Stuck in Tuk!

The weather has not been co-operating here in Tuktoyaktuk. And not helping the situation is that the weather forecast changes by the hour. They obviously can't predict it, and the changes come so quickly I don't understand why they bother trying.

The problem of course, is the highway. Which is not really a highway, it's just a dirt road. And the first ten kms (6 miles) leading out of Tuktoyakyuk are not graveled yet. So when it rains, it becomes a mud road, not a dirt road!

There was a lot of rain Thursday evening, but it didn't rain at all during the day yesterday. So we sat in the motorhome yesterday morning waiting for the road to dry up. We saw the sun on occasion, but certainly not enough to make a difference. It was 95% overcast for the day. But the wind picked up, and that's helpful for drying things up.

We are boondocking near the entrance to town, right where the mud road starts. So as people would come into town and stop at the entrance sign for their photo opp, I would go outside and ask them about the road. Even the people driving 4 wheel drive vehicles were saying "don't do it yet!"

Two people told us of an RV that is stuck in the mud. (although right at the end of the day a pickup truck camper arrived, and then a small class C motorhome.)

In the afternoon, we went for a walk to check the road for ourselves. We went about 8 kms (5 miles) round trip.

The two wheel tracks are actually pretty solid in most sections.

This is a "pingo".

A pingo is a unique landmark. Pingos can only form in a permafrost environment. They are actually earth covered mounds of ice. The one in the above picture is a large one. They can reach 200 ft in height. Pingos are located throughout the Arctic here and in Northern Siberia, but the Tuktoyaktuk area has an above average number of them.

Driftwood from the Mackenzie River, with a pingo in the background.

Water birds.

This is why we haven't left yet!

Haven't seen any bears... yet!

This is where Sherman is parked.

Two pingos in the background.

Parks Canada has taken over the area where these pingos are located.

There's actually a boardwalk leading to the larger pingo. But, you're only allowed to climb the pingo in the winter because they don't want the vegetation destroyed. And, the only way to get to the boardwalk is by boat. We almost thought about blowing up our kayak to get over there, and if it was warmer and calmer we probably would have!

And so we wait. There were a few sprinkles of rain overnight and this morning, but not enough to make the road worse. Certainly not helping it get any better though. However, if the sun were to come out for several hours in a row, that would be enough to do it. We are hoping for that window of opportunity this afternoon. They are calling for sunshine (which we've learned means nothing, but we are still optimistic!) from 11am until 8pm, with rain moving in again for the night. If we get the sunshine, we should be able to leave here around 4pm for the five hour drive back to Inuvik where there is actually no rain in the forecast at all for today or tomorrow.

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