Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • The Great Outdoors

Canada’s Newest Highway Is Much More Than A Road

  • October 10, 2018
  • Ben Osborne
Total
8
Shares
8
0
0
0
0
0
Total
8
Shares
Share 8
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words:: Ben Osborne photos:: Lucas Scarfone (@scarfonephoto)

It’s hard to comprehend the vast size of Canada. While the southern provinces garner much of the attention for their vastness and beauty, it’s easy to forget that Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world. The cities and communities near the border where the majority of the population lies are the heart of Canada, the lifeblood that keeps Canada’s economy running and pushes forward technological innovations and unique cultural exploits. The rest of Canada— the small towns in far flung locations, living off the land disconnected from many modern day technologies? Those might just be the soul of Canada.

Lucky for us, we now have even better access to that soul with the creation of the the Inuvik Tuk Highway. The newly constructed highway, an addition to the famous Dempster Highway, connects Inuvik, Northwest Territories to Tuktoyaktuk, one of the northernmost communities in Canada.

DSC 1649
Beauty in simplicity on the Inuvik Tuk Highway.

Our journey began in Edmonton. With fresh snow on the ground and temperatures more than 15 degrees below Vancouver, it already felt like a different world. We then boarded an air taxi with stops in Yellowknife, Norman Wells, and finally the small town of Inuvik, population: 3,243.

We hopped in a truck with Edmund, our guide of the small town for the day.  As he directed us through the small town, we asked him what brought him so far north, expecting work to be the obvious answer. “Our daughter came up here for shift work 13 years ago. We came to visit her in our camper from New Brunswick and never left. We haven’t looked back since.”, he proudly declared.

As we toured the town, he humble-bragged with a distinct sense of pride for his town. Topics included the unique above ground sewer system, the 3-hole golf course, and the future remodeling of the sewer system. In our world, slowing down is a revelation and you’ll notice when you slow down, you start to  appreciate the small things. To the people of Inuvik, moving slowly is a necessity, a way of life— and why most people never want to leave.

DSC 3549
Only in Inuvik will you find an igloo-shaped church.

No place exemplifies the hearty, genuine and welcoming character of the town more than Alestine’s. The husband & wife combo of Pam & Brian McDonald cook the fine  local cuisine in an old school bus covered with stickers, remnants of those of who have passed through and enjoyed their eclectic menu. Items such as Reindeer chili and Arctic Char fish tacos are served in a small wood-stove heated cabin with a firepit in the back. Their motto? Smiles and tea will always be free. With the Mackenzie River flowing right through town and up to the Arctic Ocean and the many lakes in the area, there are plenty of fresh ingredients for them to source, allowing them to give visitors a taste of the Arctic version of farm-to-table.

DSC 3662
The kitchen at Alestine’s.
DSC 3608
In a landscape dominated by the grey scale, the Community Greenhouse feels especially vibrant.
DSC 3627
The first Arctic apples—the forbidden fruit.

While the sights in Inuvik are few and far between, each one has a mysterious depth to it. Their community Greenhouse is a welcome sign of innovation, with community plots bought and tended to by individuals, businesses, and local elders . You can find their Mayor doing any number of tasks:  leaned up against his truck taking calls, guiding us through town, connecting with the locals, and always ready to greet you with a smile. The remoteness of the town seems like bring it’s residents together while being so far away from the resort of the world, giving them a sense of pride in what they’ve created—and best of all, they are excited to share it with the world.

DSC 3722
Each night was a 40% change of Northern Lights—this is what we got. Not bad, eh?
DSC 3827
The road north.

After a few days in Inuvik, we loaded up the trucks for the day to head up the newest highway on the way to Tuktoyaktuk. Just 30 minutes north of Inuvik is the treeline, leaving you with a desolate but refreshing emptiness in the Arctic Tundra, with other-worldly landscape features such as Pingos, Permafrost, and unexpected wildlife like Arctic Swans.

Until the road was built, Tuktoyaktuk received one cargo shipment of supplies for the year. This road allows them an entirely new type of connection to the rest of the world, even if it is just to to small town of Inuvik.

DSC 4171
Beluga whale drying out in a traditional sod house
DSC 4436
Traditional Inuvialuit song and dance is alive and well.

The people in town were friendly, welcoming, and eager to share their culture. Much of their sustenance comes from hunting and fishing, with their main sources of protein being Caribou and Beluga Whale. Like Inuvik, these people were not concerned with where you were from, what your heritage was, or where you were going—they simply wanted to share a piece of their culture, and their home with us.

