roads were long seemingly unending stretches of pavement, I chased the shimmering mirages for hours on end. I could feel the exhaustion taking it’s toll and found myself pulling over to take breaks more often. I was getting closer though, I was determined to reach Yellowknife within the day. The final 100 km to the capital was treacherous for the unaware and speedy drivers, the road constantly dipped and weaved with pot holes and gravel patches scattered about adding to the mess. There were warning signs for some of the dips and bumps but many still remained unmarked and hidden until the last moment as they waited to humble those who thought they could speed along with minimal care.
At last I arrived in Yellowknife, exhausted I found a campground and set my tent. There was a dog park close by so I took Winnie on over to stretch her legs and burn off her energy, she ran back and fourth having a blast in the sunset. The amount of mosquitoes there were staggering, the swarm followed us everywhere, even as I was putting Winnie back in the car after her gallop in the park there must have been at least 20 that got inside before the slaughter started as I hunted them down. When I got back to camp I found myself watching a dragonfly darting back and fourth feasting, I wondered who took out more mosquitoes tonight, me or him, I’m willing to bet it was close.
I had already driven over 3000 km when I made it to Yellowknife, with so much time on the road I decided I would take today to relax a bit and do some exploring of the city. I took my time crawling out of bed, hopped in the car and headed downtown to explore. As I was driving about I saw my first destination worth checking out, NWT Diamond Centre. I walked on up and pushed the buzzer, a cheerful lady came up to the door all smiles and let me in. She began to tell me all about the diamond mines located in the Northwest Territories, the history of them, the extraction process, grading, it all ended up being pretty educational and interesting. Turns out the biggest diamond ever found in North America was recently found in one of the mines here, a 552 carat yellow diamond found in the Diavik Diamond Mine. I then got to see some of the $50,000 to $100,000 diamonds under a special magnifying glass, the details were pretty incredible though I still don’t think I’d fork out a 100 grand for one!
I said my farewells and headed off to an area called old town, an area full of all sorts of strange and unique shops. I made my first stop there at a place called Old Town Glassworks where a friendly man named Mathew happily greeted me and proceeded to give me a tour of the place. They take old bottles and make some really cool artwork out of them, adding all sorts of unique kinds of engravings, fashioning cups, lamps and other unique art, talk about a creative way to recycle! They also fixed up bikes and Mathew lent me a motorized one to take for a spin around the block which ended up being pretty fun.
I found myself getting pretty hungry and it was time, I’d had multiple people hype this place up pretty heavily, I entered the legendary Bullocks Bistro. The building alone was pretty unique with the walls and ceilings covered with all sorts of stickers, writings and the like. I sat down and got a menu, naturally I picked out the most expensive fish, the Arctic Char and eagerly awaited it’s arrival. I didn’t have to wait long, it soon arrived in all its glory in front of me. Now I have had some pretty tasty fish throughout my life but this one now sits on the top of the podium. I could hardly contain myself after the first juicy bite, it was unbelievably delectable. The chef looked over and smiled at me as I chowed down, I could see the proud look on her face as I devoured the delicious meal before me.
Full to the brim I headed off to a lookout with Winnie, took in the scenery and headed back to the car. I made a few more little stops at some shops in the area then decided to head back to camp where I finished the night off with some reading while Winnie snoozed beside me.
I woke up today feeling a little more indecisive then usual. I was torn on whether I should stay another night and do some more exploring or head on down to adventure in Alberta. While I was thinking about what to do I stopped by the camp site office to work on the blog. As I was working away, Winnie made another friend and they played about. I finally decided I would stay another night and went out to do some exploring.
My first stop was the Aurora Ford dealership, I mentioned to them how much I loved the Northwest Territories license plates and the manager Barry was kind enough to give me one for free, not only that but they were serving up free burgers and told me to help myself, quite the solid start to the morning!
After the dealership I headed down to a gift shop I had seen the day before. Now for anyone that knows me, I’m a sucker for souvenirs and knick knacks and as soon as I walked into the store I could already feel more poor wallet quivering. So many choices, so many baubles and trinkets, I was lucky to make it out having only bought two items!
