Dragonfly Helicopter Gunships to the Rescue
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The Rise Up Ride 2022: Days 82-84
Dragonfly Helicopter Gunships to the Rescue
Date: 13 July 2022
Start Location: Inuvik, NWT
End Location: Ft Macpherson, NWT
Distance/mode: 183 km / bike
Latitude: 67° 26′ N
I'm writing a quick post from the Peel River Inn, just upriver from the Mackenzie River on the Dempster Highway, before leaving to continue riding south towards Rock River Campground today.
The anticipated surprise of the trip so far after two days on the road from Inuvik is that the road surface is hard packed gravel rather than the loose stuff that I couldn't ride south of Tuktoyaktuk. I'm averaging 14-18 km an hour, although yesterday's rain slowed me somewhat as I pedaled west across the Mackenzie River Delta.
On Monday my undulating route from Inuvik south to the ferry crossing of the Mackenzie River was dusty and buggy. Swarms of horse flies competed with the mosquitos in flying around and in my draft, trying to land on me for a blood meal. It was good motivation to keep moving. I'm using a new skin spray repellent called Picaridin, which when combined with Permethrin on my clothes does work since the little buggers won't land. But, they are pesky. However, I've learned that my friends the dragonflies are predators, so I stop near ponds and wait for them to arrive to chase away the others like helicopter gunships.
On the ferry I met George, one of the local Gwich'in crew, who said that I should stop at his brother's house on the way up the hill and camp out in the grass in front of his cabin. Randy calmed his dogs and welcomed me like an old friend when I rolled up after about eight hours of riding. He invited me to sleep on the couch since we could both smell rain coming in.
Randy was a character! He works as a plumber, loves to read, has been married, has kids that he sacrificed for to get through college and he is thinking about moving to Norman Wells. As a kid he was a successful wrestler, turning Gwich'in skills into medals across Canada. He lost his mother at fourteen when she was killed by her husband's racing dogs. He spoke about Gwich'in life, culture, and growing up First Nations at the confluence of the Arctic Red River and the Mackenzie.
During the night it rained and continued through the morning. There was a shower, laundry, electricity, and food waiting for me just 80 muddy km away in Ft Macpherson at the Peel River, so I packed up to ride off in the rain. Randy went to the smokehouse and gave me a whole smoked Whitefish and some dried "fish sticks." I left behind a few firestarter cubes for his winter emergency kit and some single cup coffee filters. He helped me carry my gear and bike back up to the road. Good stop. Nice guy.
I arrived in "Mcfuu" mid-afternoon, ate, showered, laundered, powered up and slept. This hotel, the only one for a couple hundred clicks in either direction, was my landing spot before the two-day ride to Eagle Plains and the last hotel before Dawson. I'll ride today to the border with the Yukon and to the Rock River Campground, 105 km away. Tomorrow my dash to more electricity, a store, and a shower will be about 74 km.
I'm feeling good except for a few horse fly bites that itch like hell. But otherwise I'm feeling strong, positive about the biological and mechanical stuff moving me through a tough land down a bad road. The bike was designed for just this sort of nonsense and the Krebs Cycle human engine is still firing on all the mitochondrial cylinders. Onwards.