After leaving Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik, it was hard to deny the happiness that organically runs through the town. While much of southern Canada concerns themselves with mundane matters such as Instagram likes and the clothes they wear, these people are of the few in Canada who are still focused on the essentials: clean water to drink, food to fill their stomaches, and fresh air to breathe. To visit them was a treat, and a lesson in the value of simplicity. The new Inuvik Tuk highway connects us to them not only physically, but emotionally and intellectually—let’s hope that the physical connection of Canada’s coasts can foster an emotional and spiritual connection to benefit us all. –ML

Special thanks to Chevrolet Canada for organizing the trip and supplying the vehicles. Check out their newest truck, the Chevrolet Silverado at www.chevrolet.ca

Total
8
Shares
Share 8
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Dempster Highway
  • Inuvik
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • The Great Outdoors

The Best Looking Polar Plunge We’ve Ever Seen—Wim Hof Would Be Proud.

  • October 9, 2018
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • THE GEAR SHED

Built For Deep Freeride Days: Helly Hansen Garibaldi Jacket

  • October 11, 2018
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

Blower Pow and Disappearing Pants

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 26, 2022
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

ML Launches Mushroom Life

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 1, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The Great Outdoors

Backcountry Skier John Baldwin Headlines VIMFF’s 2022 Best of British Columbia Night

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 22, 2022
View Post
  • FALL GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors
  • WINTER GEAR

The Legend of San Poncho

  • Editor
  • December 9, 2021
735990496 1280x720
View Post
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Island of Plenty

  • Sarah Bulford
  • July 2, 2021
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Win Adventures to the Filming Location of the HISTORY® Channel’s “Alone” Season 8!

  • Sarah Bulford
  • June 8, 2021
Featured Posts
  • Mustang-Survival-WOMENS-HELIX-CCS 1
    Gear Shed: Our End-of-Winter Picks
    • March 23, 2023
  • natural-selection-Redbull 2
    Friday Flick: Natural Selection Tour Highlights
    • March 17, 2023
  • Powder-Highway-BC-ski 3
    Powder Highway Revisited
    • March 21, 2023
  • AleTrailsSouthernInterior_Vernon_MikeGamble_LookoutTrail_BenHaggarPhoto 4
    Ale Trails: Southern Interior Part 1, Vernon + Shuswap
    • March 20, 2023
  • Bora-Boreal-Quebec-winter-cabin-stars 5
    Bora Boréal: Frozen in Time and Ice
    • March 14, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Elements-Outfitters-Filson-cabin
    Elements Outfitters Partners with SALTS to Protect Alberta’s Incredible Landscapes
    • March 16, 2023
  • Uncertainty-mountains-Rockies
    Facing Uncertainty: The Role of Chance in Mountain Adventures
    • March 13, 2023
  • The-High-Route-Kaytlyn-Gerbin-Jenny-Abegg-North-Cascades-High-Route-glacier-hiking
    Friday Flick: Alpine Ultra-Run Sufferfest
    • March 10, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Conceived by superhuman snowboarder @travisrice, the @naturalselection Tour highlights earth’s premier riders, from big-mountain mavens to Olympians, all competing on the most stoketastic—and unpredictable—terrain known to humankind.
Built upon a shared desire to enjoy, respect, and advocate for Alberta’s incredible landscapes, it was a natural fit for @elementsoutfitters to work with a local conservation organization @saltslandtrust to highlight the province’s rugged beauty and outdoor apparel to match.
THE UNINVITED INVITATIONAL April 13-16 @woodwardtahoe 😱 $40,000 cash prize purse and a whole lotta spotlight on a group of riders whose time has finally come!! Presented by @jess.kimura and @thenorthface and supported by @yeti @capitasupercorp @slushthemagazine @unionbindingco @smithoptics @sunbum @coalheadwear @fattire 🫡 watch the finals in person Saturday April 15 and join the crew + @btbounds for a public ride day Sunday April 16 @borealmtn. Time to make some history!!! #linkinbio to learn more!
Close your eyes and, for a moment, imagine yourself deep in the polar regions aboard an expedition ship stuck in the ice. The white pack-ice is dazzling, and the immobile vessel seems frozen in time and space. That experience piques your curiosity, doesn't it? Without having to go all the way to Antarctica, you can experience these icy sensations 30 minutes from Quebec City in one of Bora Boréal 's two floating cottages.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.