I’m always getting opinions from the locals on what’s worth checking out, you end up experiencing more and often seeing things you may have otherwise missed. One of these places recommended to me was Cameron Falls, about an hour out of town along the Ingraham Trail. The enticement was strong and the allure to great to simply pass up, before I knew it I was on the road heading there next.
I arrived at the parking lot, laced up my hiking boots, tossed the bear mace in my pocket and doused myself with bug spray before Winnie and I set off. The hike was fairly short, mixed with lots of uphill and downhill inclines, along the paths wild flowers bloomed in radiant splendor, a forerunner to the real treasure that lay ahead. The sound of crashing waters grew louder with every step and with the ever increasing anticipation I pressed on. At last my hunger was sated, I stood on a cliff overlooking the brilliantly violent display of crashing waters racing down to the join the river below. An excellent recommendation by the locals without a doubt. I took my time and explored around it, a short walk upstream led to a bridge to access the other side, I headed on over it and ventured down to the falls once more to get a closer look. As I stood there mere feet from the copious wild flow, I took it all in, the cooling mist washing over me to ease the heat of the day, the gusts of wind, the fact that here I was exploring Canada like I’d been saying I would do one day, it was worth it, so worth it.
After such an incredible time at the falls I made it back to my car at last, yet still I was craving more, similar to the feeling of eating a delicious meal and still having room for desert, I wanted desert. I decided I would continue down the Ingraham Trail until I reached the end. The journey took me further east, with the blend of mountainous rocks and endless lakes there was never a shortage of things to view. The road turned to dirt and gravel, a far more bumpy adventure than the beginning but I pressed on and in time I reached the end of the road, I could go no further, only in winter does the road continue. I took out my drone and flew it as high as I could (400ft being the legal limit) to catch a glimpse of the lands beyond my sight before returning to Yellowknife to spend the night. Another solid day of adventures was had indeed.
A windy storm arrived last night as I was pulling into camp, just setting up my tent without it blowing over proved challenging. The howls of the wind came with their strong gusts that tested the durability of my shelter as they beat relentlessly against the walls causing them to vibrate back and fourth in rapid oscillations. Strangely enough I slept through the storm with minimal interruption and woke up refreshed and ready to embrace the day.
There’s an abundance of great places to meet people depending on what you’re after and who you want to connect with. With today being Sunday I figured I’d go to a little church in town before getting back on the road, I arrived and took a seat. It was a small place but full of friendly people who greeted me with kindness. I met a man named Gerrit who lives in Alberta and knew some amazing places to venture that were a little less known to anyone but the locals, we exchanged numbers and I find myself looking forward to chatting some more with him and the discoveries I may have otherwise missed.
The church service was done and I was back on the road once more, I started heading southwest towards a small area called Enterprise, it rained on and off throughout the drive and I found myself taking breaks when I could. The rain had subsided for a little bit when I arrived at a beach along Great Slave Lake, eager to get some aerial footage I pulled out my drone to fly it. A native family was eating lunch nearby and two young boys greeted me eagerly wanting to see me fly the drone, I got all ready to fly it and right before taking off glanced at my gps, I was within 5.6km of an airport, dang! Drone rules are there for a reason and I try to be as responsible as I can with it, sadly I told the youngsters that I was unable to fly it due to being too close to the airport. As I was packing up the drone I began to chat with the woman there who was readying some smoked ducks, she offered me some and I couldn’t refuse, she even gave me a bag, napkins, wipes, I could tell she was a mother without a doubt. As she was packing everything up for me the rest of her family arrived and we chatted for a little before we parted ways. The kindness was appreciated and I cheerfully went on my way.
I realized it was getting late quickly, with the events of the day adding to the clock faster than I thought they would I decided to set up camp at Fort Providence. A gas station with wifi was nearby and I decided to take advantage and go about troubleshooting my blog, I made progress but found the process to be lengthy and a pain to figure out at times, life is busy enough as it is and dealing with troubleshooting can be a real headache sometimes. The sun was taking its final dip below the horizon as I made it back to camp to set up my tent, where will I end up tomorrow I wonder, time will only tell.
