A lonely truck hauling the first groceries in a week (the Alaska Highway far south of here had been washed out) heads into a rainstorm in the Tombstone Territorial Park section of the Dempster Highway on its way to Inuvik, 400 miles (650 km) away.
Dempster Highway
There is nothing on the Dempster. One gas and tire stop with restaurant, bar, and motel at Eagle Plains. Another tire repair at Ft. McPherson. Nearly 500 miles (800 km) of gravel. Ferries cross the Pell and Arctic Red Rivers at the great Mackenzie River Delta when the ice bridges melt. And there are mountains and tundra and flowers and very wild animals and rare birds and stunted boreal forests and huge spaces. It is the lifeline for supplies to the west Canadian Arctic, and it might be the most beautiful road in the world.