After we made it up to Tuk, and completed our touring, we had to fix things for the return trip.
While we were in Inuvik, the glowplug harness shorted out. We didn’t know why (yet), but we tried to fix the fusable links with fuses. It didn’t work, but we tried anyway. We didn’t have much to lose.
Also, we had to figure out how to get the beast started in such cold temps without GP’s. We ended up warming it up with a heat gun and also used some starting fluid. Until we were able to get some fusable links (the closest town to have any in stock was Whitehorse, a thousand miles south), we used this starting fluid to get it going for the duration of our trip in the NWT and Yukon.
Also, we fixed other issues and fueled up the beast with WVO. Roger and Winnie wanted us to stay for lunch, but we had to hit the road ASAP. The ferries in Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic close late in the evening, and considering we have a several-hour drive ahead of us, we had to go.
We’d like to thank Roger and Winnie at Arctic Tour Company in Tuktoyaktuk for a great time, good food, wonderful company, and an exciting tour during our stay. Glenn and I said that if it had not been for their hospitality, we don’t think the rough drive of the Dempster was worth the trip. They are the main reason why we look back at this journey as a success.
