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We've had some sketchy Internet access on our way south, but now we're relaxing in Jasper, Alberta and things are nice. The Jasper Inn is a lovely place, complete with a sauna and steam room. If you get a hankering to see the Canadian Rockies, Jasper is your spot! But let's pick up where we left off - we took off from Tuk and grabbed lunch in Inuvik, then headed south to Eagle Plains for the night. 
As we described before, Eagle Plains exists because it's one tank of gas away from the Dempster Junction, and you have to tank up there to make it to Inuvik. The Lodge was built in 1978 - and not one inch has been updated since! We spent the night there and got up early to be on the road south again to Whitehorse and arrive before dark. Along the way, we saw the coldest temps of our trip - 15-below on the fahrenheit scale! 
But soon we were off the Dempster highway and back on the main road heading south. 
Back in Whitehorse, we picked up the TSD and Ice Racing competition again. But this time, instead of a sunny clear blue sky, we had overcast and a light falling of snow. Speeds in the ice race were slower, and the photography was much tougher - one of the few times I've been truly cold on this journey. 
As usual, the Outlanders performed well and our Hankook tires kept the cars on the track. From Whitehorse we headed out to Liard Hot Springs, B.C. and spent a lovely evening there in the rustic lodge. You have to hike half a mile through the snow to the springs, but it's worth the walk and worth the hopping from foot to foot on the ice-covered changing room. The springs smell strongly of sulfur, but that heat's been waiting for you for millions of years, and after your time in the Arctic, you can use it! The other great thing about the road to Liard is that it's the original Alaska Highway - the Alcan itself - and it's windy and goes through some great wilderness. Caribou were crossing the road in good numbers at one point. This shot shows just two, but there were about 20 in the herd. 
Then we entered the Bison preserve and saw so many wild Bison by the side of the road - and on the road - that eventually we stopped taking their pictures. Bison move off the road for nobody, by the way. 
We also saw Coyotes, Wolves, Foxes, Bald Eagles, and Deer, so it was a good leg of the trip for wildlife. The final days of TSD rallying brought us to the end of the competition, and Team Mitsubishi Alcan car 1 finished second of five in the Unlimited SUV class, while our car 2 finished third out of nine in the Stock Odo class for all vehicles. Not bad at all, considering the caliber of rallyists on this event. One more time, we all want to thank our sponsors - we could not have made this amazing trip without the support from Mitsubishi Motors North America, Hankook Tire USA, The Halton Company, Columbia Sportswear, BajaRack, H3R Performance, KC HiLites, ProDrive Driving Schoo, Fleet Sign & Graphics, and A-n-T Tires. 
We'll keep the blogs going for a while yet - I've got over 2,000 images to process and we've still got a couple days of travel to get home, and more after that to get the Outlanders back down to Los Angeles. We're thinking of stopping there in L.A. and just asking Mitsubishi if we can keep going to Tierra Del Fuego. |
