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Deane and Norm's Motorcycle Trip to Northwest Territories & Nunavut | |
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Getting Ready |
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Why did we choose Northwest Territories and Nunavut? Because they are the only two Provinces or Territories we have not ridden in, in all of Canada. And, they pose a challenge. Northwest Territories is largely a wilderness area, with only two roads going into the Territory from the lower Canadian provinces, one paved road that goes in from Alberta, and one nasty dirt road that goes in from British Columbia. Deane and Norm chose the road from Alberta, to ride to the town of Hay River in Northwest Territories. This will only be about 2,500 miles from Albuquerque on motorcycles, the easy part of the trip. (Norm rode from Ohio to Albuquerque, by way of Texas, to start the big adventure trip with Deane on August 9, 2003.) After Hay River, we will ride the northernmost highways we can find in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, to get to the starting point of our visit to Nunavut. Nunavut is even more of a wilderness, with NO roads into the territory, and no roads internal to the territory that are developed enough to show on the national map of Canada. That is, there are no roads in Nunavut of the "Public Highway" Canadian status, which is like a "State Road" in the U.S., or sometimes like a "US Highway". What small dirt roads there may be between small towns or villages in Nunavut is unknown to us - we'll see when we get to our destination in Nunavut. Before 1999, all of the Canadian area above the Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (and part of British Columbia), was called "Northwest Territories". In 1999, this area was split into two "Territories", Northwest Territories in the western part, and Nunavut in the eastern part. In April, 1999, Nunavut became a "Territory" in itself , after more than 25 years of the native Inuit people in that area working with the Canadian government to allow them to lay claim to the lands which they once claimed as their aboriginal lands. Norm and Deane wanted not only to go into Nunavut, but also wanted to accomplish two other goals. The first was to touch Hudson Bay, so significant in the European opening up of America. The second was to reach the Arctic Circle; just an interesting goal to travel a long ways North. So, with no roads into Nunavut, we plan to ride our motorcycles as far North as we can and then fly on a little airline. We will ride to Thompson, Manitoba, which is as far north as any highway goes in Manitoba, and fly from there. We found a small scheduled airline, "Calm Air", which flies 12-passenger twin-turbo-prop planes, with stops along Hudson Bay, and winds up at the town of "Repulse Bay". Repulse Bay is both right on Hudson Bay, and right on the Arctic Circle. For a couple of days, we'll stay at a very small hotel in Repulse Bay, 13 rooms, which is run by the native Inuit people, so this will be quite an adventure. This is in Polar Bear country, so it will be interesting to find out more about them - although we hope not "up close and personal". After flying back to Thompson, Manitoba, we'll ride south to Winnipeg, be tourists for a day, and then part company, Deane for Albuquerque, and Norm for Vandalia, Ohio. What an adventure!
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