Once past the border of the two provinces, the road divides into two “dead ends”: one leads to Maclung Mine, 9 miles away, the other continues to the northeast to a wildlife management station, some 10 miles along the Canol Heritage Trail (the old trail I mentioned in the previous update). Bridges were washed away and there are thus two water crossing to coolVivaLaVida’s wheels.
 
 
1. Arrival to the station already closed for the winter… I think VivaLaVida has never been so far away from any possible support, it’s really the middle of nowhere here!
 

 
 
2. A furtive sunbeam while I eat at the end of the trail.
 

 
 
3. I photographed the water crossing only on the way back. Here is the second partially frozen.
 

 
 
4. The atmosphere of this altitude tundra under a snowy sky is beautiful.
 

 
 
5. And the second water crossing, deeper and longer than it appears here…
 

 
 
I have tryed to reach the Maclung Mine but a wicked side cant covered with snow over one mile mountainside detered me. In addition, on the east side of the mountains, it was snowing hard. So I turn around down to the Macmillen Pass. Not without having seen the first wolf on this trip. To far to take some picture but I was able to observe him with binoculars for about five minutes. What a beautiful animal perfectly adapted to these remote and harsh areas!
I also observed an Arctic fox hunting and catching a ptarmigan, great hunting scene. But I messed up the pictures, there was so few light that handhelds, everything is blurry… 🙁
 
 
6. Going down back to the Macmillen Pass, lichens are of a very soft yellow green that contrasts the snow peaks.
 

 
 
7. Another frozen marsh.
 

 
 
8. Looking for a night camp…
 

 
 
9. There must be sources of ocher, some marshes, even frozen, have that characteristic color.
 

 
 
10. Some mosses form a kind of astonishing mosaic.
 

 
 
11. early winter ambiance…
 

 
 
For the record, I found a boondocking site shortly after this picture and the weather forecast (although dated four days) indicating an improvement for the next day, I went to bed around 9 PM as it began to snow. Unable to enable me to get blocked by snow, which would mean abandoning VLV here until early next summer, I set my alarm at midnight to take a look outside. And here I didn’t really hesitate: it had fallen almpost two feet snow in three hours, with the temperature rising to around 33°F! So I restarted and drove nearly four hours at night to get out of the mountains, pretty epic journey in this snowstorm where I sensed more than saw the track completely white…
 
The next day, the snow stopped and then I go out of VLV to eat my snack lunch, I hear the cry of an owl that doesn’t seem far away. So I took the camera and tryed to locate it. Actually not far away, it will prove to be still over 1,500 feet away in the boreal forest and progress was not easy. Besides its calls were not very frequent and I was trying to move slowly so as not to frighten it. In short, it was almost an hour left as I finally saw it. Obviously he saw me but didin’t seem really scared, leting me get close to about 6-7 yards. It was a beautiful Great Horned Owl, the second largest nocturnal bird of prey after the great gray owl.
 
 
12. Here I introduce him… 😉
 

 
 
13. Here he is looking somewhere else.
 

 
 
14. Returning to VLV, new encounter: two grizzly bears, probably a mother and calf. Little adrenaline rush as starting “chase” the owl, I left my bear spray” in VLV, which didn’t happen to me often … I was Lucky to be at about ninety feet away and the mother quickly smelt me, launching a sort of growl before running away.
 

 
 
15. VLV is muddy as never after that road, here a quite deep mudd path…
 

 
 
16. Another encounter with grizzlies further on the road.
 

 
 
17. After crossing the river back on the ferry, VLV drove the Campbell Highway to the South to get to the second mining road… Blowing snow form welts on the hills.
 

 
 
18. Mud and ice as menu of VivaLaVida !
 

 
 
19. When I said that he was “in mud”..! 😀
 

 
 
20. Snowfall at sunset while I found a nice place to sleep on the edge of Frenchman Lake.
 

 
 
Discover the Nahanni Range coming soon!